Motion Control and Robotics
In automated control systems, motion control provides the means to move the machine tooling or the part itself in a controlled, and often precision, rotary or linear manner. A motion controller contains the motion profiles and target positions for the application and creates the trajectories for the motor and/or actuator. Motion control can be achieved using PLCs, PACs, PC-based, stand-alone and microcontrollers. Modern, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs) have a limited to wide range of motion-control capabilities. Key specifications to consider in motion control are the type of motion supported, number of axes, scan rate and feedback resolution.