Thread: Surgical tubing stretched too far
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Unread 11-03-2014, 02:01
nixiebunny nixiebunny is offline
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AKA: David Forbes
FRC #4183 (Bit Buckets)
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Surgical tubing stretched too far
We have a catapult powered with surgical tubing on our bot. The tubing is stretched from about 5 inches untensioned to about 20 inches as the winch pulls down the catapult arm. That's a 300% increase in length.

During the Hub City regional, we suffered from frequent decreases in shooting power and had to re-tension the tubing several times over the three days, and we ended up replacing some of it. I suspect that the tubing is being stretched past its elastic limit. It displays "stretch marks".

We can modify the bot's superstructure to allow for a much longer untensioned length on the tubing, reducing the extension from 300% to about 100%. Does this sound like it will solve the tubing over-stretching problem?
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Mentor, Bit Buckets team 4183. Assistant cat herder and dispenser of legendary tales.
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