KNEX-I-COMP: Phases of Operation

Each cycle of operation of the knex-i-comp consists of six phases:

Phase 1:

The sense rods are allowed to drop, each is either obstructed by a horizontally twisted red connector on a bit assembly or is free to fall and push its corresponding actuator rod off-normal via the sense-actuator linkage.

Phase 2:

The actuator back-block is raised and latched in place, preventing those actuator rods which are off-normal from returning to their rest state when the sense rods are lifted in phase 3.

Phase 3:

The sense rods are lifted. This must occur before the actuator rods alter any of the bits, otherwise the sense rods might collide with the sense programming hardware as the bits change state.

Phase 4:

Those actuator rods which are off-normal (held there by the back-block) are driven by the actuator rod drivers so that they engage the yellow program struts to alter the states of the bits.

Phase 5:

The back-block is unlatched and allowed to fall so that the actuator rods can return to their normal at-rest positions.

Phase 6:

The actuator rod drivers are returned to their normal positions, allowing the actuator rods to return to normal.