Design World Motion Control Handbook | August 2026

AUGUST 2026

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control handbook COVER STORY:

MOTIONDESIGN FUNDAMENTALS PAGE

8

REALTIME CONTROL OF PARALLEL KINEMATICS PAGE 14

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motion control handbook

CONTENTS v o l u m e 16 n u m b e r 3

12 08

06 EDITORIAL 08 THE MOTION-SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS 12 FEEDBACK RESOLUTION FOR ABSOLUTE ENCODERS 14 REALTIME CONTROL OF PARALLEL KINEMATICS

23

19 SOFTWARE, STÄUBLI, AND BECKHOFF TECHNOLOGIES FORM A NEW CNC SOLUTION 22 STAFF & AD INDEX

n the cover: O Here, an advanced vision system using AI analysis and high-resolution imaging scans vials for defects.

23 WINDUP

IMAGE: ADOBE STOCK

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COMPONENTS, ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT, AND MANUFACTURING

Standard Components Extraordinary Quality!

EXPLORE ALL THE OPTIONS

U.S. Manufacturer of Power Transmission and Motion Control Components since 1950.

Pulleys Belts Gears Shafts Bearings Couplings Fasteners

Engineered Solutions for a World in Motion

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motion control handbook / editorial

ADVENTURES IN CHANNEL SURFING When I was young, we didn’t have MTV. However, in about 1990 I randomly discovered a TV channel called the Box — a jukebox-style TV channel broadcast over the air with a viewer-request format. Calling a 900 number incurred a small charge and let the viewer enter a music video’s code via the ol’ phone keypad (touchtone only, please — no rotary) to put a music video in the queue.

I probably found the Box while flipping through high-number UHF channels hoping against hope for some miracle undiscovered programming to alleviate summer boredom. At the time, I lived in St. Louis where summers were marked by endless million-degree days … activity options included staying submerged in a swimming pool with other children like so many neon-clad crocodiles or (apparently) staying in the airconditioned indoors while pathetically TV surfing.

Well, imagine my astonishment and delight when suddenly on one channel, an incredibly cool music video broke through the intermittent TV-snow static.

Even now, this experience ranks quite high among the weird-happy surprises of my life. I can’t recall the first videos I saw on the Box, but I remember quite vividly seeing for the first time the breathtaking masterpiece of LL Cool J’s Going Back to Cali.

Rewatching this video now I can’t tease apart nostalgia from legitimate

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veneration. This music video is art.

Here’s where I need to be a little nitpicky — and I just had an entire mini-argument with ChatGPT about this point. The video billed on YouTube as the official music video for this song isn’t the exact version I saw on the Box in 1990. The video I saw 100% included intermittent footage of a girl in a tiny black skirt dancing around the hood of a black vintage Porsche Carrera. I know this doesn’t make sense because of the song’s emphasis on a black Corvette, but I know what I saw.

ChatGPT has insinuated that perhaps I’m misremembering the video or conflating it with some other video from the same era. Based on some cursory online research, I tend to believe that the Box wasn’t always licensed the full music videos aired on MTV, or maybe couldn’t air especially naughty footage, so sometimes showed video snippets spliced with other non-official footage.

There’s a nonzero chance I contact LL Cool J’s staff about this matter via his public community text line.

Now, with over-the-air TV less dominant than it once was, there’s a proposal asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clear a large block of UHF broadcast spectrum, which could force more than 40% of U.S. TV stations to relocate. A group called Landover Saturn 5 LLC is urging the FCC to potentially allow the repurposing of Channels 28 to 36 (554 to 608 MHz) for flexible wireless use aimed at future 6G services.

As they say ... stay tuned.

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THE MOTION-SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS In this back-to-basics primer, we outline the essential elements of an automated motion system — whether it’s a piece of robotics or machine design dedicated to a specific routine.

Here, an advanced vision system using AI analysis and high-resolution imaging scans vials for defects. The machine includes electric motors paired with screw-driven and belt-driven linear axes. Notice the precision linear guides flanking the horizontal axis.

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general motion design

All motion systems are electric-motor-driven designs built around two kinds of components: ●

●

echanical power-transmission components M — including gears and gearsets, kinematic linkages, belt and pulley sets, chain drives, linear screws, rotary bearings, slides, guides, and more lectrical and electronic motion-control E components — including electric motors, motor drives, the electronics known as motion controllers, sensors, pneumatics (which after all rely on electrically compressed air for operation), and connectivity components such as cables, network switches, power supplies, and more.

The motion industry often uses the term powertransmission designs to indicate machine builds for which there’s emphasis on raw torque (or force) and speed — and domination of the build by the mechanical components. The motion industry often uses the term motion systems to indicate machine builds for which there’s emphasis on positioning and controlled motion profiles defining the speeds, accelerations, jerk, speed-torque profiles, and homing routines of the machine’s various axes.

Both design types are at the heart of myriad consumer products, office automation equipment, medical devices, laboratory automation equipment, and (in the industrial space) discrete factory automation. In fact, this is yet another distinction to be made. Discrete factory automation differs from the other type of factory automation — that associated with process or analog automation.

Discrete automation (not to be confused with discrete motion control) involves the working, machining, assembling, testing, capping, wrapping, packaging, labeling, counting, scanning, and transporting of separate (discrete) workpieces or other individual products. Each workpiece might be subject to several different operations before completion.

Automotive manufacture, electronics production, automated warehousing operations, and packaging are all discrete automation industries.

In contrast, process automation involves vats of liquids, uninterrupted systems of fluids, and other batches subject to continuous chemical reactions, temperature controls, metering, and flowing

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hough beyond our scope here, the mechanical T components known as tangential drives are key in myriad motion systems. They include rack and pinion sets, chain and sprocket sets, and synchronous belt and pulley sets such as the one shown here. For the latter, inertia reflected back to the motor equals the load inertia plus the pulleys’ inertias.

utomated shield-braiding machines employing motion A controllers have advanced the cable-making industry.

operations that are generally difficult to stop and start. Process automation industries — in which these types of operations dominate — include mining, energy (via both coal and nuclear), oil and gas, food processing, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacture, glass and ceramic production, plastics, textiles, and wood and paper.

Motion system designs are associated with discrete automation — to deliver on the precise placement and transport of discrete workpieces or other individual products.

PARAMETERS PERTINENT TO THE MOTION SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS Automated motion designs begin with documentation of the loads to be moved and inertias involved, along with the friction the motorized axis will need to overcome without introducing undue sluggishness.

Recall that inertia is an object’s resistance to speed changes — accelerations or decelerations.

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motion control handbook

Total inertia includes that of the workpiece load as well as the axes’ moving parts.

This inertia can be quite low in the case of a torque motor (direct-drive motor) or linear motor having no intermediate mechanical components.

It’s higher anywhere an axis’ electric motor is fitted with a gearset for speed reduction … and (in some instances) servotuning through inertia matching.

Inertial values vary for axes involving beltand-pulley, rack-and-pinion, or chain-andsprocket sets — which are the so-called tangential forms of power transmission.

Inertial values also vary for linear actuators incorporating one of the three main linear-screw types used in motion — leadscrews, ballscrews, and roller screws.

Various calculations essentially quantify how the attached inertia affects the system

at the very critical location of the axis’ motor-output shaft.

In short, engineers tasked with designing motion systems should at this stage sum all the axis components’ inertias and what’s reflected back to the axis’ motor shaft. One motion design that requires additional analysis is that involving a changing inertia — such as robotic axes executing dispensing or machining tasks. Here, the motion controls may need to include additional servotuning to compensate for the changing dynamics.

The next step in motion system design is (after the required mechanisms and their friction and inertia are quantified) to define required motor output force (in the case of a linear motor) or (more commonly) torque. That allows

QUICK NOTE ON MOTION PROFILES

Supreme in the world of motion systems are motion profiles — the mathematically defined trajectories that motion controllers command axis drive-and-motor systems to follow. Many motion profiles define sequences of position commands over time to tell the axis how and where to position attached load … as well as the necessary accelerations, move times, and dwell times. Here, motion-controller electronics also convert created trajectories to generate torque commands to be used by the drive powering the motor.

Of course, a design’s required accuracy, resolution, and repeatability are just as important as its motion profile. These measures of precision dictate the level of mechanical backlash and compliance are acceptable and what feedback components may be necessary.

proper sizing of the electric motor on each axis of the design. Besides the defined acceleration torque, a servo axis’ motor must deliver sufficient torque over the axis’ whole move — including any constant torques during run phases and deceleration torques during stopping.

MOTOR AND MOTION CONTROLS IN DESIGNS Various motor actions are commanded by system motor controls or motion controls — two technologies that have seen convergence over the last two decades.

Both types of electronics accept low-power signal that inform their prompting of actuation-level electrical output to drive the involved motors. In fact, if we use a zoological analogy to describe automated motion systems, motion controllers serve as the system’s brains to monitor, command, and integrate: • Appendages and axis muscles — moved by electric motors and drives, actuators, and attached mechanical components • Senses — in the form of industrial sensors and other encoder and even machine-vision feedback • Informational input from the external environment to inform adjustments — from machine operators as well as IIoT networks communicating enterprise-level

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general motion design

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MOTION SYSTEM DESIGN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

FIELDBUS INTRALOGISTICS

LOCAL FACILITY

MACHINES’ MOTORS AND DRIVES

BOARD OR CABLE CONNECTIONS MOTION CONTROLLER HOST CONTROLLER (PRESENT IN ADVANCED SYSTEMS)

otion controls work by accepting sensor, switch, and encoder feedback and serving as M (or triggering the signal-amplifying (amplifier) action of motor controls. Motion controls run pre-programmed and on-the-fly routines to prompt the axes with minimal error between their actual and commanded motions and positions.

order and throughput requirements • Just like the nervous systems of animals, motion controllers can work to command systems arranged for: • Centralized control (like the human body) with most all components networking back to the main controller • Distributed control systems using (like the diffuse neurological structures in an octopus) engineered cabling and electronics integrated into axis components to execute logic at the periphery In fact, choosing between centralized controls (with controls, motors, drives, and complementary electronics housed together in a cabinet) or distributed drive-based controls is a choice that’s often made during reiterative design processes. Machines with many z over a large area may benefit most from decentralized motion control — as that can trim wiring issues and costs plus make for a smaller control cabinet. In

contrast, compact machine installations may benefit from the economies associated with traditional centralized control.

No matter the control architecture, each motor’s drive (motor control or amplifier) must have the ability to provide acceleration and continuous current sufficient to satisfy the motion design’s duty-cycle requirements. This includes power to both move the load and dissipate heat to slow the load … ultimately dependent on rms current or acceleration current while accounting for any increase in the motor’s winding resistance due to heat.

THE SPECIAL CASE OF SERVOSYSTEMS Motion system designs that take the form of closed-loop systems (servosystems) tend to be dynamic machines involving quick accelerations and decelerations and operation in all four design quadrants —

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an industry concept indicating a design controls an axis over all positive and negative torques and speeds. Sizing such servosystems necessitates a systems approach that concurrently accounts for mechanical, electrical, and software parameters. The drives supplying power to axes’ servomotors must be capable of delivering all necessary continuous (rms) and acceleration (peak) currents.

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Where a motion design will operate in hot, dusty, washdown, vacuum, explosive, or other challenging industrial environments, the power-transmission, electromechanical, and electronic components should be chosen for their ruggedness. Ratings specifically list whether a given component can withstand the anticipated conditions.

Feedback and connectivity for motion designs Many motion system designs rely on sensors and encoders to track position, velocity, and other axis values during machine operation. Here, Hall-effect sensors, resolvers, incremental and absolute encoders, and various forms of mechanical, optical, and magnetic feedback devices track axis behavior.

Then these devices convert their collected signals into (in many cases) digital signals for the motion controls to employ in their trajectory (and correction) calculations.

The accepted communication protocols of the controls partially dictate which feedback devices are allowable in the system.

Though beyond our scope here, it’s worth noting that the cables and connectors transmitting power and data between components must also satisfy specific electrical and physical requirements. Cable runs should be kept as short as possible to avoid issues associated with voltage drop, impedance, and (especially if pulse-width modulated or PWM drives are nearby) electromagnetic interference or EMI. That’s especially true if feedback data rides over high-speed protocols vulnerable to impedance and noise.

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motion control handbook An encoder with 12-bit single-turn resolution can track 212 or 4,096 positions or steps per revolution. An encoder with 12-bit multiturn resolution can track 212 or 4,096 full revolutions.

EXPRESSIONS OF FEEDBACK RESOLUTION FOR ABSOLUTE ENCODERS data sheets for some suppliers’ optical encoder product lines list ST and MT values together as in:

Unlike the relative values output by an incremental encoder, every shaft position output by an absolute encoder corresponds to a unique digital value or word. This is in part how these encoders track shaft position even if there’s a power interruption.

Multiturn absolute rotary encoders and sensors report two aspects of shaft position — the angular single-turn (ST) position over one revolution and the overall multiturn (MT) count — how many full revolutions have occurred. So, an encoder’s ST resolution is the number of angular positions it can track over one rotation. An encoder’s MT resolution is the number of full revolutions it can uniquely

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count before the digitally reported value resets to zero.

This is a POSITAL 20-mm multiturn encoder for compact systems.

Confusing matters is that for certain binary counter-based encoder technologies (including some using optical or inductive operation) these two values are expressed with the same units of bits and can even be equal. For example, the 08 • 2026

Product version one = 11 bit ST + 12 bit MT Product version two = 12 bit ST + 12 bit MT Product version three = 13 bit ST + 12 bit MT Product version four = 14 bit ST + 12 bit MT Product version seven = 17 bit ST + 12 bit MT Product version nine = 19 bit ST + 12 bit MT A given bit can represent one of two states (0 or 1) so combining bits makes possible unique values exponentially grow. The resulting bit count is how many distinct numerical states (binary digits) can be output.

Such expressions of bit depth — determined by the electronics’ memory depth, counter width, and interface word

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encoders Image: ADOBE STOCK

length — reflect how counter-based encoders’ circuits (independent of sensing physics) process, code, and store counts of partial and full rotation increments.

Consider product version four from the example lineup having 14-bit ST and 12-bit MT resolution. This encoder can discern 214 or 16,384 different angular positions around a single revolution. It can also keep count of up to 2¹² or 4,096 turns of the shaft.

The enduring prevalence of 12-bit resolution in feedback systems derives from how it was and remains a “sweet spot” balancing practical design tradeoffs between signal hardware memory, power consumption, and cost as well as physical system needs and limitations. he TrueBeam STX supports radiosurgery with integrated imaging technologies and T a C-shaped gantry containing a linear accelerator. Radiation beams are directed into tumors with more precision than that of traditional means. Absolute feedback abounds on the machine’s axes to position the gantry, patient, radiation-blocking leaves.

COUNTING PAST THE PUBLISHED LIMIT As mentioned, typical multiturn absolute encoders that can track (for example) 4,096 revolutions of the encoder wheel provide accurate position information only until the encoder makes more than 4,096 turns. Then the digital position values begin to repeat. But some drives and controllers offer a special type of position tracking called modulo positioning that can store any overflow movement (rotations or partial rotations that occur after 4,096 turns) and use this information to provide accurate positioning even beyond the maximum number of encoder turns.

OTHER MULTITURNRESOLUTION EXPRESSIONS In contrast with MT resolutions expressed in bits, MT resolutions expressed in degrees or turns that aren’t some whole power of 2 (for example, 44 turns) may obliquely indicate that the sensor is using some other technology besides a digital counter. Some such sensors include those using magnetic pole patterns, phase-shifted tracks, or other coding geometry. For these structures, total MT is determined by their combined periodicities and the interpolation algorithms used to resolve them.

•

I mage:

VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS · A SIEMENS HEALTHINEERS COMPANY

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motion control handbook

CHARAN BHAMRA MECHATRONICS ENGINEER MONOLITHIC POWER SYSTEMS

SERVOMOTORS BRING REALTIME MOTION CONTROL TO PARALLEL-KINEMATICS PLATFORM To showcase the performance of a line of servomotors, a parallel (Parallel-kinematics) platform was built to control the motion of a ping-pong ball in realtime.

Complementing the synchronized servo actuation are visual feedback and realtime kinematic computation.

A new three-axis parallel platform demonstrates the performance advantages of a certain line of servomotors with dynamic balancing, swirling, and bouncing of an unwieldly ping-pong ball. These motors (using onboard drivers, angle

he MMS740100-24-R2-1 is a fully integrated 40-mm smart motor. It T integrates a permanent-magnet synchronous motor and driver

sensors, and CANopen support) enable highresolution motion, realtime response, and tight multiaxis synchronization. More specifically, the platform addresses and manages visual-feedback latency, synchronization across all axes, and realtime inverse kinematics and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control on embedded hardware.

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In short, the system demonstrates how visual data can inform multi-axis coordination and track motion accuracy in realtime — capabilities useful in real-world applications such as delta 3D printers, pick-and-place machines, medical robotics, and other industrial equipment needing precision motion control.

One motor drives each limb of the platform in CANopen cyclic synchronous position (CSP) mode for tight coordination and jitter-free motion. A camera above captures ball position at a moderate frame rate of 40 frames per second. Output visual motioncontroltips.com

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case study • servomotors

motors enter CSP mode via CANopen to receive position setpoints. This ensures synchronized and deterministic motion across all three axes to stabilize the platform during fast-changing inputs.

VISUAL TRACKING AND IMAGE PROCESSING FOR FEEDBACK o control the trajectories of a ping-pong T ball, EZmotion MMS740100-24-C2-1 motors move the three axes of a parallelkinematics platform. Controlling a ball in motion is harder than it may seem, because it reacts drastically and chaotically to the slightest disturbance.

data is processed in realtime via OpenCV computer vision on a Raspberry Pi 5 device — yielding actual ball location.

The information is then fed to a Cortex M4 microcontroller unit (MCU) via serial peripheral interface (SPI) communication.

The embedded controller acts as the motors’ initiator controller, so it’s responsible for the platform’s core control loop and kinematic model. Core control is built around a PID-based algorithm that converts position error into a precise platform tilt angle. First, the kinematic model translates platform tilt-angle information into position targets for the three servomotors. Then the

The platform’s system architecture separates computational roles between the microcontroller and Raspberry Pi 5 device. The MCU handles inverse kinematics. Meanwhile, the Raspberry Pi handles visual feedback — running a lightweight Python script with OpenCV to process video frames from a top-mounted USB camera at 40 fps. Gaussian blur is applied using OpenCV to the frames and converted to hue, saturation, and value (HSV) color space.

To help tracking, the ping-pong ball sports an orange color mask. Then contour filtering helps identify the ball’s boundaries. Center coordinates are extracted from the smallest circle that completely encloses the largest contours.

These coordinates indicate ball position in the XY plane. Z position is determined by the ball’s apparent diameter. More specifically, as the ping-pong ball gets closer to the camera, its detected diameter in pixel units becomes larger. This pixel

information is translated into a real-world Z-position in millimeters.

The Raspberry Pi also connects to a local display via HDMI for live rendering of the camera feed with postprocessed ball tracking frames. The position and height data of the ball is sent to the MCU via the SPI.

KINEMATIC MODEL CALCULATIONS Using the inverse kinematic approach, the motor crank angle is computed to reach the target platform tilt angle and Z translation. Global positions of the fixed-base joints and local positions of the moving platform joints distributed on a circle of a given radius is:

Rotation matrices define how the platform moves in 3D space. Rotation of a point around the X-axis by angle θ_x is:

Rotation of a point around the Y axis by angle θ_y is:

kinematic model translates tilt-angle information into position targets for the three EZmotion MMS740100-24-C2-1 servomotors. Then the A motors enter CSP mode via the CANopen protocol to receive the position setpoints.

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motion control handbook

Rotation of a point around the Z-axis by angle θ_z is:

The combined rotation matrix (the rotation of the platform’s axes to the base’s axes) is:

Actual positions of each platform joint in global coordinates is: Once global platform joint positions are determined, the needed length of each limb is:

The length of each limb is the straightline distance between the base joint and the transformed platform joint. Based on the needed length of each limb, the motor crank angle with given lengths of the

S H O CK

crank arm and the connecting rod is:

3D and 2D views illustrate how these equations define the platform orientation and indicate the needed crank angle.

The MCU runs a PID-based control system that continuously adjusts the tilt and Z translation of the platform to control the ball’s motion in realtime. Depending on the mode (balancing, circular swirling, or bouncing), the independent PID controller for each mode computes the target platform orientation and translation, which is then converted to absolute motor positions via inverse kinematics. The platform orientation and translation for each mode is described below: Balancing: The target ball location is fixed at the center of the platform, and the PID controller minimizes the positional error by adjusting θ_x and θ_y accordingly.

T ION SO A R B I V &

Sorbothane_DesignWorld_Ad_F.indd 1

Bouncing: The target height is set in mm units, and the target location is the center of the platform. To initiate bouncing, the system enters an oscillation phase, where the platform undergoes rapid vertical movement to impart enough energy to lift the ball off the surface. This phase is designed to gradually increase the ball’s mechanical energy. Once a predefined energy threshold is reached (indicating that the ball is bouncing consistently) the controller transitions to bouncing mode.

In this mode, the controller applies minimal synchronized vertical motion to sustain the bounce. The goal is to maintain the ball’s height with optimal energy efficiency rather than driving the ball higher.

The ball’s total energy can be estimated using both kinetic and potential energy components, and the ball’s velocity can be computed using the difference between the current and previous ball height over the timestep.

IN THE PLATFORM’S SERVOMOTOR

S LUTION

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Circular swirling: The target trajectory is set by the two-dimensional array containing predefined time-varying reference points forming a circle of 100mm radius in the XY plane.

MADE IN THE U.S.A. 1/10/24 1:30 PM

The motors used in this demonstration platform have built-in servo drivers (to efficiently provide power to the motor windings) and an embedded motion controller runs a nested control loop, regulating current, velocity, and position in realtime. The onboard CAN transceiver enables direct integration of the CANopen network, while a dedicated power management solution ensures stable internal voltages for safe operation. By integrating all critical components — including the sensor, driver, controller, communication, and power into a single device — the servomotors in this platform eliminate the need for external boards and controllers. That in turn dramatically simplifies wiring and system architecture for a plug-andplay solution.

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case study • servomotors

Consider the linkage geometry of the three-axis parallel platform. The 3D view (left) shows the full 3D structure where each limb connects the fixed-base platform to the moving platform. The 2D view (right) isolates one limb, highlighting the key geometric parameters.

These 3D and 2D views illustrate how these equations define the platform orientation and indicate the needed crank angle.

between updates, each motor internally performs linear interpolation between consecutive setpoints. The motor controllers don’t generate their own trajectories; instead, they rely on the initiator to continuously feed updated position targets. hown here is a position and velocity S profile of the EZmotion motor in CSP mode with linear interpolation.

he EZmotion MMS740100-24-C2-1 integrated servomotor delivers precise and reliable T motion control in a compact package. It includes a 14-bit resolution magnetic position sensor that tracks the shaft’s position with sub-degree accuracy. CSP mode is also available on the MMS740100-24-C2-1. EZmotion diagram enhanced with AI

From a communication perspective, CSP mode requires the initiator to send process data object (PDO) messages containing absolute target positions. The PDO can be mapped, configured, and stored to the motor’s non-volatile memory.

So, the motor shaft can follow a seamless trajectory even though position targets are sampled at discrete intervals. The calculated crank angle values from inverse kinematics are converted into CSP position targets and broadcasted synchronously across the CAN bus. That way, the system maintains highly coordinated and jitter-free motion across the three limbs.

PARALLEL-PLATFORM OPERATION SEQUENCE

SYNCHRONIZED WITH CYCLIC SYNCHRONOUS POSITION (CSP) MODE Synchronized motion is a precision actuation method supported by the CANopen. While other CANopen modes such as cyclic synchronous velocity (CSV) mode and cyclic

synchronous torque (CST) mode are suited for velocity and torque-driven applications, CSP mode is suitable for deterministic position-based multi-axis control.

In CSP mode, the MCU sends precise position setpoints to each motor at a fixed and deterministic update rate.

To ensure continuity and smoothness

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The system begins by executing a torquebased homing routine on the servomotors to reference each motor’s initial position.

During this process, all three limbs retract inward at a controlled speed until they reach their mechanical hard stops, ensuring a repeatable zero position. Once homing is complete, the platform automatically rises to a predefined mid-height along the Z axis.

A green status LED indicates successful initialization — and signals that a user can place a ping-pong ball on the platform.

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The manipulator enters its active sequence with balancing mode and then executes a circular swirl mode for 30 seconds, followed by bouncing mode for 30 seconds. The sequence continuously loops as long as the system remains active. Throughout the demo, a 7-in. screen provides visual feedback of the ball’s motion.

BEYOND PING PONG IN REAL-WORLD DESIGNS Medical robotics implement architectures similar to those of the demonstration to stabilize endoscopic instruments, guide surgical tools, and assist in minimally invasive procedures where fine resolution and jitter-free motion are essential.

In industrial automation, integrated servomotors like those in

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I ntegrated servomotors from EZmotion are especially suitable on delta-robot axes. EZmotion diagram enhanced with AI

the demonstration detailed here impart motion to optical alignment stages, pickand-place heads, and micro-assembly manipulators. Some delta pick-and-place

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machines and consumer-grade delta 3D printers also use servo-driven parallel kinematic structures.

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controllers

SOFTWARE, STÄUBLI, AND BECKHOFF TECHNOLOGIES FORM A NEW CNC SOLUTION

NC Solutions’ Technology Package integrates the software layer, motion control, and robot so integrators can expand with their own C PLCs, fixturing, and process equipment. Predefined and machine-tuned processes, such as milling, welding, sanding, and laser cutting, provide teams with a validated starting point.

Machine-tool provider CNC Solutions found that traditional teach-in methods, effective for simple pick-and-place tasks, could not handle the complexity of today’s CNC-class workloads.

Milling, sanding, and laser or plasma cutting need managing millions of motion points, far beyond the capacity of manual teaching. For these processes, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is essential.

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Over the decades, CNC Solutions has supported projects that have become increasingly complex — including multi-axis milling, abrasive sanding, and high-speed trimming. For many of these applications today, traditional controller-centric methods are inadequate. For the recent Technology Package, CNC Solutions needed a workflow that began with CAM, simulated the actual cell, and controlled a robot with CNC-level precision and speed.

Stäubli provided precision, repeatability, and sealed construction that resists dust and debris, along with seamless integration of a CNC-style motion layer for trajectory execution.

This combination was critical for abrasive applications such as grinding and milling.

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motion control handbook

igh-accuracy robot CNC differs significantly from pick-and-place tasks. Path planning is H complex, and production requires consistency. Without offline programming integrated with a CNC-style motion layer, operations face idle robots, extended timelines, and inconsistent quality. CNC Solutions’ Technology Package lets the robot operate like a machine tool — so operators can focus on production rather than manual intervention.

The solution is built on three core components. First, ENCY Robot, an offline programming software, calculates toolpaths and simulates the entire cell for industrial robots. Second, a Beckhoff motion controller operates the robot with standard CNC commands, including feeds, modes, and frames. Third, a Stäubli robot executes these paths with the precision and reliability needed for production.

This integrated stack was developed over time. The team gradually refined robot axis motions until the commissioning process matched the consistency of a CNC machine. The result is a standardized solution that integrators can easily implement in their own cells.

CNC Solutions based the offline robot programming layer on ENCY. Rather than spending hours on online programming while the robot is idle, ENCY simulates the entire cell, checks axis limits, avoids singularities, and performs full collision control, converting commissioning time

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into productive time. The platform offers an all-in-one environment for design, technology setup, toolpath calculation, and simulation, featuring a zero-code digitaltwin builder and extensive libraries. In summary, trusted CAM strategies are directly translated into reliable robot instructions.

ENCY was chosen for its broad functionality for both simple two-axis tasks and complex multi-axis cells.

Managing code paths and models internally ensures transparent system behavior.

Out-of-the-box processes include milling, grinding, deburring, polishing, blasting (wet/dry), plasma and laser cutting/welding, waterjet cutting, cladding, painting, cleaning, gluing, and more.

With the Technology Package, plugand-play wiring connects the Stäubli robot to the controller with a single cable, and the package includes predefined processes tailored to each cell. Standard features include CNC-style modes (Auto, Manual,

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Home), feed overrides, and emergencystop logic. The system provides process I/O and communication interfaces for plant networks and supports speed control during automatic operation. Manual moves using encoder-wheel controls are also supported.

Recognizing that real cells often deviate from specifications, the package includes features that typically need significant setup time: absolute, TCP, and frame calibration, singularity management, OPC UA connectivity, realtime path adjustments, and tool-wear compensation.

A key metric is how quickly integrators can progress from robot installation to producing the first quality part. By eliminating online robot teaching and providing a CNC-like motion layer, ENCY allows teams to focus on fixtures, tools, and process optimization.

CNC Solutions now commercially offers the Technology Package to integrators as a stable solution for machine tools in various shops, industries, and applications.

The core system features a Beckhoff motion cabinet with a CNC-style HMI and handheld pendant, ENCY for offline programming, simulation, and collision or singularity checks, and a streamlined single-cable connection to a Stäubli robot. it’s delivered with predefined processes such as milling, sanding, welding, and laser or plasma cutting, and is engineered for real-world cells with TCP, absolute, and frame calibration, OPC UA integration, realtime path adjustments, and tool-wear compensation. There’s no need to master vendor-specific robot languages, as the stack operates such as a CNC axis group.

So, expertise can remain focused on PLCs, safety, fixturing, end-effectors, and process knowledge.

This combination enables highervalue applications such as precision milling, trimming, and sanding, which many integrators previously avoided due to limitations in teach-in methods. Time to first good part is reduced because complex path planning is handled offline. Delivery risk and warranty exposure decrease as more project elements are reused rather than developed from scratch.

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gearmotors in warehousing / windup

SELF-LOCKING GEARMOTORS AREN’T BRAKES

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Fractional-horsepower gearmotors must satisfy unique application requirements. In some cases, OEM design engineers specify gearmotors containing worm gearing to leverage the self-locking nature of this gear type. However, the locking characteristic of worm gears is often misunderstood and misapplied.

Some engineers think, “If I get a self-locking gearbox, when I cut power, the axis will come to a quick stop and will hold its position.” The problem is that no gear assembly is absolutely self-locking. Rather, worm gears’ locking behavior is only exhibited from a static (stopped) state … and static self-locking isn’t the same as dynamic braking.

Note: In this context, we use the phrase dynamic braking to refer to an electromechanical design’s ability to actively slow or stop an axis … not the braking method that renders an electric motor a generator for kinetic-energy dissipation via resistors or regenerative means.

Basically, a worm gearmotor-driven axis’ inertia will keep it turning even after electrical input is removed, and the assembly only becomes self-locking once it’s already at a dead stop.

Some designs benefit from the combination of a selflocking gearbox with an actual brake. For example, certain stair lifts prioritizing efficiency need a brake to quickly slow and stop the assembly and then a self-locking gearbox to hold it in place sans power. Rotisserie ovens for roasting must pause the turning of meat when a person opens the oven door so as to prevent burns, but gravity can keep spits turning if there’s any imbalance of the roasters’ weight — say, with two chickens on one side and none on the other. Here, a brake needs to bring the rotisserie spits to a full stop … and then the

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Worm gear assemblies (as in this dc gearmotor from Bodine Electric Co.) and hypoid gear assemblies are common in right-angle and hollow-shaft gearmotors.

Shown here is a Bodine Electric motor with a brake.

self-locking gearbox can hold them in place.

Other designs actually need the opposite — for axes to be fully backdrivable. Here, design engineers don’t usually ask for backdrivable gearing outright, but the need for low resistance to backdriving is requested in other ways.

Consider some applications: Railroad-crossing gates have very strict requirements for how easily gravity brings

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windup / gearmotors in warehousing

In some applications (such as railroad-crossing gates) gearmotors must be easily backdrivable.

Image: ADOBE STOCK

Image: ADOBE STOCK

the arms down. In the event of a power failure, the gates must fall down and block vehicle traffic — because once there’s a power failure, no other signal will alert drivers of an oncoming train. This function relies on a gearbox that’s so easily backdriven that gravity alone on the arm’s weight brings it down into its failsafe position. In fact, the design of this seemingly simple solution was greatly complicated by how the arms are fitted with counterbalances to let a relatively small low-power motor lift the arm.

It’s the same for barrier-arm gates on parking garages.

Either the gates must have electronics with overrides, or the electromechanical assembly (including the motor’s gearbox) must be backdrivable. That way, if something fails or somebody loses their ticket, an attendant can manually lift the gate.

Because it causes so much confusion, some manufacturers deemphasize references to “self-locking” gearmotor behavior.

However, the behavior can provide real benefit to some designs … especially where application engineers help guide OEMs to its proper use.

These insights were gained in a recent conversation with Terry Auchstetter of Bodine Electric Co. For more information, visit bodine-electric.com.

Some designs (such as this stair lift) benefit from the combination of a self-locking gearbox with an actual brake.

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