Team 3489's Catapult Prototype

[Kevin Thorp]

Originally Posted by Phyrxes

Neat!

Are you venting the cylinder to atmosphere or which fittings are you using to make it double action. Last time we tried to make one like that we had issues getting it to work as a double acting cylinder due to the volume of air we were trying to move through a fitting.

We used standard 1/4" OD push-to-connect fittings.

But we sorta cheated on the valve, using one that has more flow than is allowed in the rules. Later when we installed a "legal" valve our range dropped about 15%. I think we can get that back if we go to two smaller cylinders, each controlled by it's own valve.

Larger cylinders = more power, but more time to fill & exhaust.