pneumatics

evening
im currently piecing the parts together for a flipper system for an ant and having used pneumatics on model boats before i have a little experience however im used to not having a weight limit so could anyone with miniature pneumatics answer these

1) is this a good enough cylinder for an ant or is it overkill:http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...r_6xL80mm.html

do people use air or do they make c02 systems using the emergency bike pumps that are on the market like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Planet-Bik...item2eddacd55c

3) is there a micro solonoid or switch block that is very light weight but effective and the only ones i have seen are 3 way switches and i dont wana waste air or weight
thanks muchly :)

Being limited to 100psi there is not the benefit of CO2 over air that the larger weight classes enjoy. And a lot of antweight pneumatics is homebuilt these days or often modified lego air components. There is a very small valve by parker that is quite popular and often micro servo actuated though I can't remember what. You might have better luck asking on the Robotwars101 forum.

The valve Alex refers to is from the "vm1000" series. The ram you linked is 8cm long, and so will be difficult to fit into an antweight design, but not impossible. Lego pneumatic rams will take up to 100psi with some modification, but you'll need heavier duty valves, tubes, t-junctions etc. than Lego ones.

As for tanks, the two most popular options are to modify a small aerosol canister, or to machine your own. Be aware that even though 100psi sounds like nothing in comparison to what the heavier weight classes use, it can still be very dangerous. Here's what happened when one of my custom tanks failed at 100psi: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2009.38.01.jpg. I could easily have been injured by flying plastic shrapnel if I hadn't been taking precautions.

umm wow im genuinly shocked at that being done by 100psi i dont have tha capability or the knowlage or the equipment or the material to machine my own i was just going to get one the hoby ones like what we used on the boat it was small and it should hold the pressure the switching block is the part that im struggling with the most