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by haswell
796 days ago
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The reason NASA invests so much in hardened components and redundancy is that their hardware has to continue functioning in an environment where humans cannot intervene. The availability of commodity hardware is one of the reasons projects like the Recovery Kit can exist. Redundancy and durability can be measured in multiple ways, and I suspect it's cheaper to keep on hand a stack of backup components that can easily be swapped out than to invest the time, energy and money on a more bespoke hardened solution that can't easily be replicated and would put this project out of reach for many people trying to replicate it. The goal of "Ruggedized Raspberry Pi" seems to have been met quite well, IMO. |
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I had the same thought at first, "I should really solder these wires."
But then I realized that wires coming loose was inevitable given the hell this project was going to endure being handled by airlines, rolled across different terrain, and poked and proded by trade show attendees.
So I opted to use color coded jumper cables and include extra. In the manual, I included a simple wiring diagram to show how to hook everything up. No solder needed.
In the hands of a consumer, yes, everything should be soldered because there's a higher force needed to break the connection, but repair is also harder. Consumers typically do not repair, so the trade off leans toward solder. I suspect this is the perspective that inspires this comment.
In the hands of a hacker looking for durability, it's actually better for things to be replaceable. Because the hacker can repair, the advantage gained by soldering isn't worth the the friction added repair.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWcm1S_wAz0