gfish | (no subject)

Well that looks exhausting! Man the lantern at the front is totally A+.

Exactly to both of these. A week of this is gonna earn Fishy some srs guns.

Hey, did the weight help with the flywheel effect?

Still indeterminate. The chain slack makes it very hard to tell. I'll test again after I fix that -- adding more flywheel weights is super easy, can do that anytime next week.

I was noticing issues with chain slack. It's not awful, but it looks like you're only getting work out of the outermost parts of the beam stroke.

Oh, the slack is pretty bad right now. But I didn't want to go to the effort of adjusting the chains for the new wheels until I knew they were going to work.

Well, considering the complexity of the steering system, and that you've actually BUILT something that works, I'm not going to carp about a bit of deadband. It's completely awesome even in its current state.

Very excellent work.

Forward motion!!! YAY!!!

very nice.

as the mapmaker (http://jes5199.com/burningman2010/), I have but one question. Where are you camping?

I'm camping with Kung Fu Sock Monkey in Kidsville this year. If the camp map holds, we'll be right at what would be the corner of 5:30 and E.

Hawt!

Very cool. It is unclear to me how you steer, however.

The two rear casters are connected with a tie rod, and there is a lever which pushes/pulls on that via a hacked-up fake universal joint system. You can see it in the previous video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UNZJEE1S-8&feature=player_embedded) I put up.

Super awesome.

I bet a second operator on the other end of the lever will make it easier, not so much by the extra effort, but by increasing momentum for a "linear flywheel."

It's hard to say. The problem with a secondary driver is that they need pretty good rhythm to stay in sync.

I did end up getting a second lead weight to add to the crankshaft to increase the flywheel effect there. Anything to help smooth out the motion through the dead zones at the top and bottom of the stroke.

I think the secondary driver in your fourth road test video has demonstrated an excellent sense of rhythm in filk circles--but that's when she's not laughing maniacally.

That bit of backward motion had me looking for the brake lever. Where is it???? 8-0

Don't need one. The leverage through the pump arm is really huge -- you just pump backwards and it comes to a screeching halt. It's hard not to do it by accident, actually.