Electric solenoid experience

[Dad1279]

https://frc-qa.firstinspires.org/Que...-dp-b0088ye6yq

[aldaeron]

Yay! Legal!

I wanted to be absolutely sure. We had an issue in 2014 with how timeouts worked that required us to show the FTA a Q&A and had it not been so explicit on what was allowed, the FTA would have made an incorrect ruling (he was a real jerk about it too and was bullying our kids).

-matto-

[MisterG]

Back to the question by the OP.

These lock actuators look nice but what about an application where the force needed to be applied for longer (say raising a small mechanism and holding it for 30 seconds)?

The solenoid seems like it would be more appropriate for this type of long duty application. Can anyone share legal experience with using electric solenoids on their robot?

Also can someone comment on the rated Volts * rated Amps method to calculate continuous Watts when there is no power specification listed; this seems like it would be accepted at inspection.

[MisterG]

These look pretty cool. The force (.75 lb) and the throw (.5 in) are both very low but they are rated for continuous duty.

Jameco 12V 4W solenoid

[MisterG]

Originally Posted by MisterG

Back to the question by the OP.

These lock actuators look nice but what about an application where the force needed to be applied for longer (say raising a small mechanism and holding it for 30 seconds)?

I think I answered my own question which is run the actuator off of a motor controller and use variable voltage to modulate the amount of current.

Anyone tried this and what were the results?

[SenorZ]

I bought this door latch:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...p age_o00_s00

It retracts very quick, and meets the FRC power rules. However, with only a little lateral pressure on the latch it does not retract easily.

[MisterG]

Originally Posted by SenorZ

I bought this door latch:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...p age_o00_s00

It retracts very quick, and meets the FRC power rules. However, with only a little lateral pressure on the latch it does not retract easily.

If you end up using this on your robot you may want to look deeper into this statement: "Continuously energized ≤10S."

This seems to indicate that its not really rated for .6 A.