As the prototype was almost complete, with the wiring finalized, the group around it grew. The monumental task of flipping the power switch seemed within reach. The netbook booted up, the wireless router started streaming, and the Ethernet cable was connected, one end to the laptop, the other to the robot's brain, its cRIO. As I held my breath, along with everyone else present, the room was so silent that the death of a gnat could have sounded like thunder on a stormy night. Since we as a robotics team had all spent endless hours on this, we were all eager to see it work. The mouse cursor hovered over the bright green virtual “Activate” button. The mouse clicked, the sound so loud that me and the rest of the group flinched. With that mouse click, computing came to life. We fled for cover as the IT came to life and sporadically spiraled out of control. Someone's hand, whose owner was not visible in the confusion, pressed the emergency stop button, hopefully ending the vehicle's wild, uncontrollable rage. ...