Papers and Articles

Step motors are a common solution for controlling the position of moving components, but in some cases can be inadequate since the motor position is not necessarily known. Even though step motors are inexpensive when compared to brushless motors, in many critical applications, care has to be taken to ensure that when a command is given to the step motor controller, the motor actually ends up where the user wants it to go. In this article, we will look at each motor control design option and provide an in-depth review of a new closed loop motion control system.

We continue with our deep dive series that gives you tools to diagnose common motion control problems and get your machine back on track!

We wrap up our deep dive series on how to diagnose common motion control problems and get your machine back on track!

Many motion applications require high accuracy both during, and at the end of, the move, but even if you are using perfectly optimized PID values to control position, the compensation loop is never perfect. You can improve motor performance by adding motion control elements outside of the PID loop. In this article, we will look at torque control and the related subject of torque FeedFoward, which will make your equipment run smoother, and deliver better accuracy.

Get a closer look at packaging automation machines that dispense, seal, and label.

Get a detailed look at motion control amplifiers. Making the right design choice when selecting a motion control amplifier can have a big impact on your machine's cost and performance.

Before selecting the best motor, or motors, for your design project, take time to understand what kind of positioning controls and functionality you need. In this article, Motoring to Success, we will look at the issues concerning the selection of the right type of motor controller for positioning control applications. The focus will be on understanding how these motors are controlled, and how the choice of the control techniques affects the system cost.

Whether you build your own controller or buy off-the-shelf, knowing how to implement these new approaches is important for maximizing cost-effectiveness, and minimizing project design times. This article examines current control techniques, including a comparison of various commutation techniques.

Several trends have been driving the use of sophisticated, complex motor control algorithms. The most important of these trends include the desire for lower energy consumption and the need for higher performance. Performance Motion Devices Founder Chuck Lewin addresses these trends and introduces the major techniques used to control multi-phase motors, both brushless DC and AC induction.

The right motion development tools can help you get to market faster, and stay there. This article provides an overview of setup of our easy-to-implement motion control software. It includes a deep dive into our Pro-Motion developer software tool.  

Learn about the significant cost savings that can result from integrating separate motion control functions together. Understand the recent developments in motion ICs that have made new architectures possible.

Examine trends and review the four major motion control architectures in use today. Two of these can be traced back to earlier motion control approaches, and two are more recent additions.

The cost savings and flexibility offered by motion networks can be substantial. The key is knowing which solution will work best in your application.

With positioning motion control applications, one position feedback device has been king of the hill for a long time - the incremental optical encoder with quadrature output. This article will look at other encoder types and the just-as-important subject of data formats that are used to carry and encode position information.