Motion control is a branch of automation in which machines' position or velocity is controlled by a device such as a hydraulic pump, linear actuator, or electric motor, usually a servo.
Industrial motion control is a crucial aspect of robotics and CNC machine tools; yet, it is more complicated than the kinematics of specialized machines.
Packaging, printing, textile, semiconductor production, and assembly sectors all use motion control.
Simply said, Motion Control is the automated movement of objects – and it can be complicated, which is why it's critical to understand the many motion control alternatives before choosing the best one!
Components of Motion Control
Electronic and mechanical components are used in today's industrial motion control systems.
Although they have gotten smaller and smarter, the key components that make up a motion control unit for industrial automation have virtually remained the same throughout the years.
A motion controller, actuators/motors, sensors, and drives/amplifiers are among the components.
1. Controller :
The controller stores the application's desired motion profiles and positions and sends position commands to the drive.
Motion control is frequently a closed-loop control system that tracks the real path and makes necessary corrections for position or velocity.
There are two types of motion controllers for industrial automation: specialized, standalone motion controllers and PC-based systems that extend the capabilities of PLCs and PACs.
Motion controllers today typically integrate PLC capabilities as a result of developments in processor technology, obviating the need for a PLC or PC-based machine controller and lowering total control expenses.
2. Drives/Amplifiers:
create torque from a low-power current/voltage applied to the servo motor windings.
The drive converts the controller's low-energy signal into a high-energy signal that the motor can understand. Variable-frequency, stepper-motor, analog and digital servo drives are only a few of the drive types available.
3. Actuators/Motors:
Actuators/Motors are devices that translate electrical impulses from the drive into motion. AC/DC servo motors come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
4. Sensors:
offer information about the motor's location. Potentiometers, tachometers, quadrature, and absolute encoders are only a few examples of sensors.
Selection and Desing
Any motion control system is built around a motion controller.
Motion controllers accept an input command, such as a motion profile made up of position commands, and send torque commands to a drive, which drives a motor and moves a load.
Knowing the requirements for your individual application is the first step in selecting the proper motion controller.
The application's complexity is perhaps the most crucial factor.
A comparatively basic application, for example, is one that requires only a single axis of motion and relatively slow speeds.
A more complicated application, on the other hand, can require many axes of motion with highly coordinated coordination between them.
Each of these systems necessitates a unique controller as well as a basic control architecture decision.
The trade-off between centralized and distributed control is one of the most basic architectural considerations to be made in a multi-axis motion control scheme.
This isn't a black-and-white decision, but rather a range of options. Obviously, top-level executive functions that decide what should be done must be centralized in a single processor, but systems can and do partition lower-level operations to dispersed components (if at all) at various levels.
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