Shifting transmissions: servo or pneumatics?

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

as FIRST pneumatic pistons can only be extended or retracted, not halfway

Not exactly. Using what I wrote about here you CAN position a pneumatic cylinder at some place other than the end points - but note that this can be unreliable (especially when the load is variable, but that's not the case here) and doing so does require some care to make it work properly.

But if I were to implement a shifter, I would use a servo, no question. Far more controllable, lighter (especially if no other pneumatics are used) and more flexible.

Don