FRC Gear Box thingy
 

What is the thing circled in red?

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

Pancake pneumatic piston.
Used for shifting.
http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexpro/pn.../217-2778.html

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

Pancake Cylinder.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

That's a pancake Cylinder. It's used in 2+ speed gearboxes to shift gears on the fly.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

Your link says Pancake Pneumatic Cylinder"

Brought to you by the IACNAP campaign.

"It's a cylinder, not a piston"

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

The piston is the piece inside the cylinder which is pushed by the air and which in turn pushes and pulls the output shaft relative to the main cylinder body. P⁴s (pernickety persons' pet peeves) aside, the term piston is commonly used for the whole thing because it won't be confused with the shape of a pneumatic tank, compressor, motor, wheel, or shaft.

OBTW, if the one in the render above is a cylinder, we can also include any sort of extrusion as a cylinder by shape.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

If you call it a pneumatic cylinder, it might remove some confusion

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

I've had team members come back with air tanks (more commonly aluminum than plastic). We keep the tanks and actuators in different bins.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

Yup, that's why I said "might", rather than "will".

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

I don't know a single person in industry who would call it a piston. As mentors it's up to us to teach proper terminology.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

IndySam is correct. If we are to prepare these students for working in the industry, we should teach (use) proper terminology. Incorrect, or non-standard, terminology leads to confusion and mistakes.

It is a cylinder or pneumatic actuator.

It can be used as a piston when attached to a cam but it is not a piston.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

And here I am calling them pneumatic actuators...

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

We have had some engineering mentors call them pistons and we correct them at the same time. These are also mentors who never work with these types of components in their day jobs.

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

When I went shopping on FIRST Choice for our team, I selected several pneumatic cylinders, but no pistons.

The pneumatic cylinders each contain a piston, though

Re: FRC Gear Box thingy
 

And I always assumed it was a British thing. They are always screwing up the English language over there. :]