How much of pneumatics remains? A survey of experts

Industry survey on usage and development trends

Abstract

Pneumatic actuators are widely used in industrial automation. Approximately half of all actuators in a production cell (as part
of a plant) are pneumatic, with a total of about 20 actuators per cell serving as a reference value. Despite increasing competition from electric alternatives, they remain relevant due to their robustness and simplicity. However, rising energy costs and higher requirements for controllability are putting them under pressure. This results in fields of action such as efficiency improvements, retrofitting, and system evaluation.
This contribution presents the results of a survey on the current and future use of these actuators.