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The perfect anti-vibration foam

Posted by Earl on October 4, 2010 at 9:30pm

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I found the PERFECT foam for the gyros and mags for anti-vibration on the AreoCopter
You all have heard and seen the commercial for Tempurpedic mattress
where the girl jumps on one end and the glass of wine on the other end
that doesn't spill ?
Look them up on the internet and request a free sample. Perfect size and
it REALLY kills the vibration, especially on ArduCopter.
Put this stuff in the Professional housing box under and around the mega and you will be all set.
Earl

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Comments

  • Patrick Hammer October 6, 2010 at 8:16am
    I don't think it was ever decided 100% one way or the other what "killed Columbia" i.e. foam, or foam & ice, or just ice, or a heat resitant tile. The jury is still out. In any event it wasn't Sorbathane - there is none on the outside of the Shuttle, and it's a soft material. The "foam" used on the outside of the Shuttle (to insulate the fuel tanks) is sprayed on and solidifies rock hard. Sorbathane is a relatively soft & flexable
  • T3
    Krzysztof Bosak October 6, 2010 at 4:45am
    "Good enough for Nasa cameras on the shuttle, should be good enough for RC models. "
    Is this the foam that killed Columbia?
  • Patrick Hammer October 6, 2010 at 4:36am
    As others have already said - Sorbathan: used tons of the stuff at work over the years.

    Good enough for Nasa cameras on the shuttle, should be good enough for RC models.
  • T3
    Krzysztof Bosak October 5, 2010 at 12:39pm
    Surprisingly Velcro straps are not bad for the application.
  • Neil Baker October 5, 2010 at 10:10am
    http://www.readyheli.com/Z8006-Zeal-Vibration-Absorption-Sheet_p_36...

    This stuff is awesome if anybody is looking for adhesive vibration tape. I use it to mount my APM.
  • Dean Lamborn October 5, 2010 at 9:54am
    Edmunds Scientific's sells 1/8 x 12 x 12 Sorbothane sheets for $19.95


    Remember: A bad design can actually make things worse for vibration damping.
  • Gerry Lichter October 5, 2010 at 8:15am
    "There is a product called sorbothane"

    Funny you should mention it. I was just reading about sorbothane.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anechoic_tile
  • Ron Jacobs October 5, 2010 at 8:11am
    I would suggest a bigger problem than static might be retention of moisture in the foam causing corrosion of components and connections on boards in contact or near the foam. Also, foam makes a great insulator so heat build-up could be an issue in warmer weather if components are surrounded by foam.

    There is a product called sorbothane, a foamlike rubber product, I think that could be used to make vibration mounts. Also there are dandy vibration isolators in different sizes used to mount hard drives and other components in computers.
  • Developer
    Randy October 5, 2010 at 4:49am
    @phill - i think you're right. APM outputs 5v so probably need one of these level converters:
    http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8745

    @Earl - the foam is a bit thick. I wonder if they have it in thinner strips. For the traditional heli we need about 1cm ~1.2cm thickness. PM me if you know of a good source and we will add it to the parts list.

    vibration is a super big deal (although the current OilPan gyros are a lot beter than others I've seen).

    Any idea if magnetometers are actually affected by vibration? I don't see why they would be actually.

    One last thing - the latest arduCopter code allows you to set the magnetometer orientation. The above shown orientation would require a change to one line of code as mentioned on the wiki. Look for "setOrientation" here.
  • phill October 5, 2010 at 3:07am
    i hope you regulated the volt pin on the magnetometer. as its 3.3v the board puts out 5v
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