Why Do You Need Real-Time Motion Control?
When you are improving a motion-centric machine or building a new one, the term “motion control” should always be in your mind. It’s a combination of mechanics and electronics to regulate the position, speed, and acceleration of moving parts in a controlled manner.
Motion control is in our everyday lives, but it plays a crucial role in different industries, such as medicine, robotics, and manufacturing. So, if you are working in any of these industries and need a motion-centric machine, think about motion control.
Motion control is one of the important aspects of the automation industry. But, when it’s integrated with real-time, the concept widens. Real-time motion control is a closed-loop system that gathers data, processes that data, and updates the system within a defined time window. This benefits the systems because without real-time, their stability, precision, and efficiency degrade. The worst part is that lack of real-time leads to diminished control, which is detrimental to system performance.
Let’s understand real-time motion control with an example: This example is regarding the robotics industry. The real-time motion control precisely controls the position and speed of the motor, which positions the robot’s arm with complete accuracy. The accuracy is achieved because of the constant measurement of motor currents and voltages along with the motor position.
The measured values are compared with calculated values by processing units. Then, the processing units adjust the PWM signal to the motor based on the results. This whole process occurs in just a few microseconds to meet the system’s accuracy and timing needs.
Reasons for increased use of real-time motion control
Real-time motion control is the basis for efficient and reliable power supply systems. For example, it keeps the output power of a charging station stable and regulates the current going into a car battery, maintaining its life and avoiding overheating. And when this realtime motion control is combined with new technologies, it increases the power density and efficiency as well as minimizes the power losses in an application.
Another reason for the requirement for real-time motion control is the consistent increase in the performance of modern motor-drive systems. There is a possibility of highly fast and precise computer numerical control machines achieving greater accuracy while rotating multiple times per minute. This is only possible if there are extremely fast control loops, meaning the achievement of a time delay between the measurement of the signal and the adjustment of the systems.
Many designers have the burden of time-sensitive computation. So, they use a combination of field-programmable gate arrays, fast external analog-to-digital converters, and multiple MCUs. Using the fast-current loop in modern control topologies helps designers to develop smaller and higher-performing systems at a lower cost.
Other than this, the real-time motion control meets the smaller execution windows for all the applications to enable faster response times.
Real-time motion control has completely changed the automation scenario, making the development and process easier for the developers. It’s going to stay longer in the industry with lots of advancements.