For those who are skeptical about propellers - Team 2526

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

I wouldn't be surprised if FIRST issues guidelines regarding safety measures for propellers (just remember the guidelines for last year's catapults). FIRST is (and should be) risk adverse when it comes to safety.

As an inspector, I'm going to ask a lot of questions about the safety provisions and considerations in high-energy, potentially lethal features in robots.

What margin of safety do you have in the hazard containment? (Prove to me that you've got at least a factor of five in keeping all parts from penetrating your safety shields.)

How do you verify that there are no flaws in the propeller and attachment components? Do you have proof of inspection for cracks in the propeller, shaft, etc.? Do you have safety-wired fasteners and a fail-safe design (i.e., if a fastener fails, do you still have margin against catastrophic failure)?

Sound tough? This is nothing compared to the aftermath of a failure where someone is seriously injured or worse.

I was thinking, what if there was a way for teams to have a touch sensor near their fan mounts, like really really really close, so that if the propeller moves even like .125" from its original mounting position, the motors to the fans shut off when the limit switch or touch sensor is touched? Seems simple enough to me.