The article describes through a prototype example how pneumatic actuators for machine control in ‘low cost automation’ can be implemented with a micro-computer. Hardware and software developments are described for both sequential and combinational control of one or more machines on a time-sharing basis. The micro-computer used is an Intel 8085 with 2K PROM's and 1K RAM's. An eight bit microprocessor is chosen because of the requirement to do time-sharing work. Some problems due to noise interference and interfacing between micro-computer and pneumatic actuators are discussed with possible solutions presented.
