|
SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> seeking your feedback /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1245480381 Message started by JohnBoy on 06/19/09 at 23:46:20 |
|
Title: seeking your feedback Post by JohnBoy on 06/19/09 at 23:46:20 Can I get your opinions and suggestions please. I have a number of traffic lights in my neighborhood that refuse to see my bike...or my truck for that matter. It appears to me that when I pull up to one of these lights and activate my door lock switch a few times I can “walk” the lights through the cycle and back to my turn. The door locks appear to be electromagnetically controlled. First, are these locks actuated by an electromagnetic pulse, or a geared motor? Second, If they are magnetically controlled, can I actually”walk” the lights to the pattern I want by repeatedly activating the lock switch? I know that a number of you have mounted magnets to your frame and I can see that this would get the attention of the light switch. However, at a six way stop at three in the morning you might wait for 15 minutes for the green to come back to you. Unless of course you are constantly moving forward and back to change your magnetic signature. So the question becomes; If you can in fact walk the lights, could you strip a door lock actuator and mount it on your frame with a push button to energize it, and save some time and head aches? |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by verslagen1 on 06/20/09 at 00:03:50 One of my next projects, although I don't have a need. If the door lock has enough of a magnetic signature to kick the lights in the @$$ and get you where you want to go, do it. Measure the amperage and ohmage so someone can repeat it. My thought was to get some electro magnetic wire and wrap it around the kick stand to make one hell of a electro magnet. Push button on the handlebar and I could steal wrenches out of tool boxes at 20 feet. ;D |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by tomtaz1975 on 06/20/09 at 04:57:48 Besides the magnets and such, check your local laws. In some states, they allow a motorcycle to go through a red when traffic is clear if it does not change after either minutes, or if a known inoperable light, it can be treated as a stop sign (see Florida below). My advice is that if your state allows it: FIND IT & PRINT IT OUT and carry it with you. Just because it's in the books doesn't mean every officer has all state laws memorized. I live in Wisconsin, and I turn left on red all the time because of the mal-adjusted sensors. On another note, I was told a few years ago that they can adjust the sensitivity of the sensors, anywhere between some scrap metal lying on the ground to a tank. If you have a few that really give you a hard time, you can try contacting your DOT and getting them to increase the sensitivity. ----------------------------------------------------- South Carolina became the seventh state to give motorcyclists license to proceed with caution after stopping when the device that causes the light to change from red to green doesn’t activate. North Carolina passed a similar law in 2007. Wisconsin (2006), Idaho (2006) Arkansas (2005), Tennessee (2003) and Minnesota (2002), all have passed laws the past six years. ----------------------------------------------------- |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by BouleTard on 06/20/09 at 05:20:36 You don't need any magnets, just a bit of metal close to the sensor loop. Pop the bike into neutral and lower the kickstand, or if you're feeling dangerous, disable the kickstand switch. You can usually see where they made the sawcuts to embed the sensor loop, usually an octagon of cuts where the first car would wait. Putting your kickstand anywhere on that loop will trigger the light. |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by Savage Eddie on 06/20/09 at 06:43:14 and to answer your question... "First, are these locks actuated by an electromagnetic pulse, or a geared motor?" Both, a motor spins a set of gears to unlock your door. im surprised a small door lock motor will change the lights but that kinda cool....heh They are 12 volt actuators and could be mounted under the bike i guess. they arent meant to get wet and may not last long if they do. |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by JohnBoy on 06/20/09 at 19:16:39 Here in PHX the sensor loops are often buried under two or three layers of new asphalt. DOT says they are going to fix them...”one of these years”. I used to try the kickstand trick with my voyagers. Every once in a while it would actually work, but for the most part the kickstand could have been made of wood. So now I am looking for an edge. Have any of you been able to trip your traffic lights by applying your door lock button a couple of times? It seems to work for me but that might just be wishful thinking. |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by JohnBoy on 07/25/09 at 07:25:09 Still looking for feedback. Some of my co-workers are reporting back that it seems to be working for them. As a rule they are tripping the door lock button up and down two or three times, waiting a three count and doing it again. Here in Poenix the walk/dont walk sign will flash a hand sign for 20 sec. then a solid hand for five more...then you get green...if you are lucky. Nothing like sitting in 115 degree sun waiting on a light that doesn't know you are there. It was 104 at 11:00pm last week. Biking AZ in the summer time..."Hell on wheels"! |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by PTRider on 07/25/09 at 12:56:09 It's not about magnets. If adding a magnet works, it is just because you added a hunk of metal, magnetic or not. When a vehicle reaches the inductive loop sensor, the metal of the vehicle disturbs the magnetic field over the loop, which causes a change in the loop's inductance. Inductance is an electrical property that is proportional to the magnetic field. This is how the loop sensor detects a vehicle. The size of the loop, the shape of the loop, the number of "turns" in the loop coil, and the length of the lead-in wire all combine to form a specific circuit. The current passing through the loop generates an electromagnetic field. When a vehicle passes through the field, it acts as a conductor, changing the inductance of the loop. The sensor detects this change and notifies the traffic-signal controller of its finding. http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/septoct98/loop.htm Here's how to do your best to activate the inductive sensor: To maximize the likelihood that an inductive loop sensor will detect your bike, it is important to position your bike over the most sensitive portion of the loop. There are several common shapes of inductive loop sensors, each with a different "sweet spot" for bikes. The two most common shapes are the dipole loop and the quadrupole loop. For either of these two loop patterns, position both wheels directly over the sawcut for the wire, choosing either side for the dipole loop and using the center sawcut for the quadrupole loop. When a roadway is repaved over the loop sawcuts, a cyclist cannot determine the location of the sensor's wires, and as a result may not be able to position the bike's rims for detection. http://humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/signals/green.htm Try rev'ing the engine. Sometimes spinning the generator faster generates a field that activates the sensor--or stopping and re-starting the engine to get the field from the starter motor. My state doesn't allow free turns on red lights no matter how long one has to wait. If your's does, great idea to print that section of your motor vehicle code and carry it with you. In every case, BE CAREFUL. |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by JohnBoy on 07/25/09 at 13:32:50 "Try rev'ing the engine. Sometimes spinning the generator faster generates a field that activates the sensor--or stopping and re-starting the engine to get the field from the starter motor. " So...how would revving or restarting the engine do anything to change the "metal" signature to the sensor...except to make a momentary change in the magnetic field strength? If that change works wouldn't a magnetic door lock actuator do the same thing? I believe that this works and I am getting some feedback indicating that it is working for others. I am asking if any of you have had a similar experience. If enough people answer yes, I will locate a door lock actuator from a Saturn Ion or Isuzu Amigo, (those that I feel are shown to work) and wire it into my harness with a momentary push button switch. |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by verslagen1 on 07/25/09 at 13:34:52 282F30630 wrote:
282F30630 wrote:
Doesn't take long for you to contradict yourself. |
|
Title: Re: seeking your feedback Post by Ed L. on 07/26/09 at 18:32:21 I've turned the bike off and restarted it to get traffic lights to change. The sensors work on a change in the magnetic field either from a lump of steel stopping like a cage or the change caused by the magnetic field that's put out by a bike starter or electric windows and locks being operated. I've never tried flipping the locks on my truck, instead I just roll the truck forward about a foot. |
|
SuzukiSavage.com » Powered by YaBB 2.2! YaBB © 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved. |