Landing gear suspension with dampening - maybe.

[philbx1]

Hey all.

After seeing some great examples of board isolation on multicopters thought some of these ideas
might also apply to landing gear.

So, the idea I've borrowed is to use earplugs as suspension and I hope the attached image explains this.
BTW, not sure about outer/inner diameters of CF tube but this is based on 16/14mm dimensions
I've found on the net.



Anyway, just a thought for now but I'm guessing the properties of foam earplugs would dampen landings somewhat.

 

[CrashRecovery]

It's a neat idea but remember you will need a way to keep the shock from separating when there is no weight on it

 

[Cyberdactyl]

That appears to be a somewhat Rube Goldberg method of incorporating foam as shock absorption. But I love you're exploring ideas!

 

[Drake600]

Two small collars should do the trick - one inside the top tube and one on the outside of the bottom tube. If you can find a low friction plastic it will double as a linear bearing. Kind of like the old telescopic antennas. You'll obviously have to resize the tubes to include clearance for the collars.

I'm filing this idea away for future use, thanks.

 

[willsonman]

Pin and slot would be simple and effective as well. Slots in the outer tube and a pin through the slot into the inner tube out the other side.

 

[RAM]

I'm thinking along the same lines but using air instead of foam or other liquid. Air won't be affected so much by temperature.

This was the video that gave me the idea. Build something similar but leave a small hole for the air to get out so you don't get too much bounce. This way, when you land, your landing gear slowly compresses and lowers the quad. How much or how fast it compresses you can set by the way you build it. Once you take off again, the legs extend and are ready for the next landing. By leaving an air leak instead of closing it off like a fire piston you won't have too much bounce but you also react differently to a hard hit (that's my theory anyway ??? who knows)