[KenWittlief]

Personally I think the pneumatics system is one of the greatest things in the KOP.

You need to approach it from a robot-system perspective. The cylinders can be very small and very light in just the right place (at the end of an arm for example), while the heavy compressor can be low in the center of your robot to keep your center of gravity close to the floor.

You can get cylinders that will extend 2 feet in less than a second, with a considerable amount of force, and weight less than 8 oz. You cant do that with a lead screw.

If your team has not been able to get pneumatics to work, then you need to figure out why in the off season. The system is fairly simple to use, and as long as you have no air leaks it should be very reliable.

There are a few tricks you need to know, for example, when you attach the tubing to the fittings you push it in, then pull back on it to get it to seat securely (otherwise it will leak).

Also, dont mix tubing or fittings from previous years. Over the years there have been a couple different sizes of tubing used.