An investigation into the advantages of fluidics in fluid processing. Part 3: An inventory of signal fluidics

The principles and techniques of sensing, computing and signal processing, and control, used in signal fluidic circuits and systems, are introduced. General circuit configurations which exploit these techniques are discussed and compared with circuits based on other control technologies. Although fluidics is computationally slower than electronics and requires a high power level for computation, interfaces with the rest of the system are simpler, and fluidic circuits are not prone to environmental interference. Fluid power achieves a large amount of actuation power in a small volume, but it should not be used when high precision and flexibility are required.