Safety Issue: Robots Moving in Pits

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Siri

Raising the wheels is by no means an entirely safe solution. In fact, I can think of specific cases in which allowing the wheels to spin under power is more dangerous than actually controlling that power digitally or electrically.

Indeed, for much of the development of the TechnoKats' mecanum software this year the wheels would have a fit if they were lifted from the ground. The robot would jerk back and forth as the wheels convulsed, and it could easily have rocked itself off a set of blocks. Using closed-loop speed control does not play well with unloaded motors.