i decided to just not use the festo and try out the smc single solenoid, and that works like a charm. it extends when we press button and retracts when we let go without us changing the simple program.
Not the SMC single solenoid. All single solenoids behave the same way returning to a home position when there’s no power.
The double SMC is what you’re thinking of.
The Festo should behave identically. The only things I can think of are if it was tubed incorrectly or if it’s just not working.
1075 Has used pneumatics extensively in all our robot designs. Our arm last year was powered by pneumatics.
We’ve found that the Festo valves seem to be the least robust and most prone to breaking. Never mind that they’re useless for more complicated setups than just operating a single ram, since you can’t screw fittings into them, and they are a 4 port design, rather than a 5 port one.