Week 10 - Prototype Record (gas ignition)

The following is a record of the proof of concept model produced during the Prototyping Meeting on September 24 (click here to visit the post Week 9 - Prototyping Meeting (Lever Mechanism Testing))

Initial diagramatic sketch of the gas release mechanism

Review of the lever mechanism used to release gas (also demonstrated in this post:

Week 9 - Prototyping Exploration (Lighter Testing)

Constraining the lever movement to up and down

The following image series shows the rotation of the arm and how it causes the wedge to release gas from the lighter. For this demonstration the gas stream was lit with an open flame however the final product will ignite the gas stream with an electronic igniter.

1. The rotary arm controlled by the servo motor starts at one end of the wedge.

2. Once the arm passes to the other end of the wedge gas is released from the lighter.

3. The gas is ignited by the electronic igniter in the case of the first flame or is ignited by the previously ignited open flame.

4. The arm moves past the end of the wedge onto the next lighters wedge.

5. To extinguish the flame the arm rotates back releasing the wedge and stopping the flow of gas hence extinguishing the flame.

6. The arm rotates back to the previous wedge ready to extinguish it also.

After completing this proof of concept with the cheap Rhino lighter I found that the plastic gas release lever was failing due to the heat. I decided to reverted to the Bic lighter as its construction was more reliable. I also found that it was easier to implements due to the shape of the release button/lever. So below the above process is repeated.

1. The rotary arm controlled by the servo motor starts at one end of the wedge.

2. Once the arm passes to the other end of the wedge gas is released from the lighter.

3. The gas is ignited by the electronic igniter in the case of the first flame or is ignited by the previously ignited open flame.

4. The arm moves past the end of the wedge onto the next lighters wedge.

5. To extinguish the flame the arm rotates back releasing the wedge and stopping the flow of gas hence extinguishing the flame.

6. The arm rotates back to the previous wedge ready to extinguish it also.

This proof of concept prototype shows that this mechanism could work given time and plenty of development it could be miniaturised to fit in a small module for controlling gas flow. We had hoped to be able to implement this mechanism in a circular array for the final proof of concept model. Given the time though, this may not be possible. As I mentioned in the previous postthe final proof of concept model will use flickering LEDs coupled with the Arduino Levitation to represent the interface.