Abstract
The real-time simulator of a pneumatic actuation system that is composed of differential PWM signal generator, charge solenoid valve, discharge solenoid valve, actuator, load, and rotational potentiometer is developed using a DSP board and a PC. The simulator receives the control signals from the external controller through the A/D converter, updates the state and output variables of the Pneumatic actuation system responding to the input signals every sampling time, and sends out the output signals through the D/A converter in real time. The user can observe the displacements, velocities, pressures, and mass flows representing the operation of pneumatic actuation system through the PC monitor in real time. Also the user can see the moving images between the pistons and rotating arm realistically in real time. The accuracy of the real-time simulator is verified by the good agreement of the real-time simulation results and the experimental results of the pneumatic actuation system.