We have a 2" x 24" cylinder and a 2" x 12" cylinder which are connected end-to-end. We are using 4 tanks and our compressor. I have looked at some calculations about pressure about how 60spi will create a 95 pound force in a two inch bore. I don’t need all of this force and just need about 40 pounds, without sacrificing speed. Is the Festo solenoid more effective than the smc one? Also what would be the ideal pressure?
The Norgren regulator will regulate the amount of PSI coming out of the air tanks.
i saw the fest as being really difficult to wire. so i just chose the smc ones. they are really quick too. i just used a 12 volt source to open and close it and it was an instant fire. so if you want something thats easy to wire go for that. (you have to wire the festo yourself). hopefully this helped you
Some things to think about:
If you are using a 2" bore cylinder that means 60 psi is acting on 3.14 square inches giving you about 180 lbs. of force in the extend direction. Reducing the working pressure will certainly reduce the force. To get to 40 lbs. you would need to dial the regulator down to around 13 psi. However keep in mind that the less force you have, the slower you will go. Given a constant mass if force decreases, so does acceleration (F = ma). Whatever solenoid valve you use will not effect this. Also keep in mind that with 36" of 2" cylinder, you will use all of your stored air very quickly (assuming full travel).
I forgot about newton’s second law…
One last question, about how long does it take to pressurize the tanks up to 120psi?
Charging your tanks from 0 psi to 120 psi should take about 1 to 1.5 min. given a leak free system.
Ok, Thanks!
Keep in mind that the solenoids have a minimum working pressure. Anything below that pressure, and the solenoids won’t work properly. Check the documentation to be sure, but I think the minimum pressure is 20 psi.
There are a couple of design reasons you’d use one solenoid model over another, aside from the last second movement you get by virtue of the home position of the single solenoid valves when the robot is disabled.
The flow rate of the Festo is higher than the SMC.
The Festo requires a minimum 30 psi to operate.
The SMC requires a minimum of 20psi to operate.
Can someone post or PM me the wiring for the Festo valve? I know it was supposed to be shipped in the KOP with the valves but … well, needless to say we don’t have that slip of paper anymore 
http://www.pneumaticsfirst.org/2006Game/FESTO2004.htm That is the same FESTO Valve that was given this year.
Pin 1 - Goes back to your main robot ground
Pin 2 - Goes to M+ on the relay
Easy as that. . .