Chinese Shipping Caveat

CHINESE SHIPPING CAVEAT
Let this be a warning about some Mainland Chinese shipping services that drop packages from a height of perhaps eight feet or more and are thrown around. We've had numerous items broken, stolen, end up missing, and heavy duty shipping containers ripped apart and broken.

PHOTOS illustrate typical appearances of numerous boxes and their conditions similar to our boxes when they arrived.

Several boxes were delivered with their sides ripped wide open and the parts were literally falling out leaving a trail. This is totally ridiculous.

No one at the shipping department or in transit delivery had the common sense to put a piece of tape on the side of the box. They were not willing to take the time or afford a 2 cent piece of tape.

But the shipping service was certainly expensive enough. It's no wonder people say that companies are pulling out of China as fast as they are moving in.

The recent disappointment was the condition of the well packed 4DSC super machine when it arrived. The servo horns were torn in half!

Imagine the force it would take to do that! The machine was repairable however, as we had several extra servo horns as replacements. Of course now our inventory of servo horns is depleted and we need to make new orders for parts.

Air Travel Chain Effect

AIR TRAVEL CHAIN EFFECT - Stay Safe & Protect Electronics

EVA Airline Technicians inspect wheels and tires before departure. EVA Air is viewed by many as one of the safest and most convenient ways to travel. In a hot climate, aircraft air conditioning is extremely important as well as careful luggage handling and safe flight history.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. How to stay safe and protect electronics during air travel.

Big Brain EXOskeleton As shown in the photo below, the Big Brain Exoskeleton incurred damage during the recent shipment out of China, even though it was carefully wrapped in surrounding blankets. It's always a little confusing - are you on China Air or Air China? The metal brass spacer holding the LCD broke off at the thread position (see top right). The nut with the broken threads is seen just above the top left corner of the white solderless breadboard. Normally such precarious position on the EXO would have a remedy modification for strengthening the mount. However in this case, we like the EXO idea so much, it will be a simple matter to just replace the brass spacer. What's so desirable about the EXO design? Even though mounting wires and components on the outside of the Big Brain machine can compromise its function during rough handling, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. The ease and convenience of wiring, rewiring, examination, inspection, modifications, and upgrades are super easy. Lighting is also at a premium and photographing the layout is easy. For future shipping, remove the LCDs.

OOPS - Big Brain EXOskeleton Broken in luggage

Parallax Penguin Robot

Penguin robots are very strong and sturdy, built with nylon and machined metal. However, Chinese luggage handlers maintain their reputation to be stronger. It's estimated this luggage was dropped from a height of 12 feet. The majority of the shipped assembled penguins broke at the legs linkage connecting to the servo. Most had the white nylon servo linkage (servo horn) that connects the legs linkage to NARO servo broken. This appears to be the weakest link in the Penguin robot chain. For future shipping, remove the servo horns.

Parallax Toddler Robot

The weakest link in the Toddler robot chain is the underside stride linkage. For future shipping, remove the stride servo horn.

Solderless Breadboards

Nylon polymer solderless breadboards, which were wired with Parallax Propeller chips, completely survived the rough handling. They were wrapped in towels. A photographic schematic was first created and interconnecting wires were removed. These boards easily stack during shipping.

Big Brain Survives Airport Security

It took 6 pieces of luggage to ship part of the Big Brain

SURVIVING AIRPORT SECURITY

Airport Security, I'm telling you, it's not a bomb!!!

The Left Brain and the Right Brain sections were taken through airport security yesterday. There was some concern about both sections. The right brain was packaged inside an oversized box and created overweight while not fitting any of the specifications of a carry on item. The left brain looked like a bomb with its Propeller arrays of wired boards!

After some bargaining with airport managers, and the offering of money, the right brain in the oversized and overweight box was allowed on the plane as a carry on. This was good luck and undoubtedly due to to some bargaining finesse, and money. Inside the jet aircraft, the Boeing 747 was retrofitted with some very large overhead luggage compartments and the Big Right Brain box fit in just fine.

Next up, the left brain, which was packed into a large brown taped box, was taken specifically to special airport operations check in which is located at a separate location from regular check through luggage, where it was x-rayed for content. I was worried sick. All those arrays and wires and chips and metal contact points from the many large solderless breadboards would certainly bring forth alarms. Fears being allayed, Airport security simply said "Data?" The reply was "yes." ... and it went through... (Sometimes the more agreeable you can be and the less you say are your greatest assets.)

Upon arrival at destination, the Big Left Brain brown "Data" box promptly appeared on the luggage carrousel, thus alleviating a lot of worry about the safety and transport of the Big Brain. Many of the smaller Big Brain siblings (children) were packed in the standard check through luggage and these went through fine, with no questions asked.