I’ve found that the pneumatics are actually made by a company outside of VEX (SMC).
The pneumatics I purchased in the classroom pneumatics kit came with pistons that had a two inch stroke… The company (not VEX but SMC) sells pneumatics with greater strokes, 3 to 6 inches.
I want to check that it is allowed to use the longer stroke pistons as they are the exact same aside from the stroke length.
Thank you.
I have no doubt that longer pistons could be be used with the Vex pneumatic system.
As for the legality, we must consider <R5> and <R6>.
As longer pneumatic pistons are not identical to the ones in the Vex pneumatic kits, they would NOT be competition legal. Please note that I cannot provide an official answer to your question.
You should definitely ask this in the official Round Up Q&A forum, but I can tell you that the answer is going to be, “No, they are not legal for VRC events.”
You can do some creative engineering with the winch kit to make a block-and-tackle system that extends the stroke of the vex pneumatics at the expense of torque.
I would suggest using a lever instead to achieve the same effect. It seems much simpler to engineer.
If you want to double the stroke without halving of force, you can attach two cylinders in a tandem configuration like this.
For single-acting cylinders, you would connect the ports on both cylinders to the solenoid valve using a T fitting. For double-acting cylinders, you would need a pair of T fittings: one for the “extend” ports and one for the “retract” ports.
Not a cheap way to go, but it would get the job done.
Cheers,
Thank you for the help!
while exploring ways to reach extra heights my team utilized a system that involved the two pistons mounted together in a piece of cut C channel that extended inside a linear slide to maintain rigidity. this may be worth a try for your scenario.