PoleVaultPower.com

Ok hate if you will..but I came up with a (IMO) pretty sweet idea for standards. I was bartending this super windy college meet last weekend with one of the college teams distance members. We had to hold the crossbar up with bartenders until the vaulter planted and then we would let go. The wind got so bad that eventually it would knock it down anyway so we just held it up there and the official made a call whether or not they actually cleared the bar. Don't worry it was a small meet lol. Anyway to the point of this thread. The college runner and I were talking, and we said it would be cool if the bar was magnetic, and the pegs had super strong ELECTRO-magnets on them. There would be a sensor in the back of the box and the moment it felt pressure from the pole tip, the magnets would release. The crossbar would now just be resting, no longer held in place by the electromagnets. So on windy days, this system could save the shoulders and forearms of poor souls like myself and this distance runner. Doesn't it sound like a pretty neat (although not very realistic) piece of equipment? Maybe it could be tweaked to where you could just throw a cross bar up in the air and it would catch it. It was just something to talk about through out the meet and I figured it would give someone a laugh here on PVP

that is actually a great idea....will likely never be used unless a pole vaulter is also a mechanical engineer and rigs one up, but really sweet idea!!!!

If you are willing to settle for a switch (vs. a pressure sensor) the engineer of the system is quite easy. Get some wire, a couple batteries, a light switch and an intro physics/e.e. book. If you are wanting the pressure sensor, that's going to take a bit more time and money... but a good idea...

That sounds pretty sweet!
It makes sense. Might be expensive though, if you want the electro-magnets and pressure sensor. But it does make sense.
GREAT idea!

It might make more sense for the ends to be permanently attached to the standard and to have the crossbar held together in the middle by a magnet. If the athlete hits it too hard, it comes apart, counts as a miss and takes out a spectator.

Noah C wrote: ... There would be a sensor in the back of the box and the moment it felt pressure from the pole tip, the magnets would release. The crossbar would now just be resting, no longer held in place by the electromagnets. So on windy days, this system could save the shoulders and forearms of poor souls like myself and this distance runner. Doesn't it sound like a pretty neat (although not very realistic) piece of equipment?

You guys must have had fun designing this gadget between jumps!

The gotcha that I see is that there's no VISIBLE indication that the gadget is working properly. So what if the vaulter scrapes over the bar? How does the PV official know that the magnets were disengaged at the exact time that the bar wriggled but stayed on the pegs? What if the magnets turned off too late ... or not at all?

Kirk

Someone actually came up with a bar that was designed to "break" in the middle if hit. Then by hydraulics or pneumatic control the official pressed a button or switch and the bar came back to position. I don't know if this "gadget" was ever approved, but if so it was not used much if at all. If memory serves me correctly this device would have been in the late 60s or early 70s. Maybe some of the "old timers" will remember!

Dan

drcurran wrote: Someone actually came up with a bar that was designed to "break" in the middle if hit. ... Maybe some of the "old timers" will remember

Nope, I don't remember anything like that. Not that I should know ... but if it was extremely popular, I would have known. Maybe it just never made any headlines.

Besides my earlier concern (one post ago), another concern is whether or not the magnet is turned off 100% when it's signalled to be turned off. What I mean is that there might be the possibility that there's some "residue magnetism" once the power's shut off. Maybe an electrical engineer can answer this concern ... I'm just asking ... I just have SUSPICION that there might be some latency or residue after the power's shut off.

?

Kirk

If I understand what he said, he talked about using a pressure sensor in the BOX...and if he did, and he managed to get it to de-magnetize the bar when the box was hit with the pole, it would work correctly.

birdi_gurlie wrote:If I understand what he said, he talked about using a pressure sensor in the BOX...and if he did, and he managed to get it to de-magnetize the bar when the box was hit with the pole, it would work correctly.

Agreed re your pressure sensor "ifs" TweetyBirdyGirly , but my concerns already took that into account, so my concerns are still unanswered.

Kirk

------> http://www.tpub.com/neets/book1/chapter1/1f.htm

The key would just be finding a low reluctance/low rententivity substance to use (like the ones suggested).