A servo system’s inertia ratio is a commonly misunderstood parameter. When dealing with stepper motors, articles and tutorials often instruct the control engineer to select a motor that will match the ratio as close to 1:1 as possible. The reason is…
Machine builders have numerous choices when it comes to automation system solutions. Many of these solutions take advantage of standard specifications, such as IEC61131-e, to simplify the PLC programming required for machine control. Many automation…
What are some of the advantages of using a digital bus for motion control in machine and robot builder applications? Machine design using a digital network has several advantages over discrete connections where +/-10V servo signals and individual…
Medical imaging technology has rapidly advanced in recent years, increasing the speed and resolution of the images it produces. These advances have shifted the limiting factor on the time required to complete a scan and the quality of the resulting…
Flexographic printing technology has become increasingly popular because it more easily maintains printing quality and reduces startup time and waste. But flexo printing quality is dependent upon maintaining extremely accurate synchronization of the…
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) face continual demands to bring new products to market with higher levels of performance in time to meet shrinking market windows. In many cases, motion is the key to differentiating the machine and delivering…
Servo Motor-powered motion control systems are expected to be fast and accurate, and when correctly specified, they are. However there are numerous factors that can cause them to miss the target. Fundamentally a servo system can perform no more…
What are the most common mistakes that engineers make when specifying and working with stepper drives? What are some of the problems that can occur when engineers choose the wrong stepper for the job? Describe the nature of the mismatch as well as…
Significant advancements in imaging capabilities have occurred recently in CT (Computed Tomography) scan technology. Improved image resolution, larger image process receivers, along with the data capability of computers and control systems, enables…
Web handling applications demand perfect velocity control - and rightly so, as anything less will result in unevenly applied coating across the substrate and an inferior, or even scrappable, product. What's at the heart of most velocity control…
Do you have to open multiple programs to develop, debug and deploy your automation application? Does the need to learn different programs and manage different data sets slow down your time to market? Does the need to find key information stored in…
Mechatronics is the marriage of the mechanical, electrical, software and systems engineering disciplines into one complete system solution. Modeling is a fundamental component of mechatronics. The purpose of model-based simulation is to evaluate a…
