Hey everyone, I just wanted to remind everyone how important wire management is on your robot. The video I’m about to show you is from our practice robot, which ate itself today. And, despite all the missing wires, we were still able to drive it, but it was driving kinda funny. Anyways, hope you enjoy robot gore.
Scott Corley - Team 2582
Looks like most of your PWM cables got caught in one of your drivetrain belt assemblies and violently ripped off the digital sidecar, and it didn’t do the belt or your wheel tread much good either. How did your camera get involved in this?
I’m sorry you had to learn this one the hard way, but hopefully your production robot is wired more safely (or will be as soon as you get to competition). I’m going to show this to my electrical students to emphasize why we’re so careful about wire routing and control.
Well actually our camera is what made us notice all this. The camera nut and washer came off and the camera fell between our winch and frame. And yes, luckily this was just our practice bit. The electrical work on this robot was done by our trainees. Our competition bot was wired by veteran team members and everything was taped, bundled, and most importantly, run inside the c-channel so that there is no chance that this will happen.
Surprisingly enough, we weren’t really upset. We used this as an opportunity to teach our new team members how important wire management is.
Scott Corley - Team 2582
While this is very unfortunate, I am glad your team understands it is a great learning opportunity for everyone. Whole those wires and components, the students have now learned one important lesson in wire management that no classroom can give.
Thank you for sharing this!