Dean''s next mode of transportation was the bicycle (shown in Figure 2). Like most kids, he gained a sense of independence, learned new skills (balance), and experienced new thrills (speed)! He discovered that unforeseen circumstances can lead to personal injury. He also learned valuable lessons about looking ahead for hidden dangers and judging distances in the event of having to make an emergency stop or maneuver. Bike riding is great preparation for learning to drive a fun kart.Figure 3 is a photo of Dean and his 6-year-old brother, Jacob, riding in an entry-level fun kart. This is where driver training really gets serious, This fun kart has a steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals, and three-point safety seat/shoulder belts. Due to their low center of gravity, the two-seat models safely carry a passenger and driver--when driven as recommended by the manufacturer (at a safe speed for the present road conditions and hazards). All fun karts are required to have overhead brush guards to provide limited protection against obstacles in compliance with American Fun Kart Association (AFKA) standards. All karts are also required to have drive-train guards to protect against entanglement of such objects as clothing and hair. Dean is sitting on his dad''s quad in Figure 4 (see page 20). He is not yet allowed to drive it! Although many quads are driven by youngsters, too many of them have terrible accidents because of excessive speed, a high center of gravity, and a lack of rider protection. Also, handlebar steering and the coordination necessary for hand-and-foot braking are not skills that will carry over to driving a street-legal vehicle.

We included three 15.6-volt drills from companies that don''t make 14.4-volt tools. It''s reasonable to include them because they have similar specs and performance; the only difference is an extra cell in the 15.6-volt battery packs.The current specs are impressive, but what really counts is what the tools can do. The Porter-Cable model wasn''t available till recently, but the rest of the tools showed up while I was doing a major kitchen remodel. Every day I used two or three different guns. This meant using them for everything from drilling holes for Romex and plumbing lines to installing drywall and cabinets. I also put the drills through a side-by-side test to get an idea of power and run-time.

Remote control of current and voltage is a plus if the welding operator is located away from the power source.Robotic and automatic applications generally require high-duty-cycle power supplies, and controls and connections for interfacing to the robot or automatic feature.Supervisory control of the process will prevent the welder from changing the welding procedures. Here, select a power supply or controller that enables the supervisor to program the procedures, then lock them into the control memory, Some power supplies or controllers offer the welder limited control of the process.Input power to power supplies can bc single and/or three phase, with voltage from 115 to 575 V and input frequencies of 50, 60, or 50/60 Hz. Note that many inverter power supplies are designed to operate on both single- and three-phase input, and have automatic input-voltage selection and linking.

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