Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

Is this a mechanical lever or is some kind of pneumatic device, because I am seriously lost. :confused:

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

See attached.

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

Ahhh! what if you were to take that 1" stroke piston 2" diameter and fire it directly to the ball. Would that be enough to fire it to the center goal??

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

probably, if you have enough pressure in the cylinder

and you preload the cylinder with pressure, and use a mechanical release like I talked about on page one

the only caveat, a 1" piston throw may not deform (dent) the ball enough to transfer all the energy quickly. You might need a bowel shaped plate to keep the ball from deforming as the cylinder punches it.

a 1" piston throw into a 1:10 lever: definitely!

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

wow... Release latches, lever linkages etc.. Yall are making this way too complicated.

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

Do you have some alternative to offer?

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

as complicated as it needs to be.

Pnuematic shooters have some definate advantages:

+ The tank can be precharged before the match starts (a wheel must be spun up before it can launch a ball)

+ a pnuematic cylinder with a release pin is much simpler to build and mount than a motor/gearbox/wheel

+ much smaller

+ much lighter

+ the pressure control is simple: the regulator valve is very accurate

+ you can cycle pnuematics really quickly.

I think we will definately see pnuematic launchers this year, in many configurations.

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

Well yes but thats a secret ;)

Think about how you can maximize the airflow to the cylinders. Think about what sizes will move fastest. Think about all that wasted energy on the return stroke.

Re: pneumatic launch velocity
 

This is going to be honestly more of a hunch, so your mileage may vary*, but I'm going to say outright that I think there will be some velocity damping going on in these cylinders, and I'll venture to say that there just won't be a 12 m/s end velocity on these cylinders. Someone can feel free to do the math, but accelerating to 12 m/s in 1 inch...

Oh sheesh, I'll do the math

v^2 = 2 * a * d

(12 m/s) ^ 2 / (2 * 1in / 39.37in/m) = a

a = 2834.6 m/s^2

so... 1/2 * a * t^2 = d

t = sqrt ( (1/39.37) * 2 / 2834.6)

t = 0.004 seconds.

I'll say (from experience) I haven't seen pneumatics move 1 inch in 4 milliseconds. I think there's a lot of time required to have adequate airflow from the tanks to the piston, and like I alluded to before, I really think there are vicious damping issues that arise.

Hence, it's my personal recommendation that you do not count on having a directly driven ball launcher using a pneumatic cylinder. However, I feel pretty confident that you could come up with something with some mechanical advantage ideas that was previously mentioned.

Matt

* an admittedly stolen disclaimer of Dr. Joe. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.