Pneumatics

A pneumatic system controlled through manual or automatic solenoid valves is selected when it provides a lower cost, more flexible, or safer alternative to electric motors, and hydraulic actuators.

[citation needed] The air usually has moisture removed, and a small quantity of oil is added at the compressor to prevent corrosion and lubricate mechanical components.

Smaller or stand-alone systems can use other compressed gases that present an asphyxiation hazard, such as nitrogen—often referred to as OFN (oxygen-free nitrogen) when supplied in cylinders.

Though no documents written by Ctesibius survive, he is thought to have heavily influenced Philo of Byzantium while writing his work, Mechanical Syntaxis, as well as Vitruvius in De architectura.

[1] In the first century BC, the ancient Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria compiled recipes for dozens of contraptions in his work, Pneumatics.

[3]: 4–5 German physicist Otto von Guericke (1602-1686) invented the vacuum pump, a device that can draw out air or gas from the attached vessel.