Things you only do ONCE!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I was just thinking about this while writing in another thread. This may prove to be just a thread to make people chuckle but it also may serve to remind teams about safety and best practices. So here goes a start for the list...

1. Touch a soldering iron to see if it turned on.
2. Carry a battery with one hand, and dropping it. (on your foot or on the ground)
3. Put the red wire on the black battery terminal.
4. Wire the radio to a normal 12 volt output on the PD.
5. Use a crescent wrench as a hammer. (power on or off, you choose.)
6. Hold a robot part in your hand while drilling. ( a variety of errors jump to mind)
7. Put a practice battery on the robot. (actually happens more than you know)
8. Build to last year's dimensions because "they never change".
9. Use a dremmel tool to grind right next to your custom 3D printed part.
10. Mount your bumpers upside down. (except teams 11, 111, 1111)

[EricVanWyk]

11. Solder without safety glasses.
12. Use a hand drill with long unbound hair.

[404'd]

13. Leave male ends of PWM cables exposed.

[Bstep]

Design the robot with Mechanum wheels.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Bstep

Design the robot with Mechanum wheels.

We've done it twice.

[Jorge Ayala]

Originally Posted by Bstep

Design the robot with Mechanum wheels.

+1

[Kyle A]

18. Drill something without covering the electronics.
19. Put a popped of chain back on without cutting the power.
20. Spray paint a part outside in 20 degree weather.
21. stand in front of the robot while testing the shooter.

[theawesome1730]

15: Leave a wrench on the draw bar on the Bridgeport and turn it on
16: Touch a freshly welded part
17: Touch a rough edge on carbon fiber

[yash101]

Originally Posted by EricVanWyk

11. Solder without safety glasses.
12. Use a hand drill with long unbound hair.

I solder without safety goggles. I also drill while holding things in my hand (carefully). You just need to make sure the your hand isn't in the path of the dill. I also carry batteries with one hand and never drop them (even though I'm a weak Indian).
^^^^BUT DON'Y TRY THIS YOURSELF CAUSE I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU LOSE A HAND OR TWO!!!^^^^


Also(things you do only once):
--don't drive robots through doorways. carry them too. If you want, ask me and I can try to record a video of why not to do it.
--wire the connector on a battery backwards.
--pick robots from the frame, not the signal light
--put horns on you robot

However, here's something I noticed, but they would be under "Things you only do NEVER":
--weld without eye or hand protection
--never disassemble those batteries even if you like playing with acids and chemicals.
--humans vs robots
--don't try to charge a battery by plugging it into the wall
--don't draw more than 120 amps continuously from a battery

--and best of all: DON'T DRIVE ROBOTS OFF THE TOP OF BUILDINGS, ESPECIALLY IF THERE IS A COP CAR RIGHT UNDERNEATH


What to do:
--Create a battery tray and line the bottom with a thick layer of baking soda. a sheet of paper above it is also good. Avoid wood because I think baking soda and wood might create a mess
--Travel with baking soda
--CHARGE BATTERIES AT A LOWE SPEED THAN THEY ARE RATED
--batteries plus loose metal objects equals fires, and so is a no-no. KEEP BATTERIES IN THEIR OWN COMPARTMENT
--MAKE SURE THE BATTERY IS FIXED PROPERLY. --i should have posted a picture of how our testbot battery was affixed --a big no-no
--turn off the breaker and unplug the battery if you see some magic smoke.
--if you need help, ask for it. don't be shy. I (and many others) will be willing to assist you at competitions
--If another team needs a part or needs to borrow a tool that only you have and aren't using, go ahead. It'll only increase your team reputation


I hope this helps
I also hope this makes you laugh (part of it)

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by yash101

I also drill while holding things in my hand (carefully). You just need to make sure the your hand isn't in the path of the dill.

No!

You also need to make sure your hand isn't in the path of whatever it is you're drilling when the bit catches on it and spins it around at high speed. Basically you need to not be holding the part.

[Whippet]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

No!

You also need to make sure your hand isn't in the path of whatever it is you're drilling when the bit catches on it and spins it around at high speed. Basically you need to not be holding the part.

+1 to this. One of the captains of my former team almost lost two of her fingers when she was drilling a hole in a piece of wood and the bit caught. If it's possible for it to go wrong, it usually will, and always at the most inopportune time.

[RobotDoktor]

Definitely don't drill anything metal, sharp, or both while holding it with your hand. Fortunately the scar is pretty much gone now.

Other things to avoid:

• Cutting small parts on the chopsaw (it will go flying)

• Leaving the chuck key in a drill press/lathe/mill

• Holding resistors while soldering them

• Stalling AM9015 motors (burned out the motor and melted the brand new Anderson connectors)

• Send poorly dimensioned drawings for machining

I should point out that CAD autosave is not a thing because of the time it takes to save assemblies of hundreds of parts.

[themccannman]

Originally Posted by RobotDoktor

• Leaving the chuck key in a drill press/lathe/mill

This is a good way to get a chuck key lodged in your skull. No joking matter, this could legitimately kill you.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by RobotDoktor;1337673
Other things to avoid:
[LIST

Leaving the chuck key in a drill press/lathe/mill[/list]

The Torbots found a way to deal with this on the drill presses, or 2/3 of them at any rate. First, the chuck key is chained to the stand of the drill press... then the "On" button is covered in such a way that the chuck key has to be used to turn on the drill press. The "Off" button? WIDE open in case of needing to hit it quickly.

[theCADguy]

Accidentally overwrite someone else's changes when working in a CAD assembly

Forget to dimension the locations of holes in a CAD drawing

Use the extrude command to create a hole on Autodesk Inventor