Droid Maintenance...

[khiemtran]

Domestic droids are pretty reliable and it's not often you get to look inside one, but our old Weslo Robotics 795i has been showing its age lately, and, since it is so old, I decided to open it up with Liem rather than call in a specialist. Here's the main drive wheel. As you can see, it's already showing a lot of wear.




The inner workings of these older droids are surprisingly low-tech, but they are built to last. Here you can see the spring which tensions the resistance strap against the drive wheel. A simple solution, but one engineered to last well beyond the droid's nominal operational lifespan.



The resistance strap itself is another matter. As you can see to the right of the photo, the strap has almost been worn through and is only held together by one or two threads at its thinnest point.



So close to disaster! It was a good thing we opened it up. Otherwise, I might not have noticed anything until the strap finally broke and the entire droid became unserviceable.

There's a bit of a metaphor for life here. It was amazing how well the old droid functioned even though it was just a thread or two away from catastrophe. So, check your droids regularly, people! And while you're at it, get yourself checked up as well...

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Eeek, that's frayed. What would have happened if it broke?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It probably would have just given me a fright, but I'm not going to use it again until I've replaced the strap, just in case.