Powering up weapons

[woody]

Powering up weapons

Leave the ruling alone..... Just my opinion.

[ewe2]

Powering up weapons

Mikes method of arming the electrics first and testing the drive is what we employ in EWE2. We then very slowly turn on the gas. If the valve was open for some reason, then the flipper would lift relatively slowly as the gas fed into the system. I dont know why all CO2 bots cant adopt this method of arming.

If you put a link in when the gas is armed you will never know 100% if you have full control of the bot, or if a relay is in the wrong position, or if you are going to get some freak voltage spike or interference.

I say make the thing electrically stable first and then turn on the gas.

Ian

[teammad]

Powering up weapons

What i have seen are robots who have turned on gas last ect but the robot miss fires while their hand is in the robot.

[grafix]

Powering up weapons

David, check their bottle valve. If they have a pilot valve then this might be a clue. The only robots that reguraly missfire is Ripper and Hassocks Hog. When I am arena manager I arm them up last. Having said that, Jonno seems to have fixed Ripper.

Basically some robots do and some dont.

Mike.

[team_ireland]

Powering up weapons

Mike I 100% agree with your idea of removing the 1000psi valve however I do believe a safety relief valve is needed 10% above the working pressure just incase something goes wrong with the regulator and full pressure gets through.

Regards
Ian

[m2xt]

Powering up weapons

For M2 it is:
Mechanical restraints out first - 2 reasons one is that it will be retained later by the pressure to the top of the ram and 2, not to get in close proximity to a live weapon.

Radio next, Rx first then Tx (PCM), check remote kill is on.

Link in

Gas next, close dump and slowly open main gas valve

Then stand back, turn off remote kill. I have long campaigned for a remote kill!

M2 has never mis-behaved whilst arming but the arming sequence still assumes it can and will.

Anyone who removes their weapon mechanical restraint on a fully armed bot, well I certainly would not on M2 but others may well have a safe method.

Mike, with regard to the 1000 psi PRV, the burst disc on an extinguisher is higher than 130 bar. I have always felt that for bots like M2, the valve is not necessarily there for safety as all HP components far exceeded the extinguisher burst disc pressure. It was included to satisfy the Mentorn requirement and to ensure fair play and negate the need for pressure gauges or test points (USA). Even LP bots can gain an advantage by running with storage pressures over 1000 psi. It is probably time to review all of the rules because a number are based around Mentorn and they are no longer in the equation.

Paul

[team_ireland]

Powering up weapons

Paul

I was told by someone that the reason why the 1000psi relief valve was needed was because the crew mentorn had were not allowed to handle gasses above 1000psi and this was the easiest way to ensure this.

Also how would a LP bot gain an advantage by running over 1000psi? I would asume regulated pressure would remain fairly constant but maybe i am wrong?

Thanks
Regards
Ian

[m2xt]

Powering up weapons

Ian, the greater the differential pressure across the regulator, the higher the flowrate, thus a quicker refill of the buffer tanks and the sooner the system is back to normal operating pressure. M2 takes 4 seconds to recharge at the start of a fight but 8-10 seconds at the end with a cold bottle. So, to cheat, all you need do is warm your bottle so you have a higher starting temperature and pressure which will delay the above effect. This can be the difference between winning and losing a fight!

In reality, I feel the FRA could ignore any concern over teams taking any advantage such as warming their bottle (although outside events in the summer can easily raise the pressure above 1000 psi) and simply look at the safety aspect. As for Mentorn, does it matter now if they had any such restrictions unless there is something to be learned from them?

Paul

[team_ireland]

Powering up weapons

Thanks Paul I was un aware of that.

Regards
Ian

[botmad]

Powering up weapons

As RoamingRobots Arena Marshall I Take Pride In Knowing How Each And Every Robot Fighting In The arena is Armed And the procedure for doing so as most of you know when im peering over your shoulders as you do so ..... Because its down to me to make them safe in the aftermath that you leave in the arena after a good fight ... as far as a printed sheet thats a great idea in triplicate 1 for the team 1 for the techcheck and 1 for the arena staff ..... I TOTILLY AGREE .... i try to run a safe arena and to the best of my knowledge i do ....... as for robots firing on gassing up i think i can count on 1 hand the number of times this has happened, and as for not being aware of the procedure it has only happened once at folkston when splinter tried to part my hair head and shoulers with his axe only managing to hit my hand ouch!!!! ... As for who decides the procedure the teams know there bots better than anyone so its down to them to do it in the safest way possible so the procedure should be written and supplied by them. BUT ALL IN ALL A VERY GOOD IDEA LETS RUN WITH IT AND LETS ALL BE SAFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mouldy]

Powering up weapons

The arming sequence for my heavy (now it has a wepon) is pretty much the same as m2s As it has a pressured retract the locking pin has to be removed first, Would be abit silly to let it crush my hand, Also I like the idea of fitting remote kill switches as standard into heavyweights, How far would other agree?

[fluppet]

Powering up weapons

Not that Im yet at the stage of having a heavyweight to fit it in to, but Id strongly approve. It might be wise to have it externally visible that its activated, though - the distinction between a robot breaking down/being broken and having its failsafe activated by someones mobile going off is one I think should be clear, in the interests of fairness.

--
Fluppet

[m2xt]

Powering up weapons

Andrew,
M2 has 2 LED cluster lamps, one for link in and one for remote kill off (i.e lamp on) and they were different colours!

Dave,
The remote kill operated relays that interrupted the battery supply to speed controller and weapon solenoids. My view is that whilst consideration is given in the rules to limiting the effect of a bot moving or a weapon operating when they shouldnt, more consideration could be given to ensuring it doesnt happen in the first place (as far as reasonably practicable). Those mechanical restraints should be considered a last resort and are useless when safety restraints are out and the bot is off the cradle (arming / disarming). Still it is up to the individual, there is nothing stopping any team from taking additional precautions over and above the existing rules.

Paul

[terryc]

Powering up weapons

I have my arm sequence written on the lid of my robot. Having it written down and visable when arming means I follow it, Keep It Simple because I really am Stupid. I also have my weapon in the fired position when arming so that the worst that can happen when putting on the gas is that it trys to close on the safety prop.
This may seem OTT but having experianced a misarmed one I dont want to ever do it again.

[kodster]

Powering up weapons

This has happened with Toro once. And something was on his flipper - a pair of pliers

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