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Unread 12-01-2015, 16:18
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JesseK JesseK is offline
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Re: Number of Pneumatic Air Tanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Marandola View Post
I like to use Paul Copioli's Useful Calculations spreadsheet for this. The only thing is that it doesn't factor in the compressor, but that can be easily figured out by using the flow rate (0.88 cfm).
Raul from Wildstang did a pneumatics presentation at Championships '09. In it he showed data that 111 collected on pneumatic compressor performance. The data showed that the compressor rating (0.88cfm for the small one) is correct when the tanks are empty. As the tank fill gets close to capacity, performance was reduced by non-trivial amount for pneumatically-dependent robots.

This was especially important if a robot used a lot of air with a lower storage volume, as the compressor would start to re-fill the tanks when they were already close to full, thus not re-filling the tanks at the 0.88cfm rate. Back in the day, we weren't allowed unlimited air tanks - so maybe these days that performance hit isn't as big a deal.

Last edited by JesseK : 12-01-2015 at 16:43. Reason: Actual data on performance is below.