Quote:
Originally posted by Antonio
yeah, if don't mind dlavery would you post an animation on how it would work, because I'm not quite sure on two things. How does the pneumatic piston act as a spring?, because a pneumatic piston goes all the way in or all the way out. Also, how does the drive gears mesh?? teeth on teeth, or does the pneumatic piston slide the drive gear onto the driven gear sort of the like the design posted by team Epsilon/NASA
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There is a large
animation file here (5.6Mb Quicktime file) of our drive design (with thanks to Team 151, from whom I borrowed the cool wheel design!). I will create a smaller version later and post it when I get a chance.
You are correct that the piston goes all the way in or out, but that is when it is unconstrained. The cylinder acts as a spring when it is mechanically prevented from fully extending. For example, when it drives a change gear up against a stop when the piston is only at half-stroke. At that point, the pressurized air inside the cylinder applies a constant force against the piston, which is maintained until the obstruction preventing the piston from completing the stroke is removed (or the pressure is released). When that happens, the piston resumes it's stroke until completion.
-dave