After watching our kitbot frame traverse the bumps a few times, some team members asked if we would want to use some sort of shock mitigation system to protect our control system.
I checked on National Instruments’ website, i saw that one model of the CRIO is rated to 50 g. Does that seem reasonable? We’d love to save weight by not using any kind of shock absorbers, but we’d also hate to break the control system. Any thoughts?
The CRIO is pretty sturdy, but I’m not sure about the shock rating on the Jaguars or Victors. Or the relays or any of that stuff, really.
I’m thinking that if you put about a 1" layer of foam between the control system and chassis that you’ll absorb a fair bit of the impact.
It might also help to have a foam layer isolating the battery from the chassis, just to reduce loading on the frame, axles and wheels.
And if you’re mounting a compressor, you might want something a bit sturdier than the little rubber standoffs (at least on their own) we’ve managed to shear them just by hitting a wall at high speed.
Jason
I was curious to how well the New Control System would handle the shock load of this year’s game as well. I’ve been contemplating borrowing some equipment we have at my job for drop tests and wiring it up to our chassis once it’s running and getting some data on how hard it’s actually hitting the ground.
Also, if you’re concerned with the amount of shock any part of your machine is taking you could get a few resettable shock indicators and put them on the components in the direction you think it’s taking the highest shock. Here’s the link http://www.mcmaster.com/#shock-indicators/=5hhdlq - You might have to scroll down the page a bit. These should help you figure out how well you need to protect your components.
I know a team that dropped one off a pickup traveling at 55mph.
It was “protected” by a robot, but it didn’t survive,…
nor did the robot (RIP)
(3,000th post)