February 11, 2010
Update on Husky Vibrations project: Ideas for taming the tremor
Could the answer be as simple as a rubber mat?
Students in fall quarter’s section of Introduction to Mechanical Design mulled over the problem of slight vibrations in the TV camera platforms, or “buckets,” during football games at Husky Stadium. Those buckets commence shaking a bit when the crowd gets worked up during games, making it hard for TV cameramen to do their job well.
Informal efforts to address this have been spearheaded by Jeff Siegmeth, a mechanical engineering alumnus, along with professors Per Reinhall and Vipin Kumar. Reinhall said, “It’s a pretty lively structure, it’s a steel structure, and that is a problem for the cameras.” Seigmeth called the project “a neat opportunity for students to fix a real-life problem.”
They’ve dubbed it the Husky Vibrations project. But it’s all still very much in the brainstorming process.
Sixteen students in Kumar’s class — four groups of four — studied the problem for their class project without worrying, for now, about costs, and then reported their theories to the class.
Here are brief summaries of what they presented, as described by Kumar.
Spring system. “The first team proposed a mass-spring-damper system that will passively attenuate vibrations by acting as a stable platform on which any sports camera tripod may be placed.”
Raised triangular platform. “The second team suggested a triangular platform with raised edges mounted on three springs and a centered damper.” The camera tripod is meant here to stand on top of the platform with its legs against each corner of the triangular base. “As the vibrations propagate from the crowd to the camera platform and finally to our damped sub-floor, the spring and damper system will absorb and dissipate most of the vibrations.”
A rubber mat. “The third team proposed using a rubber mat as the best choice due to its low cost, simple and versatile design, and ease of care and installation.” Similar mats have been used to dampen vibrations in industrial machinery.
Air spring attachment. “The fourth team selected a design consisting of an air spring attachment to the camera system called an Airmount isolator, made by Firestone. Since the camera and tripod usually come separated, the air spring is placed in between the two components during assembly.”
Kumar said the project will be continued in the spring quarter capstone design class.
Read University Week’s previous article on the vibrations, from November 2009, here.
