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What has been the most effective release mech?
I needed to design a relatively low-friction system and I came up with an x-lever style release (idk the proper term) in which the mass hangs from the center of a lever (lever1) and is attached to the device via 3d-printed part and ball bearing on one end and another "lever" (lever2) that is perpendicular to the lever1. When lever2 is pulled out of position, lever1 and the hanging mass go into free fall and the mass slips off lever1 (release).
See pic.

EDIT: I forgot to draw the mass in. It hangs at the midpoint of lever1 prior to launch

we have something pretty similar. Instead of a couple of levers, we drilled a hole through the top of our PVC and have a pin that goes in there, with string attatched. When we pull the pin, the mass falls through.

With your lever idea, what happens with the first class lever? I could forsee there being problems where it gets stuck somewhere down in the tube (if it's still attatched to the pivot point) and your mass never dropping.

Phys1cs wrote:we have something pretty similar. Instead of a couple of levers, we drilled a hole through the top of our PVC and have a pin that goes in there, with string attatched. When we pull the pin, the mass falls through.

With your lever idea, what happens with the first class lever? I could forsee there being problems where it gets stuck somewhere down in the tube (if it's still attatched to the pivot point) and your mass never dropping.

image.png

It has worked very well: upon pulling lever2 (the supporting lever), lever1 falls down from being 180 degrees to about a 110 degrees (I'm recadding so it will fall to a position perpendicular to the initial point. The system has released the mass very consistently and has kept it to a relatively low coefficient of friction. Nothing has been getting stuck and we use a rope to pull the mass back out from the PVC.
My diagram is not be completely accurate to the actual cad (it terms of the pivot point)

Phys1cs wrote:we have something pretty similar. Instead of a couple of levers, we drilled a hole through the top of our PVC and have a pin that goes in there, with string attatched. When we pull the pin, the mass falls through.

With your lever idea, what happens with the first class lever? I could forsee there being problems where it gets stuck somewhere down in the tube (if it's still attatched to the pivot point) and your mass never dropping.

image.png

I use the same one as Phys1cs, and it works very well as long as you pull it out quickly.

I'm just using an 80 cm nylon string

Could you take a screenshot of the cad file?

I think I understand the concept but I'd like to see what it actually looks like.

I've certainly had a few releases where I've tugged on the string and the whole device jerks towards me...

Hi, I am new to AirTrajctort Division B. Can someone post the typical dimension for the PVC pipe in the Release Mechanism. I am thinking of 6" inch pipe. Is that reasonable?
Thanks.

VansBuilders wrote:Hi, I am new to AirTrajctort Division B. Can someone post the typical dimension for the PVC pipe in the Release Mechanism. I am thinking of 6" inch pipe. Is that reasonable?
Thanks.

I'm using 4in

windu34 wrote:

VansBuilders wrote:Hi, I am new to AirTrajctort Division B. Can someone post the typical dimension for the PVC pipe in the Release Mechanism. I am thinking of 6" inch pipe. Is that reasonable?
Thanks.

I'm using 4in

It depends on what your PVC is doing. If you're making a drop chute for some mass, I've seen anything from 2" to 4" or so. It mostly depends on the size/diameter of the mass you are dropping. If you're making a piston, usually those are larger than 3".

I'm dropping a small weight through my PVC tube, and am using 2" pipe

I feel so basic with my release mechanism... A string that got pulled and triggered a lever that swung a PVC pipe with a pin on it to pop a balloon to release the falling mass and launch the projectile