[kwotremb]

Originally Posted by DMetalKong

If I may ask, how did you have the pneumatics set up?
We had compressor -> two tanks -> regulator -> two tanks -> switch -> piston and the hit was rather wimpy. The piston was a 1.5" OD x 2" stroke. Thanks.

That is what our basic design will be when we full start building things. Right now we are using a 1.5 bore 8 inch stroke that has been in the KOP before. We are going right from the schools shop 120 psi tanks to a regulator to 60 psi, then the 2 small tanks we can use, then the valve and piston. Right now we just have some wood rigged up to get a prototype going. We are going to get some smaller diameter pistons to see if kick faster/further or not, hopefully get them in next week, or else we know the 1.5 bore works fine.

Right now we have the piston attached a little over half way up a 13 or so inch bar, then a 'foot' at the end of that bar that kicks the ball. We had the ball consistently going over 14 or so feet in the air, enough to get from one section to the next. I think our max was over 17 feet with one of the configurations we tried. We even put a ball about 2-3 feet in front of our kicker to simulate starting positions of the balls and it went right up and over.

Just out of curiosity, what are other teams doing to return their piston to the starting point. Right now are are planning on using some surgical tubing, because if you keep the exit valve open when you kick you can get more speed from the piston.