We are a fairly new team and need some guidance on using solenoid valves. We can see the little diagram that comes with the am-3323 valve made by Bimba, but are not sure exactly how to use the valve. We looked up the documents from the manufacturer but they don’t help.
What connects where? Any help is appreciated.
From the KOP you will have a solenoid which came with 3 1/4" tubing connectors, you will put 2 on the side with 2 holes and 1 in the middle slot of the side with 3.
The one will go directly to the rest of your pneumatics. Then one of the two will go to your piston, and the other of the two will need to go to a stop. My recomendation would be a short piece of tube to a T with a loop between two piece of the T. I know that may sound janky but because KOP gives you a solenoid for a double action cylinder, you need to stop the airflow on the other valve for when you have the cylinder set too “off”.
This is the official FRC guide that you can use to set up the basics of your pneumatic system, only difference is that this is for a double acting cylinder.
Sorry read your post as single action cylinder not single solenoid, in that case just one tube from each output on the side with 2 to your piston, and wire up both sides of the solenoid to your PCM, one to slot 0 and the other to slot 1. Then you have to deal with CAN…
The “P” port on the solenoid valve designates incoming pressure, from your air tank. “A” and “B” go to the 2 ports on your cylinder. Unless you have a single acting, spring return cylinder - in which case you just plug one of the output ports on your valve. The ports next to “P” are typically exhaust ports. You can leave those open, or install mufflers to quiet the exhaust.
But there’s a whole lot more to a pneumatic system than just connecting tubing. I recommend watching a tutorial video for FRC teams. Here are a few: