I have a broken table tennis robot (shoots ping pong balls). I found that it has two DC power supply (12V x 2), and one of them failed.
The easiest solution is to use a spare computer PC power supply to replace the defective one.
My only concern is this. The power supply in the robot is transformer based. A PC power supply is transformer-less switching circuit, which means no A/C isolation from the mains. Would this make the resulting device less safe?
A PC power supply provides Isolation from the incoming AC mains ! Whatever gave you the idea it didn't ?
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Best Regards:
Baron.
The PC power supply case & common are connected to ground, and can short out other power supplies.
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If you know so little about mains isolation and SMPS design, I'd suggest keeping to ping-pong, and let someone else fix the unit. A SMPS is fully isolated.
Well, were someone who knows what they are doing to fix it, it would be just as safe.
True, but the other supplies had better not have their cases hooked to anything other than ground.
True, but he has no idea what the remaining power supply is, or how its wired.
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Just a thought: if you replace the transformer(s) with a much lighter switching supply, doesn't the machine get too light so it becomes unstable? May be it depends on the transformer weight for inertia.
Mat Nieuwenhoven
Wrong ! It is not rated at a suitable power.
Graham
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Well said Sir.
due to the hugely increased level of spam please make the obvious adjustment to my email address
Uh ?
Graham
-- due to the hugely increased level of spam please make the obvious adjustment to my email address
Every action creates an equal and opposite reaction. So it fires a ping-pong ball forward, and as a result the opposite energy is directed in the other (rearward) direction.
With an SMPS there is no question that that will launch the machine into the next room with sufficient force to cause personal injury or even death to anyone unlucky enough to be in the way.
The resulting ripping of the power cord from the machine will then allow live wires to arc on the floor, igniting the carpet and causing a fire.
The resulting fire will destroy the house, and then spread to the next house.
The ambulance which was called for the person struck by the machine will be involved in an accident, blocking the route for the fire trucks.
The fire will spread to near by houses, and continue to spread unabated until the entire city is consumed.
The authorities will assume (incorrectly, perhaps) that the destruction of the city was cause by terrorism and will call for war against the guilty parties.
There will be no survivors...
On second thought, this might be a desirable side-effect if it makes the machine just slightly unstable: the paths of the pingpong balls become more unpredictable, enhancing the training experience :-)
Mat Nieuwenhoven
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