Failure of Robot Interface

[David Brinza]

Originally posted by Kojib
In order to keep this from happening in the future, could I simply either get some foam or rubber gromets to act as shock absorbers between the radio controller and the frame of the robot? If you respond to my question, please explain as much as you can, either what actually happened or what might fix it in the future. Thanks

Placing rubber grommets, foam or even balsa wood between the radio controller and the frame will certainly help reduce mechanical shock transmitted from an impact to the internal components of the radio controller. Severe mechanical shocks can break fuses, wires, capacitors, resistors or crack solder joints. The latter case (cracked solder joints) is often intermittent in nature - which can be really difficult to diagnose. Sometimes tapping on the controller may re-establish the contact, but it doesn't fix the problem. Tapping on it more may cause it to fail again.

If you observe this intermittent behavior, get a replacement controller and don't hard mount it to the frame. A thin piece of balsa wood or foam between the controller or frame can help reduce the mechanical shock experienced by the unit considerably.

Good luck, and see you in Houston!