pic: Compressor Backpack

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by bEdhEd

I was just thinking about this last night, and we should at least encase the entire pack in a sheet of some thick polycarbonate, or some other method of keeping everything inside the pack in the event of any catastrophic failure. We should also replace the tanks with their metal equivalents.

I did mention that this pack is unfinished, and still requires some more safety features. We just needed something built to use for practice, and plastic tanks are what we had on hand.

If this is ever used, it is easily depressurizable for wearer movement to help reduce any accidents. This is only intended for use in safety glass areas around the robot when the robot is running and only when it is needed.

Having a member of our team walking around an event with a pressurized pneumatic backpack is just plain idiotic, and is not our intent with this system.

We don't intend to keep it pressurized for any extended length of time; only when we need to repressurize the robot for practice or testing.

If we deem this pack too unsafe still, we will make sure to keep it out of an event. Thank you all for your concern. I'm also all about safety, and I want to do my best to help make this pack safer for my team members and every volunteer, student, mentor, and attendee at an event, if that's possible.

If you he seen the videos Dana, myself, and the rest of the LRI's saw at training, you probably wouldn't think some lexan would be enough. When these things go off, there is a huge amount or force and speed behind them.

I also want to add that directly connecting it to a battery, as it appears in the picture, is extremely dangerous and could very easily lead to an over-pressurization situation. That's why the rules clearly state the compressor has to be controlled by the robot.

[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

If you he seen the videos Dana, myself, and the rest of the LRI's saw at training, you probably wouldn't think some lexan would be enough. When these things go off, there is a huge amount or force and speed behind them.

I also want to add that directly connecting it to a battery, as it appears in the picture, is extremely dangerous and could very easily lead to an over-pressurization situation. That's why the rules clearly state the compressor has to be controlled by the robot.

Again, I have to say that this compressor pack is unfinished and will have a pressure switch and relay. The tanks are being replaced with metal ones. We can opt for a carbon fiber shell if that would be effective, or get rid of tanks altogether. My thought wasn't just "some lexan" but a sheet .25 inches thick, which I think would be enough for high impact, but I'd have to see the videos that you mentioned to really get an idea. My objective at this point isn't necessarily to try to get it "safe enough" for an event, but get it "safe enough" for personal shop use.

I'm open to more suggestions to make this safer for non-event use, since the chances of using this at an event are low, and out of courtesy, it's best to keep it out of the pits and arena at all times.