Pneumatics Analysis

Pneumatic systems employ gas that is compressed under extremely high pressure. The practical use of pneumatics comes in putting that compressed gas to use, or should I say the use of the rapid expansion of compressed gas. At its most basic level a pneumatic system holds compressed gas in a specially designed tank and then we release some of that gas into an expandable chamber. The expandable part of the chamber has a rod attached to it so that as it expands the rod moves outward.

For the supply of compressed gas we will use oxygen cylinder in our system which have the following specifications:Pressure->110-110 bars Weight->5 kgs Volume->0.5 m3

Cylinder:There are three main flavors of actuators, each with their own advantages and disadvantages; Single Acting, Single Acting Spring Return, and Double Acting. Inside the cylinder is a disc that is sealed against the walls of the cylinder. Then there is a rod attached to the disc which extends out one end of the cylinder. The rod is where we will attach things to to make things move, usually via a clevis. There are end caps on each end of the cylinder to keep the piston from shooting out of the cylinder when the piston slams into it at high speed. Actuators are typically made out of high grade aluminum or steel (usually the stainless variety).

A single acting cylinder has only one inlet port and therefore only one power stroke. This is usually at the back of the cylinder so that the power stroke is the 'push' stroke. These require some other means of retracting the piston to its starting position, like gravity. Because of this standard single acting cylinders have a slow reload time. On the plus side it only has one inlet and therefore you get more shots per tank full. Single acting cylinders are more commonly found on flipper bots. Single acting spring return cylinders are just like the standard single acting cylinders with the exception that they have a spring inside of them. At the completion of the power stroke the spring helps to push the piston back to its starting position. Like the standard single acting cylinder this one allows you get more shots per tank full than a double acting cylinder and it has the added bonus of a spring return to help speed up reload times. But, alas, it's not all roses. Because there is a spring inside the cylinder it will take pressure to compress it which takes away from power that you could potentially be putting into flipping the opponent. This is usually a minor issue but the bigger issue is the fact that single acting spring return cylinders tend to be longer to accomodate the spring and therefore it makes it a little tougher to fit inside a bot. Our system will have an actuator of following specification:Bore- 50 mm Throw- 100 mm Weight- 2 - 2.5 kgs Working pressure- 8 bars(max) The last one is the double acting cylinder. It is called double acting because it has a power stroke on the push AND pull. The picture to the left is of a double acting cylinder and you will notice an inlet port on each end cap. This type of cylinder is used primarily for pneumatic spike bots and hammer bots. Below is an example of how a double acting cylinder is used in conjunction with a 5-port valve.

Valve:-

The valve will probably be the most critical part of a high power pneumatics system. It has to restrain the pressure built up on one side and be able 'pop' completely open and not restrict the air as it rushes through on its way to the cylinder. There are many types of vales that can be used; manually Operated, and Solenoid Valves. The reason that it is called a 'solenoid valve' is because there are really two parts; the valve (and valve body) and then solenoid that activates the valve. The solenoid opens a smaller valve that controls a small stream of air that then pops open the large high flow valve. There are several different types of solenoid valves but we are just going to talk about the three most common ones used in robots. There is a 3-port, a 4-port, and a 5-port solenoid valve. The 3-port solenoid valve is so named because it has three ports; one from the tank, one going to the cylinder, and one exhaust. Because there is only one going to the cylinder we will be using a single acting cylinder (It is possible to use a 3-port valve with a double acting cylinder but that gets into advanced design and is therefore beyond the scope of this help section). The valve opens, and pressurizes the cylinder therefore extended the ram. Then the valve closes which opens the exhaust port and the gas in the cylinder is allowed to vent which equalizes it with the outside air and the ram retracts. A 4-port valve is designed to be used with a double acting cylinder. It has four ports; one from the tank, one to the back of the cylinder, one to the front of the cylinder, and one shared exhaust. In its normally closed position it allows pressure to build up on either the front or the back of the piston depending upon your design. When the valve activates it redirects the compressed air to the opposite side of the piston while simultaneously opening the exhaust port so that the air that is currently in the cylinder can escape. If the air in the cylinder were not allowed to escape then it would just build up pressure when the ram piston tries to move and not allow the piston to go anywhere. A 5-port valve is also designed to be used with a double acting cylinder but has an added exhaust port. This increases the efficiency of air flow leaving the cylinder which allows it to extend or retract faster. The diagram to the right in this section shows how a 5-port solenoid valve works.

Regulators:Regulators are interesting pieces of hardware in that they can hold back 5000 psi of air and let only a enough air through to bring the rest of the pneumatic system up to your designed operating pressure. Regulators also generally have a purge valve to allow you to purge all of the air out of a pressurized tank. Regulators come in all shapes and sizes. Some are rated for high pressure but have a low feed rate. Other have a high feed rate but only work with low pressures. To find one that has a high feed rate and can handle high pressure is tough and usually expensive. The reason that we want a high flow rate is because once the pneumatic piston fires you'll probably want to reload as fast as possible to fire again. The reason that we want high pressure is because our system was designed for a specific pressure and any less than that only degrades performance. Some regulators will already have gauges to show tank pressure and another to show regulated pressure. Knowing both of these is crucial and in some cases mandatory on your robot.

Uses of Pneumatics in a Robot:There are many different uses of pneumatics in a robot. First let's look at flipper robots. In the Pneumatic flipper #1 diagram. This design maximizes the leverage of a flipping arm by putting the lifting force as close to the opponent as possible. If it were positioned further back up the arm and closer to the pivot point then the arm could theoretically lift higher but it would require more force. For example, if the ram were connected to the arm halfway between where it currently is and the pivot point of the arm then it would take twice the force to lift the same amount of weight.

Take a look at Pneumatic flipper #2 to the left. This variation connects the pneumatic ram to the flipper by a pivot joint behind the flipping mechanism. You'll notice in this instance that the ram is connected to the flipper arm halfway between the pivot point and the contact surface. This may sound like they are losing out on force but they are using twice the bore with half the throw so the overall effect is the same.

Pneumatic System Design Notes

Constants:
1 mm = 0.0394 inches 1 square mm = 0.0016 square inches 1 litre = 0.0353 cubic feet 1 bar = 14.50 psi As we design a pneumatic system of the type used in the FIRST competitions, we want to know three things: - how much force can an actuator apply? - is that force sufficient to move the desired load? - how fast can the load be moved? To determine how much force an actuator can apply, we need to calculate the Theoretical Force. For a pneumatic piston actuator, that is determined by multiplying the surface area of the moving piston by the pressure applied. In other words, for a round piston: Ft = pi * D2/4 * P Where D is the diameter of the piston and P is the working pressure of the injected air. Note that on the reverse stroke of the piston, the available surface area of the piston is decreased by the area of the piston rod. In that case: Ft = pi * (D2 d2)/4 * P Note this does not account for inefficiencies in the actuator due to friction between the piston and the cylinder wall, the piston rod and the packing gland, stiction forces, etc. For our purposes, these factors contribute to an approximate 5% loss in efficiency (i.e. the

practical force available from the piston is about 95% of the calculated force). Next, we need to know how much force is required to move the object we want to move. To determine the Required Force, we need to know the mass of the object to be moved, the direction of motion relative to gravity, and the effects of any friction between the object to be moved and whatever is supporting it. To calculate the required force, use: Fr = G * (sin a + * cos a) where G is the mass of the object to be moved, a is the angle of inclination that the mass will move (between 90 and 90 degrees), and is the coefficient of friction between the moving object and any supporting structure or surface ( may vary between 0.1 and 0.4) for sliding metal on the surface. The Load Ratio is the relationship between the force required to move the load and the available force from the actuator. The load ratio is determined by: Load ratio = (Required Forced / Theoretical Force) * 100 % In theory, the load ratio must be 100% or lower to be able to perform the task. In practical applications, the load ratio should be 85% or lower. Also note that if the actuator is able to deliver more force than the minimum needed to move the load, then the excess force delivered by the actuator is used to accelerate the load. In other words: Acceleration Force (Fa) = Theoretical Force (Ft) Required Force (Fr) From the first lesson on forces and accelerations, we know that Acceleration (A) = Force (Fa) / Mass (G) Distance (d) = 1/2 * Acceleration (A) * Time (t)2 Knowing the acceleration of the object and the distance to be traveled (the stroke of the piston), we can calculate the time required for the object to move from rest to the end of the piston stroke (remember that the value of G is determined by the weight of the object divided by acceleration due to gravity; 32 ft/sec2 for English units, or 9.8 m/sec 2 for metric). Note that this theoretical acceleration is based on the assumption that there is an instantaneous supply of compressed air, and there is no back pressure on the back side of the piston. Each of these factors limits the practical acceleration of the load. The effects of these limiting factors can be reduced by applying a number of strategies when designing the pneumatic system. A very complex set of calculations can be used to evaluate the different design parameters, or we can use a set of Rules of Thumb which result in approaches that are close enough for our purposes. These are captured below.

How many shots can We get?

One of the questions that I have heard many times is, "How many shots will I get with 'a' amount of 'gas' in a 'b' sized tank with 'c' psi regulated pressure and a cylinder with 'd' bore

and 'e' throw?" Well, to determine that we will need to start with this formula to determine how much gas we have available from the tank: P1 x V1 = P2 x V2 Note: This formula is known as Boyle's Law and basically states "The volume of a given mass of gas is inversely proportional to the absolute pressure if the temperature remains constant." We will assume for the moment that the temperature does remain constant for the duration of our example. P1 is your input pressure and V1 is your input volume. P2 is your output pressure and V2 is your output volume. So let's say that we have a 88 cubic inch HPA tank with a 2500 psi tank pressure, 250 psi regulated pressure, and a double acting cylinder with a 4" bore and a 6" throw with a 1" rod to actuate our hammer bot. Lets find out just how much compressed air that we really have in the tank: 2500 x 88 = 250 x V2 220000 = 250 x V2 220000 / 250 = V2 V2 = 880 cubic inches at 250 psi Now, let's figure out how much volume we have in the cylinder using the formula Volume = Area (bore) x Length (throw) Push Stroke V = ((1/2 bore)^2 x Pi) x throw V = ((1/2 4)^2 x Pi) x 6 V = (2^2 x Pi) x 6 V =(4 x Pi) x 6 V = 12.56 x 6 V = 75.36 cubic inches Pull Stroke Vrod = ((.5)^2 x Pi) x 6 Vrod = 4.71 cubic inches 75.36 - 4.71 = 70.65 cubic inches

Now that we have total volume for the push stroke (75.36) and the pull stroke (70.65) we can add them together to get 146.01 cubic inches. Now, we divide that number into the available volume that the tank has: Remember our formula for determining Force? Let's apply it to determine how much force we are generating on each stroke. Force = Area x Pressure and we know that we have an area equal to 12.56 square inches on the face of the piston in the 'push' stroke and (12.56 - .785) 11.775 square inches on the face of the piston in the 'pull stroke. Push Force = 12.56 x 250 Pull Force = 11.775 x 250

Putting all of this information together we get 880 (tank volume)/ 146.01 (total cylinder volume)= 6.02 total shots and reloads (12 total actuations) with 3140 pounds of force on the push stroke and 2944 pounds of force on the return stroke. We could decrease the regulated pressure and get more shots with less power or you can go to a bigger tank and get more shots that way if you have the available weight and space. 2500 x 88 = 14.5 x V2 (we use 14.5 because that is the pressure at one atmosphere which is normal air pressure) 220000 = 14.5 x V2 220000 / 14.5 = V2 V2 = 15172.4 cubic inches 15172.4 / 1728 = 8.78 cubic feet (1728 equals one cubic foot of volume)

Rules of thumb for pneumatic design:

- Larger tubing, valves and fittings are preferable to smaller (large diameter tubing adds less resistance to the air flow than smaller tubing) - For a given tubing size, the shorter the run, the better (long tubing runs add resistance to the air flow from the source to the fittings and actuators) - The straighter the tubing run, the better (bends and curves induce turbulence, which slows the flow of air into the fittings and actuators) - The fewer valves (and other fittings), the better (fittings add resistance to the air flow) - The higher the air pressure, the better (for a given equivalent flow section, this gives a higher flow rate) - For bi-directional piston actuators, place the control valve as close to the actuator as possible (this reduces the back pressure on the exhaust side of the piston).