Solenoids

[PJ-27]

I was going to keep this under wraps and see what I could find out, but this has stalled in recent times so thought I'd find out other people's experiences.

I was wondering how viable it would be to use Solenoids in place of Pneumatics?

Some preliminary research shows that solenoids can be as powerful as LP systems, work on viable voltages and be an acceptable weights, but sourcing a supplyer is proving tricky.

Has anyone else tried this?

[maddox10]

Usefull pneumatic cannons are no problem to build, but how many succesfull, powerfull electrical cannons do you know off?

[daliad100]

Solenoids can potentially pull with a huge force but over a very small distance due to the poor magnetic permeability of air.

If you could fill the air gap between the plunger and stop with ferrofluid (use it as a seal) and have a way of moving it out of the way when you pull the plunger in it could allow for a long enough stroke actuator with enough force to actually lift something to be made.

[PJ-27]

I must admit, one issue I ran into early on was a lack of stroke length, and too weak a force at the end of the movement.

[typhoon_driver]

I wouldn't bother tbh