23-01-2003 10:57

RebAl

sure looks like a piston driven engine to me

23-01-2003 12:44

Aaron Lussier

Looks more like a walking mechanism to me

23-01-2003 15:10

Ian W.

if i didn't know better, i'd say an internal combustion engine, but that's not FIRST legal, is it...?

23-01-2003 23:25

Jnadke

It looks like a pneumatically-driven engine... I see cylinders in there.


Won't go fast enough to go anywhere. Monster torque though. Probabaly burn up the compressor in the process.



Ingenious design though. Good job.

23-01-2003 23:38

Ian W.

one thing we may be ignoring...

i wonder if that means they randomly found some picture online, which represents something that they are doing? i just have a tiny feeling that a pneumatically driven drive train won't cut it this year. and seeing as internal combustion is illegal, i would go with this is meant to completely throw us off, or just represent something that 116 is working on.

now that we might know a bit more, any ideas of what that monstrosity might represent?

24-01-2003 00:02

sevisehda

If its pneumatic its a waste. Why put all that energy into a motor(compressor), then convert it into pressure, then into rotary motion when you could of just used a motor?

My guess is its a vacuum generator.

24-01-2003 01:26

Jnadke

Because 2" cylinders generate 180lbs of force... you're talking about a lot of torque. However, you wouldn't be able to switch them fast enough to generate a descent speed. You could gear it up and still have plenty of torque to push people around. It's just not worth the strain on the compressor. They burn up rather easily. Get a back-to-back match and you're toast.


Vacuum generator is another possibility. If you drive the shaft, the cylinders would depressurize. However, the shaft doesn't go for the entire stroke length of the cylinder, so you can't generate a descent vacuum.

25-01-2003 03:17

sevisehda

Depending on the length of the cylinders and the size of the cams they could go the full length. It would help to know if the cutouts are visual or actually there.

26-01-2003 22:03

AJ Quick

That would be amazing to actually see a team run off of a pneumatic engine. The power would probably be insane, there wouldn't be much that could stop it. Unless you wait for the compressor to explode ofcourse.