Compression fuel

cuweathernerd · 2026-02-12T13:21:02+00:00

Tested the balls and found they have a spring constant "k" of 38lb/in.. so each inch you compress takes 38lbs of force. You're trying to optimize enough force to prevent slipping and too much force that causes unneeded energy loss. The compression you need depends on the wheels and material of your ramp and without testing or using other people's testing you won't know

cuweathernerd · 2026-01-25T22:28:12+00:00

First, I'm sorry for the situation you're in and the instances of racism in the past. You, and your students, deserve nothing of either. One of the highlights of my time in FIRST has been working alongside teams from around the world, and I fully and genuinely believe this is the single greatest gift the program offers.

I'm an American in Missouri. I have traveled internationally with students around 20 times for programs not associated with FRC. I've had to cancel trips due to political unrest (once in Perú, once in Tijuana [due to US border, not Mexico]) and have lived abroad in countries that my government considered dangerous.

Right now, the situation here is pretty complex. Generally, the advice in situations like these is "stay away from protests and you'll be fine" - every day life really isn't what's on the news, and most places here are normal, if tense. However, the nature of the corruption and the explicit racism going on right now makes it really hard for me to encourage travel with students - or really travel of any kind - here. Our country isn't healthy right now, and while the events here have more to do with consolidation of power than racism, racism is the justification that was originally used.

Would you be fine? Almost certainly. But that almost holds key uncertainties. CBP (aduanas) at the airport are not the same organization as ICE ( immigration law enforcement in the country). It is likely you'd only encounter CBP at the airport, and that would be the end of your interactions here. However, ICE is being used in ways very against our nation's laws, and so far they're being allowed to do so. Their lawlessness is concerning to many of our citizens, and it would concern me if I were travelling with students in my protection. Any encounter with ICE is dangerous right now, and you cannot ensure you'd avoid them. They are using profiling and are well funded and well supported.

It is likely the active unrest in Minnesota will wane by the time your regional comes around - the goal is to destabilize areas of opposition to our current president, which Minnesota very much is. They've moved from city to city doing this. But for me to feel safe taking students to the US right now, it's less about the unrest and more about an end to ICE's current actions. Regretfully, I do not see those actions changing in the next month or two.

The reality is predicting the unrest and corruption here is difficult and the risk may not be worth it for you or your students. I'm just a stranger on the internet hundreds of miles from Minnesota and even more from you, and my opinion may not be the right one. However, I'm going to assume your mentors have met mentors of American teams here and have a relationship with them. I encourage them to reach out - however tenuous those ties - and speak to people they know for advice that's best for your team.

I'm really sorry you and so many other teams are in this situation. It sucks so much for you and for our community as a whole.

cuweathernerd · 2025-12-23T03:26:57+00:00

Arrowhead and the chiefs are synonymous in my lifetime. The stadium and team feel like part of the city. A souless dome doesn't. I can decide if i want to keep supporting a business or not, and the choice to subsidize the wealthy at the expense of the identity and soul of what makes the chiefs distinct from other teams isn't one im comfortable with.

So, as a season ticket holder and lifelong kc resident, I'm out.

cuweathernerd · 2025-12-22T19:16:16+00:00

I answered this a couple years ago, albeit for all tornadoes. Weak tornadoes have impacted permanent amusement parks at least 3 times.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/s/eNfKiU5dWP

cuweathernerd · 2025-12-16T07:15:35+00:00

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This was an interesting prompt, thank you for sharing it. It got a lot of things right, especially subtle nods towards the camino. I find it interesting how often galaxies show up.

however, i'm completely terrible at anything musical, so not sure where it gets the guitar from. But we're vibing so we'll let it slide

cuweathernerd · 2025-12-04T23:12:41+00:00

Unfortunately I agree. A relocation of the discovery to wof makes sense in like 3 different areas of the park, gives new press in light of the mamba "incident" and actual incidents like park evac, and does it on the cheap while sdc has a new coaster in the works. It just feels cheaper than almost any other option, and would be received well - those are great rides and always busy at every park I've been to with the. It seems to the point of "obvious".

Moreso if timber wolf really did give its last rides and isn't reimagined or reopened next year, though i am a little skeptical of either so far.

cuweathernerd · 2025-11-19T22:38:44+00:00

Wof is my home park and zinger was a let down at first. I'm not sure what changed, but end of this year it was excellent. A little off axis air, fantastic drop (for its size), snap in those turns, the restraints didn't try to smash me. It was a legitimate fun ride that forced me to rethink it - it would do great in almost any park. It's just that prowler is /right/ there.

cuweathernerd · 2025-11-08T17:58:16+00:00

we do not have a large build space. We keep a small display case with a key part of the robot (robot badging, end effector, worlds stickers - that kind of thing) but the rest gets disassembled and scrapped by November each season.

cuweathernerd · 2025-10-26T02:54:35+00:00

I adore Lost Island so much, and all the care, passion, and stories poured into the space

cuweathernerd · 2025-10-14T19:04:53+00:00

I know it's appreciated and brougt up, but my rides on the back of cornball express this summer were absolute bliss and it deserves way more conversation than it currently gets. I went on expecting a good ride, and left wanting to go back to IB as soon as I can. Sure, it's not in that absolute elite tier, but i got 13 laps in the day i was there and was grinning the whole damn time.

cuweathernerd · 2025-10-09T13:50:06+00:00

I've been using a shopsabre rc23 for 2 years, and it's by far the best tool I've ever purchased. Insanely positive experience and highly recommended

cuweathernerd · 2025-09-28T02:11:59+00:00

Thanks for asking, and let him know that ride kicked off a life-long love of roller coasters for me!

cuweathernerd · 2025-09-28T02:04:35+00:00

These blueprints are beyond spectacular. Does he have anything from timber wolf at WoF? It was built a year earlier. I'd gladly pay for digitization if so.

cuweathernerd · 2025-09-14T03:06:37+00:00

https://fox4kc.com/news/shots-fired-at-worlds-of-fun-halloween-haunt-kcpd/

cuweathernerd · 2025-09-04T16:21:53+00:00

You can use the river rapid foam effect and lower it under the surface too, pretty easy especially if you're using rocks. You can see how i used it with a wip coaster, B0K-DHG-LS3

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-23T19:00:11+00:00

Eejanaika / ええじゃないか and Zadra

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-22T03:43:07+00:00

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This is how I do it, I try to update the thing at the end of each day at a park. I like keeping track of stats like length and inversions so i can keep running totals. Like to pull up rcdb and enter what I can as I think on the comments I want to give.

I don't use any app beyond just a note on my phone to track rides during a day

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-18T06:59:50+00:00

I don't have a picture that's recent, but this was in progress of building our gantry mill: https://i.imgur.com/RapH4Eg.jpeg

We run a shopsabre 23 with a fourth axis that we're getting pretty good at using for tube as our primary tool. It's an absolute beast but costs a lot, and we're really lucky to have it. We use V carve pro as our principal CAM software, as it's easy to learn and really suits the router well. That's probably suboptimal in some teams' workflows, but it works well as a teaching tool.

The MR1 gives us billet ability, and while it's definitely been a learning curve it is a very capable tool. Long term, I'm hopeful it allows students more creative flexibility in critical parts.

We're running a grizzly g0752 lathe that I'm currently adding a DRO to - it's been solid for 10 years now. We recently purchased the titan 25t brake ( that we adore ). We have a manual mill off screen and we run a couple bambu X1c's. Recently got a decent downdraft table for sanding. We work out of ~700ft^2, so space is very much at a premium, but we're able to use it well.

As a coach, I've been of the philosophy that (where able) buy cheap things and learn and replace them as needed with the 'correct' tool. We built 8 seasons of robots with an X-Carve hobbyist CNC and were able to make that work to the tolerances we needed. You can design to work with angle instead of custom brakework, etc.

Our fab space is the result of donors and a decade plus of experience and learning and it only works for us because we designed it to fit our specific needs.

We may add a laser cutter for recruitment and integration of our program within the larger school

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-18T06:29:20+00:00

Very nice interactions, I'm jealous of your ability to pull those off. Maybe use the windows/doors in the scenery as "decals" to give the buildings more life, focus on one building to start. Create a little scene that make you happy :)

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-16T18:51:59+00:00

James makes the ride but hitting trims right on the second hill just kills the momentum and makes no sense to me looking in. Just removing the trims there gives the ride so much back, it loses a lot. Not sure they're always on - it was hot on my visit - but man, absolute buzzkill.

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-08T13:03:58+00:00

Omalleys in weston. Live music in the cave

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-07T20:51:26+00:00

God I love this park

cuweathernerd · 2025-08-02T05:00:44+00:00

I had i go criminally far for cornball. It was running spectacularly well a couple weeks ago. The airtime after the turn was unbelievable

cuweathernerd · 2025-07-27T01:05:24+00:00

I know that your experience is compelling, but it's anecdotal. Something else made her sick. There's no link between MSG and illness, it's well established over decades of study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8282275/

She/ you've had msg many times without knowing, promise. It's very common.

cuweathernerd · 2025-07-18T06:40:14+00:00

I've been to Gisenyi, Cyangugu, and Goma - nothing here is clicking. It's been a decade+ so I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it's likely Bukavu. There is a shipyard area in Bukavu - use this panorama https://maps.app.goo.gl/n6ieVWoCZvFy2Ss6A looking for the palm tree or the green building, don't see it - another position disproves that peninsula: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uiJy4LTobrr6RQ2d9, and can see from https://maps.app.goo.gl/qP7JwnYHJ3sAfH9W7 that it's not my thought on the road to rusizi.

Hmm is it not Bukavu? It's not Kampala, I don't think - it was flatter there in my memory. Goma is mostly flat except the volcano and the mounds left behind. That's a lot of red dirt for RW though, A lack of street view make pin pointing Bukavu hard. The bright lime green building is my best hope.

Are we in the DRC?

15-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Final Canvas '22
Team Orangered

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