Ya'll think this would be legal?

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Posted by Elliot Johnson at 2/1/2001 1:08 PM EST


Student on team #218, HP Robotics Team, from Highland Park High School and Double-E Inc..



We want to use a few a more cylinders than the valves will allow. We have four cylinders that can be activated independenlty. One of them, however, is just to deploy part of our robot, something we will want to do at the beginning of every match. Is it legal to just hook that cylinder directly up to the airtanks so that it extends when the system is pressurized? The system will have to start out uncompressed at the very beginning of the match, but that shouldn't be a problem since we won't have to use any of the other cylinders until after some time has passed.

What do you think?

thanks,
Elliot Johnson
Team 218

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Posted by Joe Johnson at 2/1/2001 5:21 PM EST


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: Ya'll think this would be legal?
Posted by Elliot Johnson on 2/1/2001 1:08 PM EST:



The only way I think FIRST will allow an air cylinder on the "high" side of the regulator is for it to be locked in place as an additional air tank. (See Q&A 90 on update #5)

But, I think that you could use it beyond the regulator legally because I don't see any rule that requires a valve be placed in line with an air cylinder.

Joe J.

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Posted by Ed Sparks at 2/1/2001 10:17 PM EST


Engineer on team #34, The Rockets, from Bob Jones High / New Century High and DaimlerChrysler.


In Reply to: I suppose not... ...but try this...
Posted by Joe Johnson on 2/1/2001 5:21 PM EST:



If I understand the senerio right.............

You would not be able to precharge the volume tanks (not to mention the uncontrolled cylinder volume)and it would take a significant amount of time to get your system up to pressure.

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Posted by Jim Meyer at 2/2/2001 7:45 AM EST


Engineer on team #67, HOT Team, from Huron Valley Schools and GM Milford Proving Ground.


In Reply to: Ya'll think this would be legal?
Posted by Elliot Johnson on 2/1/2001 1:08 PM EST:



Like Joe said I think this would be legal as long as you have it connedted to the 60 psi side of the regulator.

One thing you could do that would allow you to precharge your system would be to use the pilot operated check valve. You could set it up so that it wouldn't deploy until you activated one of the other 3 valves. If I remember correctly the valves are closed until you apply pressure to the port side. If you used your check valve in addition to that you could make it self-latching too if needed.

If you don't understand what I am talking about, just post a response stating so and I'll try to clarify.

Just some thoughts,

Jim