Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 11:37:44 -0600
Reply-To: Thomas Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Thomas Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: [NVC] Engineers: quick and cheerful vibration analysis?
In-Reply-To: <489D17AC.1010008@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
On Aug 8, 2008, at 10:06 PM, Mike Elliott wrote:
> Xenon.
>
Oooh, I like that-can I get xenon in my tires at Costco?
Pax,
Tom
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus -- NOW SOLD TO THE BUYER OF OUR HOUSE
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> KG6RCR
>
>
>
> On 8/8/2008 7:51 PM Thomas Buese wrote:
>
>> On Aug 8, 2008, at 5:39 PM, Mike Elliott wrote:
>>> Mr B-Z,
>>>
>>> I have been sorting and packing for the past three months. I'm
>>> rounding
>>> the last turn of the racecourse, and am--even as I write this--
>>> taking a
>>> well-deserved break. This is like packing for a long backpacking
>>> trip, or
>>> a camping trip: I make lists, I sequence things. I overprepare and
>>> overthink things, but I'm usually pleased that I seldom forget
>>> anything or
>>> bring more than I need. I am, in short, ideally-suited to pack up
>>> a house,
>>> a family, and a business, and move them, my stuff, and myself
>>> 1,000 miles
>>> while craftily leaving the hard work (loading the ginormous 26-
>>> foot Penske
>>> truck) to wife and family. Admire me, gentlemen. As you see, the
>>> way I do
>>> things, I leave plenty of time to wonder about The Big Things,
>>> like this
>>> dead horse.
>> I am so jealous of your organizational skills-On to Bend w/ the
>> proper air pressure!
>> grin,
>> Mr BZ-are you using nitrogen in your tires?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>>> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus -- NOW SOLD TO THE BUYER OF OUR HOUSE
>>> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>>> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>>> KG6RCR
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 8/8/2008 4:26 PM Tom Buese wrote:
>>>
>>>> Mr. Squirrel,
>>>>
>>>> I can't believe you have time to beat this issue to death when you
>>>> are leaving in 2 days? You must be completely packed & ready to
>>>> go?
>>>>
>>>> LOL,
>>>>
>>>> Mr. BZ
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Aug 8, 2008, at 5:02 PM, Mike Elliott wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Well. Yes. Of course. One /could/ use such a *sniff* low tech
>>>>> approach.
>>>>> One might as well plant a small boy back there with a video
>>>>> camera,
>>>>> Blair
>>>>> Witch-style, and review the tapes later.*
>>>>>
>>>>> There is something about your solution that I like: it appeals to
>>>>> my inner
>>>>> R. Goldberg. But my inner Mythbuster (read: Grant Imahara) wants
>>>>> accelerometers and graphs.
>>>>>
>>>>> I, personally, would combine your approach with my approach
>>>>> (subjective
>>>>> ball-watching v geeky graphs and stuff AND would add to it some
>>>>> means to
>>>>> inflate/deflate the tires remotely while in motion as well as
>>>>> sense
>>>>> and
>>>>> report back sidewall temperatures. I'm telling you: with
>>>>> sufficient
>>>>> funding this could quickly mushroom into a completely absurd
>>>>> project!
>>>>>
>>>>> ====================
>>>>>
>>>>> * Actually, if that wasn't so darn dangerous and illegal, it would
>>>>> be a
>>>>> great way to evaluate tire pressure v ride harshness!
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>>>>> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus -- NOW SOLD TO THE BUYER OF OUR HOUSE
>>>>> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>>>>> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>>>>> KG6RCR
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 8/8/2008 9:41 AM Jim Akiba wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> For what you're trying to do, software, sensors and data are way
>>>>>> overboard I think. Match the solution to the problem... you
>>>>>> simply
>>>>>> want to be able to verify that at X tire pressure you do or don't
>>>>>> have
>>>>>> an additional level of "bounciness" whatever that means correct?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What not just grab a cheap video camera, some bungees, a
>>>>>> plastic wide
>>>>>> mouth jar big enough for a tennis ball, a ping pong ball, and a
>>>>>> softball for example(you might need something much heavier/
>>>>>> lighter
>>>>>> depending on the displacement and frequency of bounce). Put
>>>>>> the tires
>>>>>> at X pressure, write that on a piece of paper and "show" this
>>>>>> to the
>>>>>> running camera(to link that tire pressure with the video with
>>>>>> certainty) that is now strapped to the trailer and recording
>>>>>> the ball
>>>>>> in the see through plastic container. Ride in a set path that you
>>>>>> will
>>>>>> repeat at whatever speeds you would like. Concentrate on road
>>>>>> safety
>>>>>> and consistency in driving. Change the tire pressure a few
>>>>>> times and
>>>>>> repeat. Simply watch the tape, and "see" what you can see... You
>>>>>> could likely run this test and have an idea of what you want in
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> same amount of time it would take to track down a good sensor for
>>>>>> cheap, install the software, run the test, and analyze the
>>>>>> data.. and
>>>>>> I'm almost 100% certain that interpreting the simple visual
>>>>>> data will
>>>>>> be much more intuitive for your average bear than raw numbers...
>>>>>> especially if you aren't sure of what range of displacements and
>>>>>> frequencies you're starting with(which you would really need to
>>>>>> ballpark to even pick the correct sensor)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hope this helps,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jim Akiba
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 12:06 AM, Mike Elliott
>>>>>> <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> This is a question for the engineering geeks here.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Say you were towing a little trailer behind your Vanagon. Say
>>>>>>> that the
>>>>>>> trailer had a rudimentary suspension consisting only of leaf
>>>>>>> springs. Say
>>>>>>> that this trailer also had tires, the pressure of which could be
>>>>>>> adjusted:
>>>>>>> higher pressure results in a harsher ride, while lower pressure
>>>>>>> results in
>>>>>>> a softer ride. Say you wanted to determine the optimum pressure
>>>>>>> of ride vs
>>>>>>> tire squishiness but were unable to find a small boy to ride
>>>>>>> in that
>>>>>>> trailer to report back about smoothness of ride v tire pressure
>>>>>>> while the
>>>>>>> experiments were being conducted, so lacking that small boy,
>>>>>>> your
>>>>>>> thoughts
>>>>>>> naturally turn to instrumentation. Okay, so say you had a laptop
>>>>>>> computer
>>>>>>> (WinXP) which could ride in the passenger seat, and /three/
>>>>>>> business days
>>>>>>> in which to acquire the needed sensor (accelerometer?) as well
>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> software to display the ride bounciness.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Could it be done?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>>>>>>>
>>>>
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