How to measure pressure in the tubes?

[Nitroxextreme]

At this point, most teams probably have their tubes inflated (at least I hope so). However, I am unsure at to how many teams actually have them inflated to the right pressure.

My team inflated the tubes most of the way and we have been assuming it is correct. Unfortunately, we have been unable to figure out an accurate way of measuring the pressure inside the tube.

Has anyone had any success in this regard or had any ideas...

I think this is needed by most teams.

[Rickertsen2]

I didn't know FRIST specd a pressure.

I think you can pretty much rule out and sort of tire pressure or normal pneumatics guage. I doubt those things are inflated to even 2 psi.

You could always order a lower range pressure guage and use the fittings from a float inflator.

I suppose you could always put a piece of plywood on the tube with a weight on it and measure the squish. We noticed that by themselves, the tubes don't change much dimensionally with presssure.

[eshteyn]

If you hook up your robots compressor and pressure gauge, the tubing is just right to fit into the tube nozzle, pump until the gauge reads the pressure.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by eshteyn

If you hook up your robots compressor and pressure gauge, the tubing is just right to fit into the tube nozzle, pump until the gauge reads the pressure.

Will the guage read 2.5 PSI? From what I remember, it won't. Almost no "normal" guage (normal in the sense that it's commonly seen and/or used) will read that low.

[eshteyn]

Originally Posted by EricH

Will the guage read 2.5 PSI? From what I remember, it won't. Almost no "normal" guage (normal in the sense that it's commonly seen and/or used) will read that low.

It depends what gauge you use, there are low pressure gauges.

[DonRotolo]

Exactly. Some gauges measure a max of, say 10 PSI. Perhaps an electronic pressure sensor, often sold as an accessory for a voltmeter, or something in the auto repair world, might be appropriate.

Anything qith a max scale of about 10 times the pressure you're trying to read will be horribly inaccurate.

To measure the pressure in a tube, connect some tubing (metal or plastic) to the inflation opening, connect that to the plastic tube and through the correct connectors to a gauge. A "T" fitting will allow inflation as necessary.

Don

[MrForbes]

low pressure tire gages are commonly available for use with racing tires, here is a sample from a large mail order hot rod parts store.

also many older automotive vacuum test gages will read pressure up to about 10 psi (for testing mechanical fuel pumps), ask around to see who on your team has a friend/relative with some automotive tools.

[jesusfreakmths]

OK So what is the pressure of the Tubes? And are the tubes checked at the beginning of each game? I have been looking around and can't find any info on that. My team really needs to know because this is the deciding factor of our design.

[Justin M.]

As far as I know the PSI of the tubes will not be constant. Your robot should be able to control the tubes at a large range of PSI in the tubes. Even if the tubes become completely deflated during the game, they will still be scorable.