Mechanical Actuator:

Mechanical linear actuators typically operate by conversion of rotary motion into linear
motion. Conversion is commonly made via a few simple types of mechanism:
Screw: leadscrew, screw jack, ball screw and roller screw actuators all operate on the
principle of the simple machineknown as the screw. By rotating the actuator's nut, the
screw shaft moves in a line.
Wheel and axle: Hoist, winch, rack and pinion, chain drive, belt drive, rigid
chain and rigid belt actuators operate on the principle of the wheel and axle. A rotating
wheel moves a cable, rack, chain or belt to produce linear motion.
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Cam: Cam actuators function on a principle similar to that of the wedge, but provide
relatively limited travel. As a wheel-like cam rotates, its eccentric shape provides thrust
at the base of a shaft.
Application:
Mechanical actuators are also frequently used in the field of lasers and optics to
manipulate the position of linear stages, rotary stages, mirror mounts, goniometers and other
positioning instruments. For accurate and repeatable positioning, index marks may be used on
control knobs. Some actuators include an encoder and digital position readout. These are
similar to the adjustment knobs used on micrometers except their purpose is position
adjustment rather than position measurement.

Hydraulic Actuator:
Hydraulic actuators or hydraulic cylinders typically involve a hollow cylinder having
a piston inserted in it. An unbalanced pressure applied to the piston generates force that can
move an external object. Since liquids are nearly incompressible, a hydraulic cylinder can
provide controlled precise linear displacement of the piston. The displacement is only along
the axis of the piston.
Hydro pneumatic suspension:
Citroen came up with the idea of using gas as a springing medium instead of metal. A gas
becomes LESS compliant as the load on it increases. Thus the idea of springing the car on gas
spheres was born. Each wheel has a gas pressurised sphere on it. Each sphere is divided into
two internally. The upper part is filled with compressed nitrogen and the lower with LHM
(Liquide Hydraulique Mineralique), an incompressible mineral oil that is pumped around the
system by a central pump. By altering the length of the fluid acting as a pushrod between the
suspension arm and the sphere, the car's ride height can be adjusted. This is done by a height
corrector attached to each axle, which automatically keeps the cars height correct, regardless
of load. The fluid is kept in a central reservoir and is pumped around the system by an engine
driven, high pressure pump. The LHM also powers the brakes and the steering.

Pneumatic actuator:
Pneumatic actuators, or pneumatic cylinders, are similar to hydraulic actuators except they
use compressed gas to generate force instead of a liquid. They work similarly to a piston in
which air is pumped inside a chamber and pushed out of the other side of the chamber. Air
actuators are not necessarily used for heavy duty machinery and instances where large
amounts of weight are present. One of the reasons pneumatic linear actuators are preferred to
other types is the fact that the power source is simply an air compressor. Because air is the
input source, pneumatic actuators are able to be used in many places of mechanical activity.
The downside is, most air compressors are large, bulky, and loud. They are hard to transport
to other areas once installed. Pneumatic linear actuators are likely to leak and this makes
them less efficient than mechanical linear actuators.
Air suspension is used in place of conventional steel springs in passenger cars, and in heavy
vehicle applications such as buses and trucks. It is broadly used
in semitrailers, trains (primarily passenger trains). One application was on EMD's
experimental Aerotrain.
The purpose of air suspension is to provide a smooth, constant ride quality, but in some cases
is used for sporty suspensions. Modern electronically controlled systems in automobiles and
light trucks almost always feature self-leveling along with raising and lowering functions.
Although traditionally called air bags or air bellows, the correct term is air spring(although
these terms are also used to describe just the rubber bellows element with its end plates).

Piezoelectric Actuator:
The piezoelectric effect is a property of certain materials in which application of a voltage to
the material causes it to expand. Very high voltages correspond to only tiny expansions. As a
result, piezoelectric actuators can achieve extremely fine positioning resolution, but also have
a very short range of motion. In addition, piezoelectric materials exhibit hysteresis which
makes it difficult to control their expansion in a repeatable manner.
Electromagnetic Actuator:
Electromagnetic Suspension (EMS) is the magnetic levitation of an object achieved by
constantly altering the strength of a magnetic field produced by electromagnets using
a feedback loop. In most cases the levitation effect is mostly due to permanent magnets as
they don't have any power dissipation, with electromagnets only used to stabilize the effect.
According to Earnshaw's theorem a paramagnetically magnetised body cannot rest in stable
equilibrium when placed in any combination of gravitational and magnetostatic fields. In
these kinds of fields an unstable equilibrium condition exists. Although static fields cannot
give stability, EMS works by continually altering the current sent to electromagnets to change
the strength of the magnetic field and allows a stable levitation to occur. In EMS a feedback
loop which continuously adjusts one or more electromagnets to correct the object's motion is
used to cancel the instability.
Many systems use magnetic attraction pulling upwards against gravity for these kinds of
systems as this gives some inherent lateral stability, but some use a combination of magnetic
attraction and magnetic repulsion to push upwards.
Magnetic levitation technology is important because it reduces energy consumption, largely
obviating friction. It also avoids wear and has very low maintenance requirements. The
application of magnetic levitation is most commonly known for its role in Maglev trains.