[Avrum Goldman]

Update 20 May:
I have completed the basic "Air production, storage and delivery modules (see attached photo):
- Power supply from an old computer
- Three air tanks: you can shut off two with a valve
- Three double solenoids (one 24 v, two 12 v) to power up to six actuators
- Manual push buttons to actuate each solenoid
- Quick disconnect for additional loads

Can you guess what my control panel is made from?

Still to do:
- I built a "Lash up board" to quickly try out actuators: Horizontal and vertical peg boards
- I need some sort of "tinker toy" parts quick to assemble arms, gears, cams, grippers, levers, etc.
- I need to have alternate inputs to allow solenoid actuation from the robot cRIO
- I have charged my son (in Electrical Engineering program) to come up with pressure and position transducers, force load cells, and a PC-based data recording system so we can quantify performance and compare designs.



If anyone has good ideas or would like to team up, please let me know!