Energy saving control for pneumatic servo systems

This paper proposes an energy saving approach to the control of pneumatic servo systems. The control methodology is presented, followed by experimental results that indicate significant energetic savings and essentially no compromise in tracking performance relative to a purely active approach. Specifically, experiments indicate an energy savings of 10 to 46% (depending on the desired tracking frequency) relative to standard 4-way spool valve pneumatic servo actuator control. The savings are generally higher at lower tracking frequencies, since tracking of higher frequencies requires more control effort to minimize tracking error, and therefore limits the degree of possible energy savings.