1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Triax Manuals
  4. Test Equipment
  5. GfactorGO
  6. User manual

Triax GfactorGO User Manual

Wireless surface impact tester
Hide thumbs
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual
GfactorGO WIRELESS SURFACE IMPACT TESTER
USER'S MANUAL
REVISION 0.6 March 1, 2024
Sales and Technical Support
Alpha Automation, Inc.
127 Walters Avenue
Trenton, New Jersey 08638
United States of America
(V) 609.882.0366
Paul Bamburak
(E)
paulb@alpha-automation.com
Jon Aubel (Technical Support)
(E)
jona@alpha-automation.com
Matt Appleby (Sales)
(E)
matta@alpha-automation.com
Training and Standards
Canadian Playground Advisory, Inc.
1097 West River Road
Cambridge, Ontario N1R 5S5
Canada
Rolf Huber
(v) 647.212.5661 (E)
rolf@playgroundadvisory.com

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the GfactorGO and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel

Related Manuals for Triax GfactorGO

Summary of Contents for Triax GfactorGO

  • Page 1 GfactorGO WIRELESS SURFACE IMPACT TESTER USER’S MANUAL REVISION 0.6 March 1, 2024 Sales and Technical Support Alpha Automation, Inc. 127 Walters Avenue Trenton, New Jersey 08638 United States of America (V) 609.882.0366 Paul Bamburak paulb@alpha-automation.com Jon Aubel (Technical Support) jona@alpha-automation.com Matt Appleby (Sales) matta@alpha-automation.com...
  • Page 2 Like all battery powered devices, care should be taken during charging of the systems. Only use the approved TRIAX charger, and only charge on non-combustible surfaces such as a work bench. For GfactorGo more information on the batteries and charger in the systems, please see section 3.4 below.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Introduction System Components Hand Held Unit “E” Missile “E” Missile System Use Report Generation PC Application Appendix A: Verification and Calibration Appendix B: Memory Card Appendix C: Troubleshooting Appendix D: Missile Specifications Appendix E: Warranties Appendix F: FCC Rules Certificates of Compliance...

  • Page 4: Introduction

    1.0 INTRODUCTION The GfactorGo “E” missile system is intended to be used to measure the impact attenuation of surfaces under and around playground equipment. The missile meets the dimensional requirements of: ASTM F1292 ASTM F355 En1177 AS/NZS 4422 ASTM F3313 To promote effective use a GfactorGo system must be properly configured and used by a properly trained operator.

  • Page 5: System Components

    The GfactorGo “E” missile system consists of the GfactorGo hand held controller, a hemispherical missile and a drop handle. Also included with the GfactorGo system are an 8” x 8” rubber reference pad, and battery charger. A fitted, wheeled carrying case is available for an additional US$ 425 at time of purchase.

  • Page 6: Hand Held Unit

    3.0 HAND HELD UNIT Photo 1 – GfactorGo Hand Held Micro SD Card slot Power push button Photo 2 – GfactorGo Hand Held Side view Photo 3 – Using a pen or pointed object, press the SD card in until it clicks. To remove, press SD...
  • Page 7 PHOTO 4 – GfactorGo hand held easily fits in the pocket 3.1 Power ON/OFF Press the Power push button as seen in photo 2 to turn the hand held on. The following screen will appear. Press confirm to begin testing.
  • Page 8 The START key will show up when this is complete and the system is ready for testing. The range of the GfactorGo wireless communications is about 20 feet. Should the user try operation beyond this distance the communications between the missile and hand held will cease and the system will appear to be non-operational.
  • Page 9 Insert Release Handle to arm system Squeeze handle to release head form...

  • Page 10: Set Date/Time

    3.3 Navigating Menus From any drop, swiping LEFT or RIGHT will cycle through drops accordingly. Swiping UP or DOWN will cycle through 10 drops at a time. CM / FEET: Change units FOLDER: Change folders. Each folder holds up to 100 drops SET DATE + TIME: Set the date and time.
  • Page 11 Swiping left or right will allow you to view other drops. Press GO BACK to go back to previous menu. 3.4 Batteries and Charger The GfactorGo hand held and missiles each make use of permanent internal rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Each GfactorGo system is supplied with a battery charger with technology matched to the NiMH batteries used.

  • Page 12: E" Missile

    NOTICE: The electronics inside the GfactorGo missiles are sensitive to damage by water intrusion into the missile. To prevent damage to the GfactorGo missiles they should not be used in rain or snow. The GfactorGo missiles should also be stored in dry locations such as a heated office. Storage of the GfactorGo missiles in damp locations such as basements and cellars must be avoided.

  • Page 13: E Missile System Use

    NOTE: At any time while the GfactorGo is preparing for a drop test, the test can be canceled by pressing the GO BACK key. The test will be canceled without changing any test results previously saved in the...
  • Page 14 GfactorGo head form and release handle 5.2 Daily System Verification Before performing drop tests the GfactorGo must be tested to ensure that the system is functioning properly, as required by the applicable specifications. This test is performed by dropping the missile on a reference pad, which is supplied with the system.

  • Page 15: Report Generation Pc Application

    The application is provided in the USERDOCS folder located on the Memory Card supplied with the GfactorGo. It is suggested that this folder be copied to the user’s PC, and an archival copy also be created. Install the GfactorGo host application on a Windows compatible platform by running the SETUP.EXE program supplied in the folder titled “Gfactor Manual App and Calibration Cert”.
  • Page 16 numbers have been data select all 100 drops. The application will attempt to load all 100 drops but will ignore drops for which there is no data. Before clicking Upload, ensure that the location of the memory card and folder shown in the Memory Card Path box is correct.
  • Page 17 PC, Windows Explorer may be used to delete the .DRG file so as to prevent confusion for the user during subsequent testing. The .DRG files do not need to be erased as the GfactorGo...
  • Page 18 6.3 Adding individual comments to each drop The report application allows comments to be added for each drop. Typical uses for comments would be to indicate the location on the surface the drop test was made, surface thickness, temperature or any observation particular to the specific drop.
  • Page 19 6.4 Adding a report comment To add or edit a single comment to summarize all the drops within a report, double click on the text box immediately below the menu bar. A text box will appear allowing the adding of a new report comment or editing of an existing report comment.
  • Page 20 6.5 Viewing Impact Waveforms (Graphs) To view the impact waveform, double click on the desired drop test. 6.6 Archiving Data To archive test data, select Save to Data File under the File menu option. A text box will appear prompting for a file name to which all drop tests currently displayed will be saved as a single file.
  • Page 21 NOTE: The HIC Interval is a mathematically sophisticated technical detail regarding how the HIC was calculated for a given drop. Some new standards are using the HIC Interval as an added pass / fail criteria but it has not yet found wide use. Most users will want to leave the HIC Interval setting left to HIDE to prevent confusion.
  • Page 22 6.9 Calculation of Critical Fall Height – EN1177 Method For critical fall height (CFH) calculation as per EN1177 four drop tests must be performed, changing the drop height to result in increasing HIC values. The first two drop tests must result in HIC values below 1000 while the second two result in HIC values greater than 1000.

  • Page 23: Appendix A: Verification And Calibration

    A.2.1 Place reference pad on a bare concrete surface (no carpet or tile, painted is fine) A.2.2 For a GfactorGo E missile position the missile that the bottom of the missile is 36” +/- 1.0” (915mm +/- 25mm) above the surface of the reference mat. Verify height on hand held after each drop.
  • Page 24 A.3 Daily Verification Before subsequent use the of the GfactorGo system the reference pad procedure (three drops at specified height) is to be repeated. The average of the second and third drop must be within +/- 10% of the Initial Reference Pad Averages (section A2).
  • Page 25 REFERENCE PAD DATA RECORD GfactorGo Hand Held Computer Serial Number: _________________ GfactorGo Head Form Serial Number: _________________ GfactorGo Reference Pad Number: _________________ Date Peak G Temp Comments Initial User Reference Pad Averages...

  • Page 26: Appendix B Memory Card

    PC applications such as Windows Explorer. The GfactorGo allows the user to store drop results in one of ten folders on memory card. When a new memory card without any folders is installed in the GfactorGo drop test results will be stored in the ROOT folder (the folder is not actually called ROOT.
  • Page 27 If a new folder is not selected the default ROOT folder will be used for drop test data. If the memory card is not inserted into the GfactorGo or the card is write locked, the user will be warned that no drop test data will be saved.

  • Page 28: Appendix C: Troubleshooting

    To charge the batteries plug the charger supplied with the GfactorGo system into the charger connector of the component to be charged and plug the charger into an AC outlet. While charging a red LED on the charger will be on.

  • Page 29: Appendix D: Missile Specifications

    APPENDIX D GfactorGo MISSILE DIMENSIONS D.1 “E” Missile Weight 10.1 pounds, +/- 0.05 pounds 4.60 kg, +/- 0.02 kg Shape Hemisphere Diameter 6.30 inches, +/- 0.10 inches 160 mm, +/- 2 mm Material 6061-T6 aluminum, solid billet...

  • Page 30: Appendix E: Warranties

    APPENDIX E WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS Warranty: GfactorGo is warranted for material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the date of shipping to the first purchaser of record. For repair the customer must return the system components requiring repair shipping prepaid to Alpha Automation, Inc.

  • Page 31: Appendix F: Fcc Rules

    APPENDIX F FCC RULES This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

  • Page 32: Certificates Of Compliance

    Certificate of Compliance GO “E” MISSILE factor The GfactorGo system for surface resiliency testing meets the dimensional requirements as stated in ASTM F1292-18 04/20/2020 Paul Bamburak, P.E. ● Engineers and Manufacturers ● Electronic Instruments and Controls Precision Mechanisms...
  • Page 33 Certificate of Compliance GO “E” MISSILE factor The GfactorGo system for surface resiliency testing meets the dimensional requirements as stated in ASTM F3313-19 04/20/2020 Paul Bamburak, P.E. ● Engineers and Manufacturers ● Electronic Instruments and Controls Precision Mechanisms...
  • Page 34 Certificate of Compliance GO “E” MISSILE factor The GfactorGo system for surface resiliency testing meets the dimensional requirements as stated in EUROPEAN STANDARD EN-1177:2018 04/20/2020 Paul Bamburak, P.E. 08/20/2015 ● Engineers and Manufacturers ● Electronic Instruments and Controls Precision Mechanisms...

  • Page 35: Certificate Of Conformity

    15.212 Modular Transmitter approval. TRIAX IMPACT TEST SYSTEM The Triax Impact Test System contains FCC ID: T9J-RN42 This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not...

Table of Contents