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Originally Posted by JesseK
Zrop & others, any updates? Do you guys have any automation built-in, i.e. automated yaw functions to keep you going straight, etc?
I can see that you guys are putting much effort into the design of the props, and are experimenting to get the maximum bang out of the props. This is the process that FIRST loves to see. I remember seeing a team from Florida doing a prop design -- anyone remember who they are? Assuming good safety practices, I definitely look forward to seeing this in person! (Even if bumper impact forces wreak havoc on a blade who's tip is spinning over 200mph   ) |
Currently we are working on replacing our props with a similar 3-prop version of the one shown. The good news is that mostly everything is mounted and working to some extent (just needs a little tweeking). The bad news is that something happened with our computers causing a lot of our code to get erased or damaged (i don't know exactly what happened). I was actually talking with some of the people are Superior Tools who are machining some stuff for us and one of the guy is a model plane enthusiast, and i started talking with him. He actually recommended a 3-prop blade for low speed high torque. He also mentioned that those props we were using are so strong that its actually illegal to make props bigger than 16 inches (somewhere around here) out of that material, and he was saying how the only thing that would break them would be foreign objects coming in direct contact. He said that sudden changes in force due to collisions would have no effect on them or cause them to break and same with vibrations. He also mentioned that little objects like nuts and bolts and washers probably won't have to much effect on the prop its self, but its best not to find out (it may just turn that nut into a bullet).
As for the safety part, we are planning on having 2 cages, the first one as shown on the first page, will be used to keep large objects (mostly orbit balls) away from the props, then inside of that cage will be the aluminum housing and mesh.
I am not sure if this has been said yet, but in addition to being prop driven, we have the option of a wheel drive. We are using a modified bike gear where it will freely spin if the speed surpases the speed its being driven at, we hope this combined with the props will allow for faster acceleration (what we were lacking only prop powered).
Well its time to pull the all nighters to get this thing working, tomarrow i think we will be ready for the triblade + driven axle test to see what kinda performance we get out of it
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Best of luck to all teams in this final week