Hello,
I am curious, what is the difference between a linear servo and an electric solenoid?
We were trying to find a solution for controlling our shooter hood (and ensuring our robot to fit under the control panel), and Andymark recommended this which is legal for FRC. It is perfect and on the way. (as a side note, Andymark phone service is incredible. They have engineers you can speak with who know FRC well and the game to boot).
According to R27, electric solenoids must have a maximum of 1" stroke. Is the difference just the motor (one being powered by a stepper motor, and the other being powered by a regular dc)?
Would any linear servo that is less than $75 be legal?
An electric solenoid would be a linear actuator controlled by a relay or the PCM that can only be fully extended or retracted. The linear servos from AM are controlled as servos by the roboRIO and can be extended or retracted as much or as little as you want.
Okay, that makes sense. I guess if we wanted that, we would use pneumatic cylinders, but I understand that you may not want an entire pneumatic system for a single (or few) mechanism(s) with such little range.