Recommended Air Pressure Gauge?

[deleted-221658]

I would like to modify "Squishy Robots: Build an Air-Powered Soft Robotic Gripper" https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #materials
in a way that can measure the air pressure inside the soft robot. Is there a recommended air pressure gauge that can be linked to the inline air pressure tube? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[bfinio]

Hi mv_gibson,

There is not a specific air pressure gauge recommended for this project, but you should be able to figure this out with a trip to the hardware store. What you need is a setup like this:

http://www.northerntool.com/images/prod ... 0x2000.jpg

which consists of a pressure gauge:

http://www.amazon.com/Zenport-DPG60-Zen ... B00CU5VMNM

some hose barb fittings:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... b+fittings

and a T connector:

http://www.amazon.com/Female-Thread-Cou ... B009PKKY1Q

although you might be able to find a T-connector with the barb fittings built in, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/MettleAir-123-TB- ... B00S8BN8HK

then you cut the tube that is supplying air to the soft robot in half, and stick that in the middle.

The trick is getting all the diameters to match so everything fits together properly (those links I provided are just examples of what the parts should look like, I did not check the diameters). I would recommend taking the tubing you're using to the hardware store and buying everything in person, so you can make sure all the parts fit together. If you order online, make sure you order barb fittings that match the inner diameter of the tubing, and that all the threaded connections have the same diameter.

One more note - I think the pressure in the robots is pretty low (only 5 or 10 psi), so you will want a pressure gauge with a smaller range. If you get something with high range (hundreds of psi) it will be very difficult to take a reading.

Hope that helps, write back if you have more questions!

-Ben