Help with Pneumatics.

[akash992391]

Hello guys, this is our first time using pneumatics. Right now we are stuck on the compressor. Can anyone show us the wiring/labVIEW programming for the compressor? We are using a Double Solenoid and we have 1 pneumatic cylinder. All we want is to control the cylinder to shoot forward/reverse.

[Alan Anderson]

Are you familiar with the examples that are built in to the LabVIEW environment? You'll find them under the Support tab on the Getting Started screen. The Compressor With Cylinder example should give you what you need.

[Ben Martin]

team358.org has a great whitepaper on how FRC pneumatic systems work, including the LabVIEW code you asked for.

[akash992391]

Is the compressor supposed to turn on as soon as the robot is turned on?

[Mark McLeod]

Not until the robot is Enabled at the Driver Station.

[Qbot2640]

Originally Posted by akash992391

Is the compressor supposed to turn on as soon as the robot is turned on?

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Not until the robot is Enabled at the Driver Station.

Also - the compressor will come on when the stored air side pressure drops below the point set to turn it on. If you run the robot, and it ends fully charged with air, then it is probable that the compressor will not come on the next time you run until you use some of the air. (Unless there is a leak, of course.)

[akash992391]

Oh thank you so much guys. Really big help. Our compressor is working properly now. The next problem/step is controlling the Double Solenoid(Electric Valve Festo). We've tried programming it and when we pull the trigger on the joystick, the light turns on, but only on one side of the Double Solenoid. Also, how would you program it to switch where the air comes out of. So we can make the Cylinder/Pneumatic go forward and retract, with the pull of the trigger.

[Alan Anderson]

Did you look at the LabVIEW example? It shows exactly how to program a double solenoid so you can extend a cylinder with one signal and retract it with another. If you want to extend it while the trigger is pressed and retract it while the trigger is released, you can use the trigger through a NOT function to control the retract.

[akash992391]

We have the compressor and the solenoid set up exactly how the example wants us to. But when we deploy the example code, on FRC driver station- the robot code won't turn green. How do you deploy the example? "Compression with cylinder"

[Alan Anderson]

The examples don't get deployed. You set the IP address of the RT CompactRIO Target (right-click it and choose Properties, then change the 10.0.0.2 in the General section to match your team number), then you just Run the example vi. It connects to the cRIO and sends the necessary code over, maintaining the connection so you can use the vi's front panel.