Neumatics Digital Monitor

[merybar]

Has anyone seen items to place on your control board to be able to watch how much pressure is in your tanks?
thanks

[bhsrobotics1671]

good idea..i would like to know too

[AustinSchuh]

You could use one of the user bytes and view it on the small LCD screen on the OI. I don't remember off the top of my head how to set the user bytes.

[mtaman02]

I was thinking of that the other day and was not sure if it could be done. It would be kinda nice to monitor air pressure during the match espicially as an easy way to find out if a hose popped off (drop in air pressure = compressor always running = dead battery at the end of the match .)

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by mtaman02

I was thinking of that the other day and was not sure if it could be done. It would be kinda nice to monitor air pressure during the match espicially as an easy way to find out if a hose popped off (drop in air pressure = compressor always running = dead battery at the end of the match .)

There are 2 easy ways to do this. Pressure transducers, and perssure switches. Unfortunately (other than the required specific pressure switch) they are not allowed under the current rules ( <R48> parts use flowchart).

I truely believe that FIRST fails when it comes to pneumatics because they do not allow for any creativity in the pneumatics. Mechanical, electrical and software are all allowed to be (almost) completely customized, whil pneumatics are only allowed a very small portion of it's capabilities (and even then, it's over regulated).

*gets off soapbox* (sorry for going a bit offtopic)

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

There are 2 easy ways to do this. Pressure transducers, and perssure switches. Unfortunately (other than the required specific pressure switch) they are not allowed under the current rules ( <R48> parts use flowchart).

You might consider rereading <R106>.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

What Joe is alluding to is this
R106...
"A pressure transducer may be used as long as it is rated to the operating air pressure at its mounting point in the pneumatic system."
Transducers came in the kit in previous years. They would be handy for feedback if you added software control for manual pump shutdown or simply for data acquisition.

[merybar]

thanks for the help...there has to be an efficent way to monitor tho. Maybe the switch on the neumatics can send a signal back to the computer???? any ideas

[Andrew Blair]

That's exactly what Daniel and Al were referring to: an analog pressure transducer (Pressure measuring device) that you can easily plug into the pneumatics system. You can send the value of that pressure sensor back to the OI through the user byte, which can be displayed on the small LCD on the OI.

Realistically though, even the value of the pressure switch would be quite useful. If you're not running the compressor, use air like crazy- if you are running it, be a little (or a lot) careful with your use. Or, for a lift, it could tell you important information related to the lift capacity. Who's really gonna care during the match if they have 70 or 85 psi in the tanks typically?