Solenoids:
So now you have the heart and the brain of the pneumatic system up and running. Great! Now you have a few things you want to control, right? I sure hope so!
So the solenoids are the valves that control the stored air in your robot. Want to extend a piston on command? Then you need a solenoid.
There are currently two flavors of solenoids, 12V and 24V. Since the year is 2010, and teams are using 24V solenoids, then I'll talk about how to wire them up.
In the kit, you were provided with two-wire jumper cables, a solenoid breakout module, and the solenoid(s).
If your team decides to use the 24V solenoids, you will want to wire the solenoid breakout module to the cRIO's power connection. This is the ONLY time where you're allowed to connect anything else to the cRIO's power feed. Make sure to get the polarity right, and plug it all in. Turn everything on and verify the power light on the solenoid breakout comes on, along with everything else.
Then, cut your two-wire jumper cables in half. That way, you have 2 cables to use instead of 1. Extend the cables with 24AWG or larger wire. Make sure to keep the polarity correct or the solenoid's won't work. Wire them directly to the solenoid.
You should now be able to control the solenoids in the programming.
You will go from the solenoid directly to the Solenoid breakout (pictured below.)
The solenoid breakout plugs directly into the
NI 9472 Digital Output Module:
