Pneumatic Gripper ruling

Technical Pneumatics
1

I have read several different threads/rules about the use of pneumatic grippers.

A company was kind enough to donate a pneumatic gripper to us that they had no more use for. They were willing to give this to us because they were making modifications for a customer who later backed out of the deal. All modifications were made by the company.

Just to clarify, this is not a complete gripper, rather it is just the joint of the gripper. Any “fingers” are going to be created and built by the team and attached in the designated places.

So the question here is if it will be legal to use a modified (by the company) pneumatic gripper?

2

What other components are connected to this gripper mechanism? Are there any pneumatic cylinders or accumulators on it? Do you have a photo we can see to try and tell if theres anything on it that would be defined as illegal?

3

The only items attached to the gripper are our “fingers” and of course the pneumatic valves/tubing
I’ll see if I can dig up picture for you, but I’m not sure how much it would help

4

If pneumatic tubing connects to the gripper, and the gripper utilizes the pressurized air delivered by the tubing to perform any function, then by definition it is a pneumatic device. Knowing this, then refer to the “Parts Use Flowchart”:

  • Is the part a safety hazard…? (I am going to assume “no”) “No,” so go to:

  • Is the part a bumper…? “No,” so go to:

  • Was it included in the Kit of Parts? “No,” so go to:

  • Is the part a pneumatic component? “Yes,” so go to:

  • Is it an Air Cylinder ordered from the Custom Cylinder Order Form? “No,” so go to:

  • Is it a purchased fitting or valve rated for 125psi or a purchased cylinder or rotary actuator identical to those available on the Custom Cylinder Order Form? “No,” so go to:

  • Is it a previous year’s pneumatic component (but only the cylinders and solenoid valves)? “No,” so go to:

  • NO IT MAY NOT BE USED.

5

it is still illegal even though it is not COTS and was modified by the company

Also it is still illegal if the inernal cyclinder still has specs similar to bimba

6

Yes. The only pneumatic cylinders you can use on your robot are those that are provided in the 2005 FRC Kit Of Parts, Ordered from page 19 of the 2005 Pneumatics Manual (Cylinder Order Form) or are from last years Kit.

7

If it is similar, then perhaps you can adapt one of the legal cylinders to fit where the original cylinder was.

8

Are you able to obtain this item from a credible supplier? (with Tax ID number and able to ship in 5 days) If not, then I don’t think you can use it.