The "old industry standard" for motion control consisted of various configurations of translation motors. While they exhibit the capability of positioning accurately to within ten-thousandths of an inch, and in extreme cases, to within a micron, these electro-mechanical solutions are often "overkill" and they ignore the critical cost/benefit relationship of the majority of applications!

Now there is an inexpensive, reliable and accurate alternative for applications which do not require such "high precision."

Festo servopneumatic systems are capable of positioning accuracy on the order of 0.008 inch for an 8 inch stroke. Typical accuracy and repeatability is ±0.1% and ±0.04% of stroke, respectively. That level of precision is sufficient for an estimated 80% of typical industrial positioning requirements. Therefore, before deciding on a servo or stepper motor solution, consider the lower-cost alternative...servopneumatics!

New technology makes closed-loop servopneumatics possible

Servopneumatics is a cost-effective electro-pneumatic alternative solution for industrial positioning applications, which eliminates the complexity, expense and maintenance of motors, large power supplies and servo amplifiers associated with conventional motion control systems. A servopneumatic system has capabilities that correspond favorably to those of electric motor solutions, especially when long travel and high speed are required.

The development of proportional pneumatic valves, refinement in actuator technology and the integration of electronic closed-loop servo techniques at Festo has given rise to a new and innovative approach to mid-stroke positioning and motion profiling which represents a revolutionary breakthrough in industrial automation.

How it operates

System intelligence is contained in the axis controller, which provides control, processing, comparing and diagnostic functions. Positioning control signals are sent to the servopneumatic valve, where they are converted to a flow output, which is proportional to the input signal.

This output is fed to the pneumatic actuator, which moves to the pre-programmed stop position. Actual position is read by the position transducer and a signal is fed to the controller for comparison with the programmed position. If there is an error in actual position, the axis controller sends a correction signal to the valve.

New "Smart" Positioning Controller and Windows-based Programming Bring Simplicity to "Plug-n-play" Servopneumatics

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