High-Accuracy Position Control of a Rotary Pneumatic Actuator

Rotary pneumatic actuators provide several advantages over electromechanical actuators (e.g., higher power-to-weight ratio, lower cost, and inherent safety) but are generally inferior in terms of accuracy and robustness when closed-loop position controlled. This paper presents the modeling, controller design, and experimental verification of a high-accuracy position-controlled rotary pneumatic actuator. A novel inverse valve model enables the …