Rookie Question. double solenoids...
 

Posted by Anton Abaya at 2/16/2001 1:44 AM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and NONE AT THE MOMENT! :(.



oh wait we're not rookies anymore. well, with 3 full time "engineers" (college students) plus or minus 3, it seems like it. especially since i'm the only veteran from all of us..

anyway to get to the question...

we are trying to hook up the double solenoid to ONE Spike. i dont know electrical stuff (deprived i know) and let some1 else do it (for once). we tried it and we smelt something burning (on the solenoid) so we turned it off.

we did it exactly the way the manual says we should do it with the diodes and all....

did anyone else do this? or should i just go get a darn spike?

and if i just use another spike, can i use last year's?

thanks all..

-anton is aching to finish his wobot

burning smells are not usually good
 

Posted by Joe Ross at 2/16/2001 4:43 AM EST


Engineer on team #330, Beach Bot, from Hope Chapel Academy and NASA/JPL , J&F Machine, and Raytheon.


In Reply to: Rookie Question. double solenoids...
Posted by Anton Abaya on 2/16/2001 1:44 AM EST:



: we are trying to hook up the double solenoid to ONE Spike. i dont know electrical stuff (deprived i know) and let some1 else do it (for once). we tried it and we smelt something burning (on the solenoid) so we turned it off.

: we did it exactly the way the manual says we should do it with the diodes and all....

: did anyone else do this? or should i just go get a darn spike?

: and if i just use another spike, can i use last year's?

I'm not sure what you might have done ;-) My first thought was that you inserted a diode backwards, but if that were the case the solenoid probably wouldn't have worked, but shouldn't have burned. There was probably a short somewhere, thats the only thing that I can think of that might cause burning.

The simplest solution (unless you want to try it with the diodes again) would be to use 2 spikes. You are allowed to use spikes from last year. This does assume that the double solenoid still works.

Re: Rookie Question. double solenoids...
 

Posted by Lloyd Burns at 2/16/2001 7:34 AM EST


Other on team #188, Woburn Robotics, from Woburn Collegiate and Canada 3000, ScotiaBank, Royal Bank Financial.


In Reply to: Rookie Question. double solenoids...
Posted by Anton Abaya on 2/16/2001 1:44 AM EST:



: we are trying to hook up the double solenoid to ONE Spike. i dont know electrical stuff (deprived i know) and let some1 else do it (for once). we tried it and we smelt something burning (on the solenoid) so we turned it off.

: we did it exactly the way the manual says we should do it with the diodes and all....

: -anton is aching to finish his wobot

Troubleshoot things:

. 1. Connect air under pressure to the (middle) pressure port, and put a cylinder on the two ports on the other side. this is important because the valve will not work with no pressure. Connect the coils (with proper polarity [red = positive] to 12V), and see if they change the cylinder. If they do, egad it works ! If not, find another, fast !

. 2. If you know how to connect the LED's connectly, great - otherwise take one of the "12V" LED's, and first, touch it to 5V and ground on the R.C. analog connector, changing the connections until it lights. Leave one of the leads connected, and put one of you diodes in series with the other lead, then check if photons are escaping the LED. If so, the diode conducts in that direction. Make sure that when you connect the diode the other way, the LED does _not_ light. If if does, the diode isn't working. Check the other diode.

. 3. Make sure your program has lines to make sure that only side of the relay is on at any time:

relay#_fwd = 0 'just to make sure, with
relay#_rev = 0 '.. lotsa overkill
.
.
.
.
relay#_fwd = p1_sw_trig 'actual decision
relay#_rev = p1_sw_top 'or relay#_rev = ~relay#_rev

. 4. The "Magic Smoke" smell may be that you left the compressor on too long.

. 5. Check that the little wires did not penetrate you insulating tape and short connections you thought were OK. A burned diode releases magic smoke, and has been known to crack the case in severe cases.