Can anyone explain what does the electronic piston sensor do and is that all the pieces?
Idk :yikes:
If I’m right, it simply detects whether a piston is next to it when attached to the outside of a pneumatic cylinder. This would of course be dependent on whether said piston (not cylinder) was compatible with the sensor.
Compatible pneumatic pistons have a magnet that rides on the piston. When the magnet is next to the sensor it connect the two wires (I believe it is normally open but I might be wrong). By placing two of them on a compatible pneumatic cylinder (I think the FIRST ones that are compatible have an M in the part number) you can detect if the piston is extended or retracted.
And Yes I believe that is all the parts. The metal strap wraps around the cylinder and holds the sensor in place.
How can you power the sensor if the wires are connected and what wires are being connected when the magnet reaches the sensor or wires?
That’s how a switch works. The magnet causes the switch to close, allowing current to flow. The current or the voltage can be read by the cRIO or other sensing device.
So all the sensor does is sense if the piston is retracted or not?
If that’s where it’s placed, yes.
A better way to put it: it senses if the piston is in the same place the sensor is. This can be useful if you have rigged a 3-position cylinder using a pair of solenoids (yes, it is possible).
It can also be useful to sense if the piston has fully extended or retracted in order to move on to the next action in a sequence or to control a related process.
Our Breakaway bot last year used an FP winch to assist a 2"x24" piston to lift hang from the tower. We used one of these magnetic sensors at the bottom of the piston to shut off the winch when the lift was complete.