APPLICATION OF OPTICAL FABRICATION TECHNIQUES TO THE FABRICATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF FLUID AMPLIFIERS AND FLUID CIRCUITS.

Results from a program of design, fabrication, and evaluation of pressure proportional fluid amplifiers, gain blocks, and circuits are presented. Included is a brief discussion of the development of a multi-stage, high amplification gain block, and from this device, the development of a rudimentary pneumatic analog scale changer incorporating feedback, plus the matching of linear pneumatic resistances. The general conclusions to be drawn from the program are that the design and fabrication of functional, analog pure fluid computational circuits is feasible, that multi-stage gain blocks incorporating the basic HDL pressure gain design, or some relatively minor modification thereof, are capable of pressure gains well in excess of 10,000, and that Fotoceram glass ceramic fluid amplifiers and the process for producing them have been developed sufficiently to permit the fabrication and evaluation of complex circuitry.