Robotic End-of-Arm Tooling worked example

Pneumatic Air Usage with compressed air draw rate of 6 units / hr: a worked example

This worked example runs the pneumatic air usage numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: compressed air draw rate of 6 units / hr instead of the typical 12 units / hr. Estimate pneumatic air usage for robotic end-of-arm tooling using production-ready inputs so teams can budget material or utility usage and compare it with actual consumption.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Compressed air draw rate: 6 units / hr (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 12)
  • Gripper cycling runtime: 8 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Cost per unit of compressed air: 3.5 $ / unit (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Pneumatic air usage consumed = pneumatic air usage use rate × pneumatic air usage runtime.
  • Pneumatic air usage consumed works out to 48 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Pneumatic air usage run cost works out to 168 $ at these inputs.
  • Pneumatic air usage runtime works out to 8 hr at these inputs.
  • Pneumatic air usage unit cost works out to 3.5 $ / unit at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where compressed air draw rate sits at 12 units / hr and the headline result is 96 units, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 48 units.
  • Use it when pricing the utility burden of a robot cell, sizing compressor capacity, or building a payback case for lower-air EOAT designs. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Pneumatic air usage consumed: 48 units (headline result)
  • Pneumatic air usage run cost: 168 $
  • Pneumatic air usage runtime: 8 hr
  • Pneumatic air usage unit cost: 3.5 $ / unit

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Pneumatic Air Usage calculator, set compressed air draw rate to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.