View Single Post
  #44   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 10-01-2007, 15:43
ChrisH's Avatar Unsung FIRST Hero
ChrisH ChrisH is offline
Generally Useless
FRC #0330 (Beach 'Bots)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Rookie Year: 1998
Location: Hermosa Beach, CA
Posts: 1,230
ChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond repute
Re: Off robot air compressor

Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz View Post
Chris,
Letting teams charge up the tanks with other compressor combinations may or may not give them added advantage but from a safety standpoint, I want to know that robot standing next to young field setup volunteer doesn't have more than 125 PSI onboard. If a team uses the pressure switch/RC/Spike combination then there are no worries.
The same result may be achieved with a properly installed popoff valve which is already required, whether the compressor is mounted or not. I still don't see a valid engineering reason for requiring compressed air from one source over another.

I also do not see how it is enforcable as when the robot lines up in the que I have no idea just where the air on board came from. Yes, they had the required compressor set-up in the pit, but did they actually use it? or did they use something else? How would I tell the difference?

In the past this has been a minor issue. Only a couple of teams at an event would use an off-board compressor. But this year there are more applications where pnuematics are a good fit to the task AND we have twice the storage capacity. So teams like mine that in previous years figured that there wasn't enough storage capacity to ensure the shifters kept working the entire match will be taking another look at doing this.

If it was shown that the onboard system in the authorized configuration could not generate enough pressure to actually blow the popoff, that the popoff was actually there to protect against over pressures caused by mechanical action like forcing a cylinder in a direction it didn't want to go, then I would feel much more comfortable with this rule. Or FIRST could enact a rule prohibiting non-FIRST compressors or air storage devices in the competition area. Until then I will continue to dislike this particular rule, which is not to say I won't enforce it.
__________________
Christopher H Husmann, PE

"Who is John Galt?"