[lbarger]

Remember mechanical advantage. Using a cylinder in line with a ball probably won't give you the speed you are looking for. Use a lever with the cylinder located near the pivot and (obviously) the ball at the far end.

My team looked at tubing with a latch. Cylinder would draw back against the tubes and a second cylinder would release the latch. It worked, but was heavy, slow and complicated. We are considering other options now.