Wind Tunnel
 

Hello all FIRST'ers

Team T.H.R.U.S.T. is in need of the use of a Wind Tunnel to quantify a Proof of Concept design for our robot.
If you know of one, we can use, within driving distance of Huntington, IN, let me know.
Thanks

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

The closest I can think of is at Purdue, but last I knew, it was broken down.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Wind tunnel??? Sounds like you are making something very interesting.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

This is probably the single scariest question I've ever seen posted to this website.

How fast is your robot going to move, exactly?

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

i like your team acronym.. very creative... and yes, that question is pretty scary. i'm very interested in how your robot is going to turn out now... i'll be sure to keep an eye out for you guys.

as for the location of a wind tunnel near you, i have no idea. good luck, i hope you find it in due time. :)

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Methinks it could be involved with shooting a projectile through a tetra to grab it? like a grapple hook?

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

nahh i think they're just already overweight and wondering about how the speed holes might affect performance :D

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

I think a windtunnel is overboard, unless we are flying these robots.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

speed holes are sexy! just look at all of our previous robots, expecially Roccobot 2k3... it looked like pink swiss cheese! but really, i dont think drilling in holes really affects performace as long as you dont drill holes to the point where theres no metal left!

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

ARE there rules about flyring or hovering robots?

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

thats a good question... -flips thru the manual- well.. i guess as long as you figure out a way to build a flying/hovering robot that would be safe and pose no potential threat or harm to anyone on or near the playing field it would be okay...

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

So...really...you could have a remote control airplane with a string with a big fishing hook on the end to grab tetras...lol

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

haha... i dont know of any remote control airplane that would be strong enough to pick up a tetra AND fit within the dimensions limits... and if fitting in the invisible box wasnt an issue, airplanes that large usually run off of gasoline or something like that... although that would be pretty cool to try.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Let's all calm down here. To get something up to a speed where wind matters on a 54' long field is unlikely.

So, either the whole thing is not moving around at high speed (just some appendage or something),

or there will be something that is affected by wind very easily (something with very large surface area),

or, most likely, this isn't FIRST related.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Agree. Let's get back to the original topic and leave this thread as a question/answer thread.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Well, so there is one at Purdue, but it is broken from what i understand???? :confused: :ahh:

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Well you can do what the guys from spaceship one did and mount the thing onto the front of a suv.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

LOL, some how that doesn't sound........oh whats the word, um...............efficient. lol. ;)

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

How fast does the air need to be traveling for you to collect the data you need?
I built a small scale wind tunnel using a house fan, its max speed is about 20-25 mph. But you probably need something with some more power.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

I think 25mph would be pretty slow;) , although it could work:confused:. IDK, what do you think Wayne??? :confused:

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

that means you need a couple more fans. but lotsa small fans will proly not make a smooth flow. itll have so much turbulence. cheapest way is prolly
except we all know suvs have bad aerodynamics so you want a loooong pole or sumthing to keep it away from the car or. get a ferrari or sumthing

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

wire up all the included muffin fans in series~ and you can blow your robot to your regional in 1.5335 nanoseconds

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

LOL, hey theres an idea, everyone charge the batterys :ahh: , LOL.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

There is one at Rose-Hulman in Terre Haute (or at least there was still one the last time I was on campus a couple years ago), but that's probably farther than you want to have to go.

How big a test sample and what wind speed is required will have a major bearing on finding a tunnel. You can test a scale model, it just will require an appropriate increase in wind speed.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Maybe it wasn't an SUV but all I know is that these guys went into space using a car as a windtunnel so it has to work.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

If i remember correctly the SpaceShipOne team mounted the model to the front of a truck to test its drag. Id be pretty nervous to compete against a FIRST team that had to test the drag of their bot.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

I think that they need a wind tunnel because they're trying to actually build a wall-bot :)
(see thread below)

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...t=designs+work

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

yea that was the 1st thign that poped into my mind. i still jsut abotu died seeing a thread with this name

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

yes there are rules aginst hovercrafts

but how would you get it to fly antway

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

wonder if this is just to scare people, it kinda made me wonder what was possible but after reading the rules again I'm not that worried any more.

Particle Accelerater
 

Hello Firsters!

Team 662 is in desperate need of a particle accelerater to test out an experimental chasis for our robot. If you know of one that we could use, within driving distance of Colorado Springs, please let me know... :D

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Particle Accelerator!!! I try to post a serious question and all I get are facetious responses :D
Since we can't find a wind tunnel, anyone have a Lamborghini Diablo we can borrow? I promise to return it after the build season ;)

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

ya it's probly just to scare us, but it's clearly stated no flying robots or projectiles on tethers to iterat with tetras

right? :cool: :cool:

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

I wonder if FIRST would let you get away with cannibalizing the Diablo engine for a drive train..... Now THAT would be fun to see! :D

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

you could shrink it via massave magnetic shrinking

(i wish i still had the link to soem info on this process)

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

does it have to be a diablo? would a countache work?errr.. well no, i dont have one. maybe eventually....
well countaches arent too aerodynamic anyways.
if you shrink it the air molecules would have a bigger affect on it so i dunno. i think you'd have a better bet atually having that shrinker on the robot so once the match starts it gets bigger again.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Hey, I don't see anything in the rules about bending space-time to fit the size requirements. So all we need to do is stick that Diablo engine halfway into sub-space...

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Then theres always that rule about where you can get energy from.... gasoline doesnt exactly pass the test. Though I suppose you could have a spring that is half in another dimension, then use a gas engine to compress the spring, but make sure the gas engine is in the other dimension. I dont know I dont have the manual open just now, but it sounds kinda far fetched to me. Though not as far fetched as needing a wind tunnel for a FIRST robot.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

no advanced circuits either...


just put a Tbls of white dwarf matter into a sandwhich baggy and it will all be good

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/pi...=5&quiet=Quiet

This is Team 1501's Flight...er....Driving Control. That's what I meant...Driving Control.

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Well hey, if you had a few hundred thousand dollars and a large warehouse or large space, you could make your own wind tunnel. After build season you could screw around in it by trying to see who can win at a staring contest with the wind blasting them right in the face. Ya, stupid idea, but it'd be funny. And good luck on finding a wind tunnel. But one thing I have to wonder...Why a windtunnel, are you making like a hovercraft or something that has a little RC plane on it that takes the tetra and places it on the goal? Because if you are that'd be insane, but really cool. Or maybe...go kart/robot???
I dunno,
O well

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Flight yoke? This is getting scarier and scarier........ What regionals are you guys gonna be at?

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

I have a hunch it is physically impossible to fly using the kit parts. The minimum robot weight (RC + Battery + Motors) to maximum power ratio doesn't make sense. I wish I knew the physics to write a proof. Anyone out there want to take a shot? You just need to calculate the maximum lift that could be attained with the motors we have, and how much energy it would take, and compare this to the energy available and the energy it would require...

Then again, the whole robot doesn't need to fly, it could just be a little detaching bit. This seems somewhat dangerous and possibly against the rules, and also a lot of work for seemingly little return. Furthermore, a yoke is only useful for controlling non-rotor aircraft if I'm not mistaken, so we'd be looking at something like an RC plane with wires running to it.

I'm calling monkey-business! It's a hoax.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

We will be attending the Boilmaker Regional in Indiana. :D

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

:ahh: , Wayne post something serious and you call it "monkey-business" and a "hoax", JEEZ :rolleyes:

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Many things are tested by being mounted on top of SUVs and trucks. Testing tensions and forces is possible by (as simply) attaching a force guage - to a string - to the item being tested. You could also mount a video camera up there too. When determining airspeed keep in mind that if you are facing a headwind (which is preferred) you add the speed of the car + the speed of the wind. [ex: 5 mph headwind + 30 mph car speed = 35 mph airspeed] Who needs a wind tunnel when you have the whole outdoors?!

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

A robot that flies would not be possible to build within the rules unless you are talking about a hovercraft. A hovercraft would be reasonably easy this year if I am interpreting the rules right. The biggest problem (besides not getting any traction, and dificulty of control) would be generating enough air flow to get it to hover. You would need to build an air pump, and it is unclear to me whether that is allowed. There is no way the compressor can handle the volume of air necessary for making a robot hover properly.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

Lets try to keep this thread on topic. If anyone knows of a usable wind tunnel within driving distance to Huntington, In., I would think Wayne and team T.H.R.U.S.T. would still be looking to test in it.

Re: Wind Tunnel
 

When I first saw this post, the only thing I could think of was a question that was posed to FIRST a very long time ago:

Can our rotor downwash knock tubes off the goal?

Matt