Enhanced Performance and Stability in Pneumatic Servosystems With Supplemental Mechanical Damping

The authors present a model-based analysis of a position-velocity-acceleration-controlled pneumatic actuator that indicates that supplementing the pneumatic actuator with mechanical damping can significantly increase the gain margin, tracking accuracy, and disturbance rejection of a closed-loop-controlled pneumatic servoactuator. In order to validate the model-based analysis and purported performance and stability benefits provided by supplemental damping, experiments were performed on a single-degree-of-freedom pneumatic servosystem. Measurements conducted on the experimental setup, which validate the respective improvements in stability margin, tracking accuracy, and disturbance rejection, are described. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4001796]