Version 4.31 online

[ArtF]

Hi Guys:

 Version 4.31 is online. It has a couple minor fixes as discussed in the forum reports on those bugs.
It also has proper grasshopp er simulatio n on the design screen, you cannot yet create them.

Couple notes on Grasshopp ers:

  There are quite a few ways to build a grasshopp er, so in the vein of my usual attempt to keep variables down,
and to ensure that an escapemen t works pretty much out of the box, the grasshopp er your presented with is quite
variable in look, but has very few variables to influence that. You can change the Boss ratios, and Arm ratio's for
thickness of the connction arms, the tooth span which must be an integer number ( no .5 teeth here..), and the
pendulum arc. Unlike most escapemen ts, the arc of a grasshopp er is fully implied in the design of it. A grasshopp er
is very very efficient as an escapemen t, its energy transfer is high, and its sliding friction is pretty much non existant.
  I will build a test of it when I complete the solids code for it, but my hope is that very little adjustmen t is necessary after cutting it, Ive left only 2 points really for adjustmen t, and the math is exact as to the design itself.
     This one has been fun, Grasshopp ers typically are made only by very few, and then copied by many as the
designing of one is a bit nonintuit ive. For some reason the documenta tion I found on the math was incorrect on
important points, it claimed the toothspan must be n +.5 , where I found only N works. Its angular derivatio ns were correct, but unexplain ed as to simulatio n type angles as it was written in a time before computers, so building one was the test. As a result, tooth nibs, and backstops are typically quite adjustabl e, mine are not, they are calculate d to work, and should only need slight filing if systemic flex is evident in the recoils and such..so
you dont have many ways to influence them. BUT you must ensure what you design will work by simulatio n, its too easy to build an impossibl e one, but youll readily see that when you try it. 

   The escapment itself is using gravity as I didnt want to worry about springs. Of course one is free to use CAD
to change the look and feel of the escapemen t, so long as you respect the main angles and tooth lengths. ( I envision a small dragon with one foot and a claw as the arms and his tongue as a lever stop.. :-)..)
  Those gravity wheels are approxima tion only, in many cases they will be enough to gravitate the levers to position, though the right lever may need a weight attached to the weight disk as the normal size ratios made me reduce the size of that weight disk.

 Anyway, if your intereste d in grasshopp ers give this simulatio n a try and let me know what you think. This one fuzzed my head a few times, I kinda hate those..an d love them.

Thx
Art

[John T]

Hi Art,
I've fiddled a little with the simulatio n in 4.31 and am now able to "test" out some variables and that is really neat.  The simulatio n sent me down stairs to check out the workings of the grasshopp er escapemen ts that I already have working.  In the simulatio n the left pallet releases the right one when it strikes in the corner of the notch, while mine actually strikes almost 3/16" down from the corner of the notch and allows the right pallet to release, and this causes a small amount of sliding friction for the left pallet as it rises up to the actual notch itself.  Perhaps in the actual building of your grasshopp er it will do the same, anyway I'm looking forward to the next step.

John

[ArtF]

Im curious, is the toothspan of your grasshopp er a set number of teeth, or does it add 1/2 tooth to the span?

Art

[John T]

Hi Art,
I guess it all depends on how you count teeth -  With the right hand pallet hooked on a tooth there are 10 teeth to the left hand (entry) pallet and the entry hook is 1/2 way between the  10th and 11th tooth.  Anyway I've sent along a photo and you can count for yourself,  the entry pallet is on a pivot and in reality the distance between pallets isn't truly "fixed".

[ArtF]

Yup, Id call that 9.5 span.. damned if I can fiure out how that works..mu st be different angles used to compute the arms, mine
only seem to work with no .5 spans in there. The simulatio n shows pretty well that it "should" work fnie though. Be interesti ng to see.

Art

[John T]

Hi Art,
There is a lot of adjustabi lity in the arms of the pallets and that is the reason that I coloured the two teeth red because I could actually set the same pallets shown here to span a different number of teeth - it didn't work very well but gave the impressio n that is could so I coloured the two teeth to show the proper span.

John

[ArtF]

John:

  Ahh, that makes sense then. Im not sure how to do .5 tooth pallets as yet, but I suppose as long as these ones work
as they seem to it wont matter. Not much adjustent on mine so the spacing and such has to be tight..

Art

[migsen]

Hi all ,

Snapshot seems to give me white picture.. .(?)

Thanks .

[ArtF]

Hi:

 Hmm.. I'll check it out here as much as I can, but it seems to work here. Might be a video card or Windows issue as well, but
Ill see what I can find.

Thx
Art

[migsen]

Thanks ArtF...bu t the .bmp is definitiv ely white ... 
Graphic driver updated and snapshot working ok with others softwares .
But it's not a big problem ,I will use the snapshot function included in win7...

[ArtF]

Hi Guys:

  Just an update , Ive fixed a few bugs reported, and the grasshopp ers are almost ready, So Ill probably release soemtime this week as Im just cmopletin g a few code sections on Grasshopp er output..

Thx
Art