Manipulator can replace the staff to complete the manual sorting, transport, loading and unloading, etc., in industrial production. It has not only reduced the labor intensity of workers, but also improved the level of automation and production efficiency of enterprises. The pneumatic manipulator based on programmable logical controller (PLC) is designed, including the scheme design, the pneumatic system design, the control system design and the program design. The PLC was taken as the control core, using pneumatic transmission technology to drive the manipulator arm to complete the action of grasping and placing parts, using motordriven technology to drive the manipulator to complete the handling action. Through the trial production of the prototype and the debugging of the system, it shows that the scheme is feasible, and the system is stable and reliable.