Articles

MEMS (micro electromechanical system) inertial sensor technology provides a major structural shift in mechanical sensing. When the performance meets their needs, system developers welcome trading complicated mechanical mounting schemes for the simple solder-reflow attachment processes used for integrating MEMS sensors.

When you're working with vertically oriented applications that employ rodless actuators, there are a few design considerations to keep in mind. All too often, motion control system designers fail to correctly apply rodless actuators in vertical applications. This mistake is common, but a better understanding of the technology will help you avoid it.

For precise automated positioning, think stepper-motor-based linear actuators. Linear actuators essentially generate force and motion through a straight line. In a typical mechanical system, a device’s output shaft would provide linear motion using a rotary motor through gears, a belt and pulley, or other mechanical components.

The Arizona Cardinals are moving more than goalposts at their new stadium; higher-tech motor starters and drives tackle new adversaries out West. This article explains how the Arizona Cardinals’ project presented interesting challenges in designing the retractable roof mechanism.

As speed and economy become more important in motion applications, air-bearing technologies are getting another look. Air bearings are candidates for tasks where high speed, low friction, and low noise are paramount.

Linear-motion bearings deal with the problem of providing low-friction translational (rather than rotational) motion. Sliding-surface bearings are stiffer and deflect less under load than rolling-element types, and sliding-surface bearings allow greater load capacity per unit of surface area.

A special category of bearing fits the bill when long life and quiet operation are on the "must-have" list. The realities of today's business climate force manufacturers to face tougher challenges than ever before. Conveying, packing, sorting, and other machines often operate 24 hr a day, seven days a week. The need for faster product shipments has made manufacturers speed up their equipment.

Backlash and deflection are critical factors when designing mechanical control cables. Engineers should consider parameters such as load, routing, friction, stretch, permanent set, lost motion, temperature, environment, and exposure to contaminants when specifying cables. Here's a look at these critical factors.

A bevy of 3D movies are making their way to theaters around the world, thanks to simpler and more efficient 3D cameras developed using modern motion-control technology.

Motion system engineers, developers, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have another tool in their hands thanks to advances in microelectronic design and processing. This online extra article provides added information to the main article on chip-based control in Control Engineering, October 2002.

International Rectifier's latest integrated design platforms improve the performance, simplify the design, and speed the implementation of motion control applications.

People and animals can move quickly and accurately without having the rigid or precise (i.e., expensive) structural characteristics of typical numerically controlled motion systems (e.g., robots). In this, the first of a three-part series explaining how modern computer control can emulate these properties, we'll consider the ability to learn an open loop effort.

Users viewing PC-based soft motion control critically should look closer at its performance, flexibility, and cost benefits. By running motion control on standard operating systems without real-time extensions, you can achieve higher performance at a lower cost, thanks to hardware and software integration, easy customization, efficient information processing, and the ability to leverage open technologies.

Advances in the performance of the PC and in software-based motion control haveled to an open architecture that replaces proprietary electronics with simple interface systems, a PC, and off-the-shelf software. With many machines, this process yields a retrofitted machine tool that is better than new.

In the fields of motion control and industrial control systems, "interface" describes the device(s) that provide the necessary connection and communication between the controller and the I/O apparatus (the latter include all input and output devices and all sensory and actuating mechanisms).

Improvements in productivity and expandability are just some of the reasons PC-based motion control is becoming more common. There are several advantages to PC-based motion control including lower system cost, flexibility, ease of integration with other PC-based components, and continuous improvement of PC technology.

A new control method cuts velocity disturbances to keep motion profiles smooth and precise. In a servosystem, velocity disturbances are a manifestation of how the system reacts to outside effects caused by various components. If all system components are perfect, there will be no velocity disturbances.

Many companies offer motors with built-in drive electronics. But a new series of motors from Intelligent Motion Systems, Marlborough, Conn., ups the ante by adding a complete motion controller.

Accurate motion controllers must be matched with the right hardware to get the most precision from machine tools. Precise electronic motion controllers are certainly important in today’s advanced manufacturing environment. But to get the most out of the controllers, companies need mechanical systems that can take full advantage of their instructions.

A motion controller performs four fundamental tasks: decoding position feedback, generating the commanded position or motion profile, closing the position loop, and compensating stability.