Development of a digital control system for high-performance pneumatic servo valve

Pneumatic servo systems are used in many fields, such as pneumatic robot systems or vibration isolation systems. To improve the controllability of the pneumatic servo system, a higher performance servo valve is needed.In the present paper, a pneumatic spool type servo valve having an air bearing and a high-resolution position sensor was developed. We attempted to achieve high-frequency, high-accuracy flow rate control by digitization of the controller. We present herein a control algorithm for digital control of this valve.The characteristics of this valve were measured and the natural frequency of the valve was clarified to be up to 300 Hz. The spool position accuracy and the dynamic characteristics of the developed servo valve are greatly improved compared to existing valves.