Pneumatic Pump Cylinder

VEX V5 General Discussion New Product Ideas
1

I would like to create a compressor to run the pneumatic set. Any idea where to get small pump cylinders? Or, any chance of Vex will make them?

2

Would you like to have the compressor onboard the robot? If so, then you will probably want a very small 12 volt (DC) air compressor for inflating bicycle tires. Although you cannot directly run this off of one of the PWN ports, you can have a secondary power source (such as two 7.2v robot controller batteries wired in series) and a speed controller (which is controlled by the PWM signal from one of the Motor ports on the Vex Controller. The smaller the air compressor you choose, the less electrical current it will draw, and the longer your batteries on the 12v electical system will last.

Super small 12v air compressor: nextag.com domain name is for sale. Inquire now.
Speed Controllers: http://www.ifirobotics.com/victor-883-speed-controller-robots.shtml

3

Awsome. I too have desperately needed a small compressor for the pneumatics. I have one that works very well but is too large.

4

Yeah, that is what I had in mind…I was thinking of using the LEGO pumps (now discontinued) or using parts from the Fischertechnik Pneumatic Robots Kit. The idea is to use a motor (or motors) to drive the pumps and re-fill the tank. I don’t need too much air so a series of very tiny air cylinders to create around .5 bar would most likely do fine.

5

here is a site for a small air compressor for 10 bucks shipping is 9 don’t know how well it works though if you did put this on your robot you would probally need to wire up a shut off valve or something if you want to power it i would just use a 12v car battery

http://www.soloperformance.com/Default.aspx?tabid=22&productID=22

6

I found a motor compressor. It’s tiny. Check it out. I’m going to try to find out what sort of pressure it can do etc. But this thing could still have serious possibilities :slight_smile: .

7

Yes, this is cool - thanks…I just got some LEGO pumps and I am going to try and make a compressor…I’ll post photos…

8

Here’s a link to a page of various mini compressors made with Lego parts.

http://www.fifth-r.com/cssoh1/compress.htm

From the looks of it you could use the Vex single acting cylinder hooked up to a motor and gear to fill the air tank. I’m not 100% certain that the motors would have enough power to go all the way to 100psi or if the cylinder has a one way value. There are instructions on how to make a one way value on that site as well. That would be a really good experiment to try.

If anyone wants to send me a pnueumatic kit I’ll be more then happy to try this out and report the results. :slight_smile:

bill

9

I think designing one pneumatic system that would run the power specs that are there with the kit is a good idea - 'caus

if I need to use compressed air circuitry with a FESNO (I think that’s what I have) valve, solenoids and actuators I would n’t be able to in the current settings. I’m finding difficulty running one and my hunch is the voltage potential. The Vex battery pack provides 7.2V only and the valve might need at least 12V. Is that the case?

Thanks for your input.
Tarun

10

www.mpja.com :slight_smile: lots of goodies there!!!

11

http://www.mpja.com/productview.asp?product=16170+MI

12

heres a video of a pneumatic crab built out of legos i found it on the robot magazine website this link is for dial up users http://www.botmag.com/video/10-05_popeye_low_quality.wmv

and this one is for broadband users http://www.botmag.com/video/10-05_popeye_high_quality.wmv

13

that pump looked very VEX sized. i want the vex pnematics, but i dont want to spend $240 on htem :frowning: also that video is very nice. there are so many insane LEGO creations on the web.