Locking devices

[robotwars]

Locking devices

I think this is a topic which has been discussed many times.

Ripper has a locking strap when in the pits, but I remove it before I power up.
I put link in, tx on, make sure all is well with drives and valves etc... then turn bottles on.

I cring when I see people arm up their robots with certain locking pins in, they have their robot fully armed and gassed, then lean over to remove the strap or pin. I wouldnt want my head anywhere near a live robot.
Some even lift their flipper arm to get them out !!

I must admit, it think your pin is from memory by far the safest ive seen, where when you remove it you are well away from the robot.

I dont knnow if there is a rule in place whioch donates the correct use of pins, and their removal during arming up.

I always thought the idea was for in the pits, say for example... a bottle valve has a slight leak and gradually arms the system, the pin will prevent the weapon from firing in the pits.

Saying that, i always keep my dump valve open when the robot isnt in the arena, and i think if anyone else doesnt, they need to.

John
http://www.RoamingRobots.co.ukwww.RoamingRobots.co.uk

[pressure]

Locking devices

I think it should be made clear that weapons (gas in particular) should be locked at all times until they are armed in the arena for combat.
Ditto with the dump valve, I only close mine after I,ve put in the link in arena.

[geeza]

Locking devices

The old Turb did used to misfire sometimes, it happened twice to Dave when he was arming up. It should in theory have fired slowlyish if the valve was open, but it was still lethal if you had got your head in the way. We never had a locking pin for arming up although we did use one in the pits.

I do use a bar that doesnt require my head anywhere near the weapon itself now. Dump valves should always remain open outside the arena, this is common sense to me.

The best locking devices are probably Pressure and Maelstrom using a rope to remove the device from a distance.

[john]

Locking devices

this is how beauty has it and it works cus weve left in in during a fight!! lol just a bar through them holes kinda obvious how it works
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/ld1.jpghttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/ld1.jpg

beast uses 1 this but i dont think weve ever left it in but beast is that well built we only have 1 so jonno doesnt moan at us lol http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/ld2.jpghttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/ld2.jpg

(Message edited by john on October 20, 200

[geeza]

Locking devices

Yeah actually Beautys is fairly good as well, same priciple as mine.

[robotwars]

Locking devices

ok, so what happens if it misfires while your pulling it half out.... your hand will be crushed between the rod and the arena floor !!!



John

[john]

Locking devices

whenever we have it in while we are arming up we always 4get to take it out anyway! lol

i cant say anymore cus the fra will start to watch us more often

[grant_ploughbot]

Locking devices

Its all about minimising the danger, not stopping it. Its the nature of robot fighting that theres always a possibility for injury.
I would rather all robots had a system like beautys or LF/LHs to arm and them pull it out. it means theres no chance of missfires when the gas is let in (which some systems is likely). I would rather have 100kg on my hand than the full force of a flipper to the head or arm.Leaving the pin in until the last minute also minimising the time when the flipper is able to fire, so in my view, safer in every way.
Regarding locking pins for self locking systems is a tricky one that was talked about at a previous meeting.
I dont believe they need one, and as andy kane pointed out, to have a locking pin actually lock a hydraulic heavyweights crusher you need some beefy I-Beam or similar to stop it - and thats just not reasonable.
I have not seen a pneumatic robot pass a tech check without a locking pin since that meeting.

[geoff]

Locking devices

The build rules state the following...

1.5.5.
All Robots not in an arena or official testing area should have secure safety covers
over any sharp edges and restraints on any active weapons or pinch hazards.

Do we need some stronger wording regarding these locking pins?

When it comes to tech check I will expect to see locking pins / restraints on all flippers (heavy or feather) when on the bench.
How teams remove them on arm-up is up to them, but if I see anyone leaning into the line of fire of an armmed up robot to do it... you can expect to incure my displeasure!!

LJ, Who says Im not watching you!

(Message edited by scorpion on October 21, 200

[psycho_fling]

Locking devices

how about crushers? on the fw crushers i have seen in the past i dont remember seeing locking pins obviously the sharp edge protection

alex

[leorcc]

Locking devices

The old Hannibal (heavyweight) setup misfired all the time, because there was no buffer the FP gas just hit the Alpha valves pushing the valves shuttle up and firing the flipper. And since the bottle in that one wasnt a screw valve a misfire was pretty much a guarantee unless you did the gassing up just right. So to make sure this wasnt a problem we placed a long 2x4 piece of wood between the arm and the base of the robot keeping the arm in the up position. So if the ram did misfire it would hit nothing. The problem was solved with the introduction of a buffer tank and a screw valve in the bottle anyway but we kept the gassing up process that way. With the feathers we do the same thing.

All in all it is a matter of what the tech checker and the roboteers agree is the safest solution for a particular robot. If you are not sure whether or not you should place a locking device, well place one anyway. It doensnt count in the weightlimit and Id rather have one safety feature too many than be one safety feature short.