Servo-Pneumatic Systems

Substantial research efforts have been spent over the last two decades on improving the modelling control and design of pneumatic systems which resulted in a potential growth for their market. This increasing acceptance for pneumatic technology is due to their economy and simplicity compared to other technologies of equivalent performance in terms of robustness simplicity and cost-effectiveness. However servo-pneumatic applications are still limited compared to their electric and hydraulic counterparts. One of the restricting factors preventing wider applications of pneumatic systems arises from the highly nonlinear dynamic behaviours associated with such systems. This book therefore presents an overview on the modelling techniques control methodologies and simulation tools that have been employed for servo-pneumatic systems. It also presents a detailed description of a component-based framework for system decomposition. A mathematical model of servo-pneumatic system components are established and simulated. Simulation was performed using a developed simulation tool based on MATLAB/Simulink. Finally life cycle of typical pneumatic system is discussed.