Significant amount of the scientific and technological advances achieved by humanity in the modern world was made possible by automation and the existence of precision motion control systems.
Automation is a progeny of early feedback control technologies that developed during the Industrial Revolution. It reached new heights during the Digital Age, when computer technologies began enhancing its capabilities. Today automatic processes are typically achieved with the help of motion control systems that integrate these information and networking technologies—truly smart machines for the modern era.
Motion control systems come in a variety of forms, but their main components usually include a motion controller that produces the control signal, an amplifier that converts hydraulic, pneumatic, or electric control signal from the motion controller into energy, and an actuator that uses the energy and transforms it into mechanical action. Often, motion control systems make use of actuation components like rotary and linear stages, which are used to constrain payloads to a single axis of rotation and translation, respectively.
