My team is using Labview to code our robot, and we have a Pneumatic system with several pistons installed and an onboard compressor. We were wondering if there is a way to get the PSI of the pneumatic system and display it on the Driver Station while on the field.
Thanks!
There is, but you will need a sensor to do this. We have put one on our robot this year, and have greatly enjoyed having the ability to reference it on our DS. I wasn’t the person to buy this, but I’ll post a link to the one we bought once I find it.
There are many types of analog pressure transducers available. You’ll want to get one that has 0-5 volt output. I’ll try to find a link to the one we used this year. You need to connect it to an analog input on the roborio. Then you can use a gauge display on the DS to show your current system pressure.
9milelake Stainless Steel 150 Psi Pressure Transducer or Sender for Oil,fuel,air https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZR4IWCM/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_o0Z7wb8V83PET
AndyMark sells a sensor that plugs right in:
Link
You need to know how to program a dashboard to see the value tho.
We use this sensor and have programmed our Dashboard to show the PSI on a gauge. If you’d like help with doing this in LabVIEW PM me and I’ll show you our code.
AutomationDirect has a number of analog pressure sensors, but most teams seem to likethis digital one because it has an LED Display so you can also read the pressure directly and it has an additional digital output you can monitor. And with the $30 Voucher AutomationDirect provides in the KOP, the cost to the teams is only $39 …
This is a REV Product. One thing of note, there are loads of pressure transducers of this type available on Amazon and Ebay, but in our opinion you get what you pay for. When we decided to offer this one to teams, we ordered and tested ones from about 10 different suppliers. The sensor drift, accuracy, build quality, etc were evaluated when we selected a supplier and the results varied greatly.
If you just want a pressure readout on your driver station you can probably get away with any of them as it is just a reference.
If you are trying to use it as a smart device to do extra logic on your robot; for example don’t shoot until you have x pressure, or turning on an off your compressor based on current draw and setting your own hysteresis for compressor function, etc. The performance of the sensors matters quite a bit and we feel like we found one that was a good balance of performance and price. Additionally we will support it if you run into problems during implementation or failure.
Greg