Quadruped Robot for monitoring terrain humidity

@valerio PICTURES Show us what the troublesome connectors look like.

Posted by: @valerio

@zander @will @inq @byron

The issue is I don't know how to prevent this from happening again.

Suggestions are welcome.

Don't ever use spring terminals again. If it's a permanent connection, then solder it.

@valerio @will As an electrician I was always taught to physically secure as well as electrically secure all connections.

@valerio

And by the way, if you ever need to use a screw terminal, you should use a crimper to put a wire terminal connection it first. The pressure from the screw will eventually push the wire aside and can make the terminal connection intermittent. Adding the crimper connector collects the wire strands so that they can't go anywhere and will remain in close contact with the connector and the screw terminal.

@will That sounds like the voice of experience

@will @zander

I will probably just solder the wires to the PCA9685 instead.

@zander 

Just a precautionary tale 🙂

@will Got the T

@will @zander

I've just discovered that all components, including the Arduino, are intact.

The only slight issues are the battery wires' silicone tube melting in some places and a small notch

on the chassis because of the heated wires cutting through it.

@valerio You got lucky

@valerio 

Excellent. In the words of Mr Spock "Random chance has operated in your favour" 🙂

@will @valerio I always say 'I would rather be lucky than good'. Resist the urge Will!

@zander 

W C Fields would rather be in Philadelphia.

@will I knew you couldn't resist

Hi @valerio,

   Great to hear that you have only suffered some superficial damage.

  At the risk of sounding patronising, I have a few comments for you to consider:

   Perhaps you would like to consider adding some protection .. the simplest start being a fuse inline with the wire from your battery... as the unexpected happens to all of us ... and unless we learn from our mistakes, not just once. Lithium batteries can source a much higher current than NiCad, NiMH or alkaline of simliar size, and need much more careful handling.

I don't know which connectors, etc you used, but the 'general' rule is that you try to assume that anything that can come apart, will do just that at the most inconvenient moment. Thus, the feed from a power source is commonly the 'female' part of the connector, and insulated, so that if (when?) it comes loose, it is less likely to make contact with chassis, etc.

Beware of soldering flying leads directly to a PCB .. the PCB tracks are only weakly glued to the underliying board, and a flying lead can easily tear it off, possibly leading to a repeat of your recent experience. Aim to use a connector of some sort which can take the mechanical strain.

And particularly for systems that move, or are frequently moved, try to anchor the wires, etc. so that the vibrations etc. do not result in connections breakng.

Good luck with your project. Dave