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Calling the stages "first" and "second" implies a reference point. You're labeling things from the point of view of the driving motor, in which case I'm not sure the term "mechanical advantage" is being applied properly.

Aaron described it from the other perspective, with the slower-moving stage experiencing twice the force applied to the faster-moving stage. They were testing it by pulling down on the end, applying force to what you labeled the "second" stage.

Re: pic: Telescoping Arm Warning
 

You're right, I had it mixed up. Apologies! That's what I get for reading posts at 730am :eek:

The problem is that the rope's BREAKING load and WORKING load are different criterion. The breaking load can be approached once, whereas the working load can be reached safely many many times.

Re: pic: Telescoping Arm Warning
 

You see... I verified that on TBA.... I knew the difference... I forgot to add the 4.... Sorry about that.

Either way. 111, 148, or 1114, I would still do it in a heartbeat. :D

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While Spectra is extremely strong for it's diameter, stronger than steel of the same diameter, it is also VERY slippery! If you intend to use it as your primary lifting line, make sure you understand all of it's properties and how to deal with them.

Here is a hint from the kiting community: Sleeve the ends of the line. Here is another source of info on sleeving, this has picture to help guide you.

Re: pic: Telescoping Arm Warning
 

The problem with UHMWPE is that it's used for so many different purposes and it's properties change so easily that they never rate it for working load, only breaking strength. The actually working properties are pretty interesting, the molecular bonds are fairly weak (Van der Waals forces hold it all together), but the molecules are very long, so the surface area between the molecules is enough to provide a lot of strength. That force changes pretty quickly when there's any kind of bend in the line, temperature difference, if it's wet, if it's a Saturday.... Vectran is quite a bit more stable, but lower strength per cross-sectional area, which is the reason we went with UHMWPE (not to mention price, it's a little older and proven material, and used more commonly in commercial applications like boating and rock climbing).

Thanks for all of the suggestions, this is very helpful!

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Some people will tell you that there is no rope on a sailboat, but this only holds true for an ill-prepared one. Even fancy pants spinneret-ed high tech fiber used for holding stuff together on an america's cup boat is called rope when it is on the spool, as "rope" is the term for the raw material. A line is a usefully knotted/spliced/whatever amount of rope. So next time "captain" Bill castigates you with the old chestnut, tell him to wait while you go get some, cause how else are you getting home if the halyard snaps?

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hahah oooo nooooo D:

Re: pic: Telescoping Arm Warning
 

Update: The 3840 lb. Dyneema works! To weight test the system, I stood on the arm and the motor lifted me right up, no problem! Did the same for the robot, and then Richard and I hung on it. The first time we hung, something dropped down, but the Dyneema was fine, it was just under enough tension that it forced a spacer on the axle (a Delrin shroud that extended the 1/2" steel axle to 1") away from the sprocket and popped down to the next level. We fixed that problem and got all 4 feet off the ground for several seconds. It was quite impressive! We're adding in a tensioning system for the one knot we had stationary because it undid a little bit and detensioned the rope, but overall, I'm very happy with this material!

I highly recommend this stuff, just a few suggestions if you use it in the future:


1) It's a little hard to work with, but as was said before, 2 half hitches or a taut-line hitch work well when tying it, and always use a much bigger rating than you think you will need. Example: 500 pound load, didn't hold until we went to almost a 2-ton line!

2) Spectra/Dyneema (brand names of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, UHMWPE) is very slick, and does not like any kind of friction-based system. It will not work like a belt, it has to be tied down (the knots only work because there's so much pressure between the strands of material). To drive it off of our shaft, we actually had to drill a hole through the shaft, and then tie it down with a constrictor knot to keep it from moving in the hole.

3) If there is ANY kind of rubbing or abrasion, it will VASTLY weaken the rope. Just because the breaking strength is high doesn't mean it's hard to cut. The rating is just for a tension load, not shearing. We broke our first rope with 50 pounds of weight on it alone because we sheared it when it jumped a pulley.

Thanks for all the help, and good luck in competition!

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Working load ratings are much different from breaking load ratings!! :D Can't stress that enough!

Also, one physical test is worth a thousand models and calculations.

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Is that a pun?


Anyway, we're going with 5/32" steel cable, as I insisted upon a 10:1 factor of safety for our single bot (we don't expect to be lifting anyone else), and 1/8" was just at the limit.

Simply put: If that cable breaks, we're toast. Lesson to be learned: Don't let that cable break.