Liftoff (FW) build diary

[maddox10]

I'm not to keen to accept that setup.
Have seen how Tip Top had to be activated... scary....

[Liftoff]

Got no idea how TipTop was activated, but from what I found out on the net its a HW petrol driven spinner, quite different from a FW flipper to handle...anyway wont argue with that, if its seen as dangerous way of activation I'll have to figure out another way

Any ideas apart from putting a hole in the flipper plate?

The valve is the one marked with an arrow
isolation valve.jpg

The valve is similar to this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-New-CO2...item3a7fc6eb43

[maddox10]

Argh, you're using a pin valve, not an on/off valve.
With an on/off it would have been easy enough.
Mount a nut or so in place of the knob, and use a socket to open the bottle from the top. Unfortunatly, it ain't an option here.

And you're struggling for weight as is, so adding a small motor and gear to open that valve remotely ain't an option.

[Liftoff]

On/Off you mean something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-paintb...item5af8b37a3f

I think it would still be an issue even if I had to mount a nut in place of the knob...the flipper plate stays on top of the valve so I'd still have to cut a hole through it...

Will try to play around with the cad model to see if can somehow reposition the bottle to get the bloody valve accessible from the top or side, other than that I don't know what to do!

And you're struggling for weight as is, so adding a small motor and gear to open that valve remotely ain't an option.

Unfortunately you're right, weight does not permit that...

[maddox10]

Yep, that's an on/off.

And I was thinking of angling the knob at 75° or so. Wat means you can cut a hole in the non flipper top armor and reach it that way.

[Mouldy]

cant you turn the bottle 180, and mount it on an angle, could access it from the top at the back of the robot then.

[Liftoff]

That could be a possibility, the only issue is that (according to my sketch up model) the valve will be close to the drive motor, very close (1.4mm). Otherwise its the best solution I can get as the valve will be accessible from the backend without the need of opening anything...

[Mouldy]

Turning the gas on through the flipper arm wouldnt be seen as a good idea. Same goes for turning the robot over.

Have you considered the position of your dump valve? You mayaswell mount that next to your bottle by a hole in the back so it can be easily accessed.

"9.12 Dump Valve
All pneumatic systems must incorporate a pressure dump valve accessible from outside of the robot. This
dump valve shall quickly and reliably exhaust all gas downstream of the gas cylinder isolation (or remote
isolation) valve including systems with a maximum operating pressure of less than 50psi (3.4bar)."

[Liftoff]

For the dump valve I was going to use the PRV as its got a pull type manual override (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Safety-Val...item1c34534bd6)
It will have a dual function, its installed on the buffer tank so all the system will be depressurised when open.

Turning the gas on through the flipper arm wouldn't be seen as a good idea. Same goes for turning the robot over.

True, its a real headache to try getting everything in its ideal location when space is limited! (and tbh this build isn't on of the smallest).

I've yet to figure out how to keep the PRV open to act as a dump valve, but it will be some sort of toggle mechanism...should not be too difficult to devise...still can do a normal valve if this idea is not acceptable, can put another Tee at the pressure gauge and dump from there.

PRV-Dump valve.jpg

[Max]

I've yet to figure out how to keep the PRV open to act as a dump valve, but it will be some sort of toggle mechanism...should not be too difficult to devise...still can do a normal valve if this idea is not acceptable, can put another Tee at the pressure gauge and dump from there.

You don't need a pressure guage so you could just replace it altogether with a dump valve if you need to. May even save a little bit of weight and space getting rid of the pressure guage!