simpliest terms
On the simplest terms, pneumatic work by air pressure.
Remember when your science teacher tells you the thin air around us have an atmospheric pressure? That pressure is a force that exist just because there's a whole lot of air around us. So, even thin around you can hardly touch can have force.
So, here's how pneumatic works in the FIRST robotics kit of parts.
There are air tanks that store airs in them, a compressor that push air into the tanks, and actuators that transfer air pressure/flow into motion. First, the compressor get as much air as possible into the air tank, and the more air there are inside the tank, the more pressure the air has. The pressure is measured in psi, which is Pound per Square Inch. The higher the psi is, the larger the force is on a surface.
There are electronics components you can hook up the tanks and actuators to, that can regulate air flow from the tanks to the actuators. So when the driver push a button, the air tank release some air into the actuator, and the air going into the actuator have a pressure that push behind a metal rode inside the actuator, and that pushes the metal rode out.
Whats the big deal about this? Well, it means now you have a way to move something on the robot. A linear motion with the actuator in this case. Before, you just have some air tank and a compressor sitting there making noise, now, you have some air tank, a compressor sitting there make noise, AND an actuator poking forward and pulling backward.
Teams take advantage of this motion to 1.) switch gears, 2.) trigger devices on their robot, 3.) push arms around, 4.) lift different sets of wheels from the ground, plus many more applications.
Just think of pneumatics as batteries and motors. The air compressor is like a battery that add power into the battery, only in this case its adding air into the air tank. And the air tanks, acting like batteries, supply power to the motors, only in this case its supplying air into pneumatic actuators. And the actuators act like motors using electricity and do work, only in this case it uses air to do work.
That's the basic of penuatics. If you want to know more details, just post the question and I am sure lots of people around here are willing to help answer it.
And don't be shy asking questions. The more you ask, the more you learn.
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