Engineering slogans

[RBrandy]

cut first, then measure

[Gope]

My personal favorite, which originated in Nasa

If it works then it dosen't have enough gadgets

[Aaron Lussier]

I heard this my second year on the team:

" Look at the screw from the nuts perspective"

- Chris Carnavale

[Mike Rush]

If precision does not work, use force.

[Mike Rush]

Engineering is the art of molding materials we do not entirely understand, into shapes we cannot really analyze, to withstand forces we cannot really assess, such that the public at large is unaware of the extent of our ignorance.

Anonymous

[BaysianLogik]

We just have KISS

[Adam Y.]

Hear is another one: Make sure the robot doesn't roll off the table.

[pauluffel]

A couple of acronyms that aren"t really slogans, but are used alot during design...
When we"re drawing a potential design on one of the boards, we explain it to everyone as we"re drawing. This leads to some drawings that don"t look quite right, and are then headed be the ubiquitous NTS (not to scale.) Once someone finshes their picture, they finally stop to look at it and decide to also add the letters POS next to NTS.

P.S. We also write POS on most prototypes because it"s very fitting.

[asher]

"for every complex system that fails there exists a simpler system that works"

my prof that i started with in FIRST painted this on a huge sign which now hangs in my lab, it will be with the 31ers forever

and as woodie told us all:

"set screws inhale audibly"

asher

[doyler]

Good enough for government work

(programming ones)
It's all the engineers/electrical people's fault
PEBKAC i like
In theory...
It worked before
It should work...

[Carolyn Duncan]

If it moves when it's not supposed to duct tape it. If it doesn't move when it's supposed to WD40 it.
Another variation includes
If it doesn't move when it's supposed hammer it 'til you need the duct tape.

[ChrisH]

Originally posted by Mike Rush
Engineering is the art of molding materials we do not entirely understand, into shapes we cannot really analyze, to withstand forces we cannot really assess, such that the public at large is unaware of the extent of our ignorance.

Anonymous

Which doesn't entirely fit with the "Stress Engineer's Motto":

When in Doubt
Make it Stout
From Something
You know About

I heard it from Bob Best, I have no clue where he got it from...

[Adam Y.]

"set screws inhale audibly"

lol He stole that from battlebots. This is quite odd but in physics class I managed to get a partially correct answer but doing to wrongs. You could say two wrongs sometimes make a right.

[Mark Hamilton]

The "set screws inhale audibly" quote has been around longer then I've been in FIRST, and far longer then Battlebots has been around. It used to be quite common for robot's to break their hubs in the middle of a match, ussually do to set screws. The robots would sit on the feild with the motors full blast and going nowhere. I haven't seen this happen in quite awhile.

[Adam Y.]

The "set screws inhale audibly" quote has been around longer then I've been in FIRST, and far longer then Battlebots has been around. It used to be quite common for robot's to break their hubs in the middle of a match, ussually do to set screws. The robots would sit on the feild with the motors full blast and going nowhere. I haven't seen this happen in quite awhile.

Yeah but robot combat is as old as first is and I've always thought the person who created it was the creator of biohazard. Of course when you've got enough people who have the same problem with set screws they probably all say that set screws suck.