Im looking for a way to build a single acting pneumatic claw, anyone got any ideas? I kinda want one like this, Vex tipping point robot I guess - YouTube. Thanks
if you want a good claw, here’s one. It has won every single tug-of war it has been in, uses very little air, and is extremely robust and reliable. I still haven’t found one better than this.
it’s a terrible quality picture, but I had to use the computer’s camera.
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just because I’m curious, are you in middle school or high school?
Pneumatics shouldn’t be too hard to build.
When it comes to coding, if you are using VEXCode Pro read this on how to program them
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A’ight, thanks for the suggestion. By the way, Im in team 4073B in middle school 
we’re in middle school too
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That’s cool. Hope you make it to worlds!
Sorry, but how does it work? I haven’t really worked with pneumatics a lot. Thanks
we qualified in November
if you mean pneumatics themselves, it is very simple. there are 3 main components:
the air tank
the solenoid
the cylinder
the air tank stores all the compressed air used to run the cylinder. this is like the battery for V5 motors.
the solenoid controls whether the air in the cylinder gets let out, or the air from the tank gets let in.
the cylinder moves by having a part get pushed out by the incoming air. in the case of single acting cylinders, it gets pushed back by springs when the air is let out.
the solenoid is the thing that links the cylinder to the air tank. If I didn’t answer your question well enough, this will explain everything:
https://kb.vex.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404197704212-Getting-Started-with-Pneumatics-with-the-V5-System
you’ll probably have to get a decent air compressor, and searching the forum can help with that; that’s how we got ours.
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the tubing is tricky, but the link I sent should help you get that set up.
but, the programming is pretty simple. you just need to create a “digital output” device in Vexcode or Vexcode pro, which ever one you use. this will represent your solenoid. setting the device to true or false will control the solenoid.
for example, this will close the claw. I named the “digital output” “claw1”.
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I meant the claw mechanism. I know how the pneumatics work already
it is also simple. the c-channel the cylinder is attached to has a standoff on it. when closed, this standoff goes into the dish of the goal and keeps it from falling out of the claw while pressing it against the c-channel below it. the angles below center the goal to the claw.
not sure I explained that well, but I hope it helps. I can’t draw well on the computer, or I would create a diagram.
Thanks for the help, man
you’re welcome. what region are you in? we’re in Texas region 2 or 3, I don’t know which.
I honestly don’t know. Were in Southern California
cool. that area is competitive. you’ve got teams like 99999V, 3324B, 11101C, and 1249A in your area, right? we know some of them
Yeah, I think we went against 3324B once
Niiiiiiicccccccceeeeeeee. they’re amazing. that’s one of teams we know.
1249A is not a registered team and 11101C is North California. I would say the top teams in SoCal are 2496N, 99999V, 45464Z, and 3759X.
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