T-Shirt cannon pnuematic set ups

[Terminator]

Originally Posted by Tanis

Hey everyone,

Our team is hoping to build a t-shirt cannon this summer, but need some help.

First, to those that have built one before, or have an idea as to how to do it, could you list the pneumatic (or sprinkler) parts used, including valve/solenoid, tubing/hose, connectors, and pump? We've seen tutorials with how to do it with things like a bike pumb and manual release knob/switch, but not an electric one. If you could also link where you got it, that would be great.

Second, is there a (cheap) way to attach a digital PSI sensor to the pneumatics? We would like to adjust the PSI output from the OI, but we aren't sure if we can.

All help is appreciated.
Thanks!

Looks great. Any way that I can get the plans and list of parts from you? Any other team that has built them, please let me know.
Have any of you built a handheld launcher? Please e-mail me any information to cpbio@aol.com

[McGyver]

the Physics class at my school made a t-shirt cannon and they used a sprinkler valve to fire it, but they also used a SCUBA tank and regulator before it. as for the pressure gauge, there are digital gauges available for under $5 that just use a sensor with a variable resistance. I believe that there is a LEGO 'hack' website that has instructions on how to pirate the gauge and use it as a sensor.

[gallo26]

Wow awesome! Glad to see other teams making T Shirt cannons!

We're building our 3rd generation cannons right now into our robot. Sprinkler valves are the best to release the pressure because they can be controlled by a spike relay. Fairly cheap too.

As for the pressure, we've figured out that all you need is a normal pressure switch. So that's usually 115psi-120psi. Between the pumps and the air tank reservoir add a pressure regulator. You can regulate the pressure and know what the pressure will be at, and the OI will receive the shut off from the pressure switch as you normally would.

I don't know if that's been posted before or not, I didn't have time to read all 60+ posts on this thread, i was just too excited to post. So if someone else DID post this, I do apologize.

Bryan Gallo