When I develop my robots, be it hardware or software, I never let wheels touch the ground (or table or whatever).
Why is it important?
Dangling wires, such as power cable, Ethernet or loosely connected sensors don't like being pulled.
Expensive equipment around (laptop, monitors, chargers) does not like being run over.
My hands do not like fighting with a powerful moving object in a vain attempt to stop it. [ #4, by the way]
Robots do not enjoy hitting walls or falling off table either.
Soft tires get weirdly shaped if the robot stands on them for a long time.
How do I do it?
Most robots fit on some sort of a cardboard box (shoe box or similar). When I had a bigger robot, I devoted time to building a wooden construction to support the robot with wheels in the air. It paid off. Imagine a robot with 60 km/h speed limit (1:5 RC car) going crazy ...
When at home, working on the robot, I always park it on that box. The only exception is when I want to test movement on the ground, but that is a very controlled process. I disconnect cables, remove objects from around the robot and only after that I let it go.
When I develop my robots, be it hardware or software, I never let wheels touch the ground (or table or whatever).
Why is it important?
How do I do it?