[Daniel Morse]

Originally Posted by Not2B

This is part question, part help...

Has anyone else experienced any EMC issues with their shooter wheels? We spent alot of time calibrating our shooter / camera combo today, and we were running the shooter alot.

We had shot several hundred shots, when the radio starting cutting out.

After the electrical team spent time figuring out what was up, and working on the EMC type issues, we had our answer.

We've made a 120 lbs, mobile Van De Graff generator. Foam balls, foam rollers, plastic wheels, PVC frame, and high RPMs... And once we came up with this theory, everyone started remembering... "Hey, that's why the robot shocked me!" and "Oh yeah... that explains the shocks."

Anyway... anyone else experience this???

Team 213 did experience this, in our collector, which is a large belt that is stretched across 2 PVC rollers, and has few pieces of aluminum that are inside the belting, reaching across the belt and contacting for about 18 inches. We first discovered it when we tested it by hand, cranking the belt manually, and the designer got shocked. I think we managed to eliminate most of the charge buildup by taking most of the supports away, but it remains a running joke for our team.