i have just got my pneumatics kit 2 in the mail and before i decide what to use it for i would like to know about their performance, specifically how many actions i could get out of one full charge of air.
45 strokes from 100-25psi. (off the data sheet on the product page).
~DK
Certain factors will change how many strokes you can get in a competition setting before the pneumatics lose their necessary performance. Here are some tips:
-Be sure to have as little hose as possible (less than a foot) between the solenoid and the piston. This will allow you to use less air each time you fire the piston.
-Remember that you can always add another pneumatic tank. (I was able to buy some individual pneumatic kit parts directly from SMC.)
-Also, I like to build all my pneumatic-powered mechanisms so that they function well at about 70 psi. I then implement a pressure regulator, which not only saves you a ton of air, but allows you to have the same performance throughout the match. Without a pressure regulator the performance of the pneumatics will decrease a little with each stroke.
I am a huge fan of using pneumatics wherever possible as it allows you more motors to use somewhere else on the robot. In my opinion a single pneumatic piston is like a high-performance, two-position, servo motor. If you want more power or speed than I would recommend using more than one piston to power the same motion.
Good luck.