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Topic for discussion.

What all is recommended for the spring task? I am new to this, and not very familiar with springs. Any help?

tknewsy wrote:What all is recommended for the spring task? I am new to this, and not very familiar with springs. Any help?

Dear, there's this magical thing called Google. You may want to learn about it.
All sarcasm aside, you basically use a spring to store mechanical energy and then release it. The type and strngth of the spring differentiate with the amount of power you want to store. Another tip? Don't try to defy gravity.

The spring can be used to move another object, push something (a switch). Don't think of it as something that just moves up and down. The spring can be oriented many ways. But mostly, it all depends on your design. What tasks do you have planned before and after it?

Can the spring be attached to the object (such as a wedge) that it is pushing?

jcreeps27 wrote:Can the spring be attached to the object (such as a wedge) that it is pushing?

Yes.

But if the spring has a wedge at the tip, could you score that for 4.g and 4.b? I would be tempted to say yes, but I have a hard time articulating to myself how this is different from the ramp/pulley situation. Chalkers, opinion?

ETA: OK, here's a rationale: in this situation, the energy in the spring initiates movement in the wedge, fulfilling 4.g. The wedge then pushes apart the objects, fulfilling 4.b. In the ramp-pulley situation, the mass reaching the top of the ramp does not initiate anything except a change in direction of the mass's travel, so 4.l is not fulfilled. Thoughts?

Flavorflav wrote:But if the spring has a wedge at the tip, could you score that for 4.g and 4.b? I would be tempted to say yes, but I have a hard time articulating to myself how this is different from the ramp/pulley situation. Chalkers, opinion?

ETA: OK, here's a rationale: in this situation, the energy in the spring initiates movement in the wedge, fulfilling 4.g. The wedge then pushes apart the objects, fulfilling 4.b. In the ramp-pulley situation, the mass reaching the top of the ramp does not initiate anything except a change in direction of the mass's travel, so 4.l is not fulfilled. Thoughts?

I think this is the same situation as the ramp/pulley task we're discussing earlier. We'll have different levels of agreement about it and nothing will be final or official until an official clarification is issued.

You got me reconsidering a similar spring/wedge design I've thought of in the past.

Just approaching it from a layman's perspective, 4.g. says the spring causes the next action. If the spring is connected to the wedge, that would seem to be the same "action". If the spring instead smacks the wedge causing it to move, that would be a separate "action".

Said another way, can the spring move independently of the wedge? No? Then it's the same task.
That's the design guideline I'm going to use.

It's certainly a gray area, and therefore potentially dangerous.