waterfall printer

[3v0]

EDIT: If this has been worked out already please ignore. With 100 posts in the thread I did not think of checking back till after I posted it. There are enough smart people here that it could well have been worked out.

No need to argue in that I agree with you. Please understand my purpose here is not to be argumentative.

Thinking about resolution.

Before we can work out how fast the valves need to be or what resolution a given speed will deliver, we need to know the rate at which the water falls. The drop in the jeep video is 24 feet and it looks it takes about 1 second to make the drop. That is a wild guess by looking at it. Maybe someone can come up with a better numbers and we can adjust this accordingly.

Need to check the thread and see if there is any numbers (freq or period) on Khalid1349's setup.

 

[Khalid1349]

Tomorrow is D DAy

Today i did wiring work from solenoid valves to microcontroller. ... lets see whats happen...
**broken link removed**

 

[SABorn]

I wish you luck for tomorrow.

The placement of the discharge tubes looks a little unorganized for a good patern, but gessing that is to be adjusted.

The panel wiring looks like Indian Telcom,( a rats nest of wires) but i do understand why, as i have created a few myself.

Waiting to see the Utube result

Pete.

 

[Khalid1349]

Hi Pete,
I have made a PVC fixture with 40 equally spaced holes where all the tubing will be fitted... As i was tired so didn't fit that fixture.. Sorry the wiring looks aweful, i am very bad in wiring organization... I hope i will post the video mid tomorrow...

 

[4pyros]

Starting to look like something! Off hand what was the resistor/capacitor board for?
Andy

 

[Khalid1349]

Andy,
the RC circuit is for fast injection of current for a limited time to the solenoids to increase the response time... The solenoids are rated for 24VDC whereas i am using 33V power supply, the 9V is consumed on the resistor 47ohm 5Watt ...the capacitors are 50V 100mf

 

[Sceadwian]

Khalid, did you ever find out if your mosfet drivers are avalanche rated for the solenoid kickback current? It's not gonna mean anything for testing but it's sure gonna mean a lot if you want this to be reliable.

 

[Khalid1349]

Sceadwian
I don't know but i am testing all the 40 solenoid valves for last 4 hours continuously and everything working perfect..the one thing that is not perfect is i am getting no graphics at all:
This may be because:
1- I have long tubing downstream the solenoids...If small metallic nozzles directly connected to the solenoid i would have got good results.
2- The Height of the solenoid. The solenoid are installed at about 8feet height, i think to see the graphical effect it must be 20 feet or above.

 

[Khalid1349]

Some videos:

 

[4pyros]

the one thing that is not perfect is i am getting no graphics at all:

Did you keep all the tubes after the valves the same length?
Try to do a solid bar/line across the hole thing and see how that looks.
How fast is your scan rate?
Your water is going to fast you need to slow it down. LOL
Andy

 

[cr0sh]

I think 4pyros has the right idea, Khalid - go with simple patterns like a checkerboard, block patterns, solid lines, etc. It was difficult to tell from the video what was going on with the water because of the light from the other rooms; maybe a bit of black cloth behind the water and front light it would help to see things more clearly?

Needless to say, I am fascinated by your progress; even if things don't work out properly - keep posting, as maybe it will help others avoid similar pitfalls. I do know this: My wife would have an absolute fit if I rigged up something like that in a doorway of our house (then again, I'd probably build it outside anyhow - no sense ruining the drywall!)...

 

[Sceadwian]

You shouldn't be doing a full scale test like that to test, you can't trouble shoot anything that way, try turning on 1 solenoid at a time for 1 second each and stepping through each solenoid. Also for taking the video's try putting a colored sheet behind the waterfall and using front lighting till you can see the streams those videos don't really show the streams well.

 

[Lickervo]

Khalid. Im looking into doing the exact same thing but with a couple different features for a final tech project. I noticed that you have tubes coming out of your Solenoid Valves. By having tubes there you are decreasing your resolutions and pretty much botching the use of the solenoids. As the solenoid pulses with different patterns it will create pressure differences in the tube coming out of the Solenoid, Although use of a laminar flow system might make it possible... Try it with no tube firing one by one as Sceadwian said. I would love to get my hands on your source code for image conversion though!!

Goodluck, I will check back frequently.

 

[3v0]

I have been thinking about your tubes. Try drilling holes in the tube right where it connects the solenoid. Either the holes will allow air to enter behind the moving water and it will continue down the tube, or it will spray water all over.

 

[4pyros]

No Tubes.
Andy

 

[kagan09]

hey guys , do you think the water jets(thing that sprays water to the windscreen) on cars would work for this ? by connecting a 12v washer motor to the water jet to control the droplets.

 

[KMoffett]

hey guys , do you think the water jets(thing that sprays water to the windscreen) on cars would work for this ? by connecting a 12v washer motor to the water jet to control the droplets.

Automotive windshield washer pumps are only meant to operate for a few seconds at a time. They have nylon motor bearings. Running them for longer periods will melt the bearings. Been there...done that.

Ken

 

[Lickervo]

Also the greater the speed of the droplets the less verticle resolution you will achieve, this is why these systems usually run as close to 1Bar at all times. Either that or make it alot taller for pressurized jets.

 

[kagan09]

can someone check if im on the right track thanks. one is named 33v but its 3.3v. i'll be using a 12volt 8amp power supply and 12 volt 350mAmp solenoid valve

 

[KMoffett]

Your schematics are very difficult to read... blurred details.

one is named 33v but its 3.3v.

To what are you referring?

Ken