In a pneumatic cylinder, the compressed air is used to exert force on a cylinder piston in order move it in a specific direction. The movement of the piston is transferred to the parts to be moved by a piston rod or a frictional connection. A pneumatic cylinder is a drive operated with compressed air usually up to a maximum of 12 bar in order to generate linear or rotary motion. A distinction should be made between single-acting and double-acting cylinders (work is performed only in one direction or in both directions).

At Festo, servo-pneumatics stands for controlled pneumatic positioning technology. Servo-pneumatics is always a system in which a pneumatic cylinder can be moved to a preset target position in a position-controlled manner or generate a preset target force in a force-controlled manner. Servo-pneumatics is a "soft" positioning technology because air is a compressible drive medium. When the drive is in a controlled position, it can be pushed away by a correspondingly large external force.

Electric drives or electromechanical drive technology involves either linear or rotary drives. An electric motor (servo or stepper motor) drives a toothed belt or a spindle, which in turn moves a slide in a linear direction. In the case of rotary drives and modules, the electric motor drives the internal rotary mechanics directly. The servo or stepper motor is operated via corresponding servo drives.