Two-axis Pneumatic Manipulator as a Test Bed for Teaching Energy Efficiency of Compressed Air Systems

The two-axis pneumatic manipulator has a wide range of possible applications in terms of experimental tests. In this paper, the pneumatic manipulator was used as a test bed on which students tested two different control methods in terms of the energy efficiency of the compressed air systems. Traditional proportional control and stand-alone performance using fast switching directional control valves for Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control were considered. The circular movement of the pneumatic manipulator carrying the tool and processing by planing lighter material such as plastic was chosen. The results showed that lower consumption is achieved with PWM control