Hey forum.
I was wondering if anyone has figured out how to create a passive lock for a hang. Right now i have a pneumatic claw so we cannot lock the hang by bringing the claw back.
We do not want to use another piston to create a lock or tension release bc we dont want to risk anything.
We have tried a gravity lock onto our lift gears, but the gears shattered from the weight.
Is there any other way that anyone knows of?
Thanks a ton in advance.
That’s a shame…if you already have a pneumatic system, adding another air cylinder would be an easy way to release a pre-tensioned hanging system.
Have a hook fall on the arm when the robot is tilted. It’s really simple and effective. Also pneumatic locks work really well from my experience and are simple to make.
That was our first design, a lock on the end part of the arm.
The issue we faced was that the lock would fall before the robot finishes climbing on top of the pole.
Is there a way to overcome this?
there always is, u just have to spend some time tuning
I had a friend who had a stationary (non-spinning) 12-tooth gear fall onto his lift by gravity when his robot when upside-down. That stopped the gears from turning at all.
Adjust the angle of the lock. Ours is on the base. If it’s falling too early, the angle that it’s in isn’t great enough.
Update: We changed the design of our hang so that it is around 90*.
However, we now are in need of a tension releasing mechanism.
Would something like having the elastics directly onto the piston end work?
When the piston contracts, it would theoretically release the rubber bands, but I’m not sure if the power of the elastics will bend the piston/break it.
That would be an expensive experiment to damage your air cylinder. Cylinder rods bend pretty easily, so if you ever “side-pull” on a cylinder rod, you should set up a support, like in the attached image (the angle supports the side load-when the cylinder retracts, it releases the gusset), so the side-load is held by some structural member. The cylinder itself should be mounted only by it’s far end, which will minimize strain on the cylinder rod seal (gland).
