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Re: Solenoids and actuator confusion
There are two types of solenoids: single-coil and double-coil. You can tell the difference by looking at the number of wires; single coils have one pair of wires, double coils have two pairs of wires.
Single-coil:
as long as the red wire is recieving power (cRio output is on), the cylinder is in one position. As long as it isnt recieving power, the cylinder is in the other position. If you have it mapped to a trigger, then you must hold the trigger for as long as you want it in one position, then when you release it it will go to the other position
Double-coil:
When one pair recieves power (turned on by the cRio), the cyllinder moves to a position and stays there until power is applied to the other pair. As soon as it switches, you can remove power and it will stay there. In this case, you would have one button to go to position A and another to go to position B. Don't press both at the same time, it is impossible to tell what will happen (it will go to a random position).
Having a 40psi and 60psi solenoid on one cylinder will not help. It is probably not a good idea. The opposite, two cylinders to one solenoid, is quite common, for applications where an apparatus has two symmetrical cylinders, such as two transmissions (left and right) or a large device that needs a cylinder on each side.
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