Low friction pneumatic cylinders are now being considered in applications for which only electric motors or hydraulics were previously considered suitable. One potential application of low friction pneumatics is robotic for metallurgical operations where the high power to weight ratio and low cost could be exploited. As part of an ongoing project to develop a pneumatic robot, this paper presents the kinematic analysis of pneumatic cylinder characteristics that simplifies controller design. Using mathematical modeling and simulation, non-linearity of modern pneumatic systems have been investigated. The derived models give an excellent representation of the system, despite the inclusion of a simplified friction model.
Study of a non-conventional sealing system for low-friction pneumatic cylinders