This paper presents an averaged state model and the design of nonlinear observers for an on/off pneumatic actuator. The actuator is composed of two chambers and four on/off solenoid valves. The elaborated averaged state model has the advantage of using only one continuous input instead of four binary inputs. Based on this new model, a high gain observer and a sliding mode observer are designed using the piston position and the pressure measurements in one of the chambers. Finally, their closed-loop performances are verified and compared on an experimental benchmark.