Pressure observer based servo control of pneumatic actuators

Pneumatic systems are highly non-linear by their nature. Despite their many advantages like reliability, compliance for interaction tasks requiring backdrivability, high power to weight ratio, the use of such systems is restricted primarily because of its high initial cost. This paper presents the development of a robust observer based controller to eliminate costly pressure sensors and therefore obtain a low cost pneumatic servo system. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness of this pressure observer based controller.