Industrial Drives and Control
Basics of Motion control System
[Link] H
TCE
December 17, 2024
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Introduction
➤ Motion control is widely used in all types of industries including
packaging, assembly, textile,paper printing, food processing, wood
products, machinery, electronics, and semiconductor manufacturing.
➤ It is the heart of just about any automated machinery and process.
Motion control involves controlling mechanical movements of a load.
Example
1 In an inkjet printer, the load is the ink cartridge that has to be moved
back-and-forth across the paper with high speed and precision.
2 In a paper-converting machine, the load can be the large parent roll of paper
that is loaded into the machine for processing. In this case, the load rotates
as the paper is unwound from the roll and rewound into smaller processed
rolls such as embossed paper towels.
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Introduction
➤ Each motor moves a segment of the mechanical components of the
machine.
➤ The segment of the machine along with the motor that moves it is
called an axis.
Example
1 Considering an inkjet printer as an example, the mechanical
components involved in the sliding motion of the print cartridge and
the motor driving them collectively make up an axis of the machine.
Another axis of the printer consists of all mechanical components and
the motor that feed paper into the printer.
2 In case of the paper-converting machine, the mandrel that holds the
roll of paper, the pulleys, and belts that connect it to the motor and
the motor make up an axis.
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Introduction
➤ A typical motion control system manages position, velocity, torque,
and acceleration of an axis. Often the machine consists of multiple
axes whose position and/or velocity must be controlled in a
synchronized fashion.
➤ For example, the X-axis and Y-axis of the table of a CNC machine
need to be controlled in a coordinated way so that the machine can
cut a round corner in the work piece. The ability to precisely control
and coordinate complex motions of multiple axes enables design of
industrial machines.
➤ Prior to the programmable motion controllers, coordination was
achieved through mechanical means. A central line shaft was
connected to a large electric motor or an engine that ran at constant
speed.
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Introduction
➤ This motion source was then used to drive all the axes of the machine
by coupling them to the line shaft through pulleys, belts, gears, cams,
and linkages as shown in Figure 1.
➤ Clutches and brakes were used to start or stop the individual axes.
The gear ratios between the line shaft and the individual axes
determined the speed of each axis.
Figure 1: Multi Axis Coordination
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Introduction
➤ Drive-trains, which were often long shafts, transferred the coordinated
motion to the appropriate part of the machine.
➤ Backlash, wear, and deflections in the long shafts were problematic.
➤ The biggest challenge was when a change in the product had to be
introduced into the production system. It required physically changing
the gear reducers, which was costly and very time consuming.
➤ Also, realigning the machine for accurate timing was difficult after
drive-train changes.
➤ As computers became main-stream equipment through the
inexpensive availability of electronics, microprocessors, and digital
signal processors, coordination of motion in multiaxes machines began
to shift into a computer-controlled paradigm.
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Introduction
➤ In a modern multiaxis machine, each axis has its own motor and
electric drive. Coordination between the axes is now achieved through
electronic gearing in software.
➤ The drive-trains with long shafts are replaced by short and much
more rigid shafts and couplings between the motor and the
mechanism it drives.
➤ The motion controller interprets a program and generates position
commands to the drives of the axes. These motion profiles are
updated in real-time as the drives commutate the motors and close
the control loops.
➤ In today’s technology it is typical for an ordinary motion controller to
coordinate up to eight axes at a time. Controllers with 60+ axis
capabilities are available.
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Components of Motion Control System
The complex, high-speed, high-precision control required for the multiaxis
coordinated motion is implemented using a specialized computer called
motion controller.
Figure 2: components of motion control system
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As shown in Figure 2, a complete motion control system consists of:
1 Human–machine interface (HMI)
2 Motion controller
3 Drives
4 Actuators
5 Transmission mechanisms
6 Feedback
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Human-Machine Interface
(b) Software HMI
(a) Hardware HMI
Figure 3: Human Machine Interface
Functions of HMI
The HMI is used to communicate with the motion controller. The
Functions of HMI are (i) Operating the machine controlled by the motion
controller, and (ii) Programming the motion controller
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Human-Machine Interface
➤ Control panels as shown in Figure 3a with pilot lights, push buttons,
indicators, digital readouts, and analog gauges are common
hardware-based HMIs to serve the purpose of operating a machine.
➤ Control panels can also be software-based as shown in Figure 3b.
➤ These panels can have touch screens and embedded computers that
run a graphical user interface developed using software.
➤ The advantage of this type of panel is the ease of reconfiguration of
the HMI as new features may be added to the machine in the future.
➤ A computer is interfaced to the motion controller for programming
purposes. Custom software provided by the manufacturer of the
controller is used to write, edit, download, and test the machine
control programs.
➤ The software also includes features to test motors, monitor
input/output (I/O) signals, and tune controller gains.
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Motion Controller
➤ The motion controller is the “brains” of the system.
➤ It generates motion profiles for all axes, monitors I/O, and closes
feedback loops.
➤ The controller generates the motion profile for an axis based on the
desired motion parameters defined by the user or the programmer.
➤ While the machine is running, it receives feedback from each axis
motor. If there is a difference (following error) between the generated
profile and the actual position or velocity of an axis, the controller
generates correction commands, which are sent to the drive for that
axis.
➤ Various control algorithms used to act on the following error to
generate command signals to eliminate the error.
➤ The controller can also generate and manage complex motion profiles
including electronic camming, linear interpolation, circular
interpolation, contouring, and master–slave coordination.
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Motion Controller
Figure 4: Motion controllers can have the various form factors. (a) Integrated
form factor (Reproduced by permission of Delta Tau Data Systems, Inc. ). (b)
Modular form factor. (Left) motors and drives , (Right) controller (Courtesy of
Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
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Motion Controller
➤ Motion controllers are available in different form factors (Figure 4 ).
➤ The integrated form factor incorporates the computer, the drive
electronics for the axes, and the machine I/O into a single unit. This
unit is called motion controller or drive.
➤ In a modular system, the computer, the drives, and the machine I/O
are separate units connected to each other via some type of
communication link. In this case, just the computer is called the
motion controller.
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Motion Controller
1 Computer
Interpretation of user programs
Trajectory generation
Closing the servo loops
Command generation for the drives (amplifiers)
Monitoring axis limits, safety interlocks
Handling interrupts and errors such as excessive following (position)
error
2 I/O for each axis
Motor power output
Servo I/O for command output to amplifiers
Input terminals for feedback signals from motor or other external
sensors
Axis limits, homing signals, and registration.
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Motion Controller
3 Machine I/O
Digital input terminals for various sensors such as operator buttons and
proximity sensors
Digital output terminals to drive external devices (usually through
relays)
Analog inputs (often optional) for analog sensors such as pressure, force
Analog outputs (often optional) to drive analog devices.
4 Communication
Network communications with other peripheral devices, the host
computer, and/or supervisory system of the plant using protocols such
as DeviceNet®, Profibus®, ControlNet®, EtherNet/IP®, or
EtherCAT®
USB or serial port communications, and
HMI communications.
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Drives
Figure 5: Drives are used to provide high voltage and current levels necessary to
operate motors. (a) Digital servo drive (Reproduced by permission of ADVANCED
Motion Controls®) . (b) AC drive (Courtesy of Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
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Drives
➤ The command signals generated by the controller are small signals.
The drive (Figure 5)amplifies these signals to high-power voltage and
current levels necessary to operate a motor. Therefore, the drive is
also called an amplifier.
➤ The drive closes the current loop of the servo system . Therefore, it
must be selected to match the type of motor to be driven.
➤ In recent trends, the line between a drive and a controller continues
to blur as the drives perform many of the complex functions of a
controller.
➤ They are expected to handle motor feedback and not only close the
current but also the velocity and position loops.
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Actuator
Figure 6: AC servo and induction motors are used in motion control applications
as actuators. (a) AC servo motors (Reproduced by permission of Emerson
Industrial Automation). (b) AC induction motor (Reproduced by permission of
Marathon Motors, A Regal Brand)
An actuator is a device that provides the energy to move a load. Motion
control systems can be built using hydraulic, pneumatic, or electro
mechanical (motor) technologies. This book presents three-phase AC
servo and induction motors (Figure 6).
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Actuator
➤ Underlying concepts of electromechanical operation of these motors
along with mathematical models are presented in coming modules.
➤ Specific control algorithms implemented in the drive to control each
type of motor.
➤ When a machine for a motion control application is designed, motors
must be carefully selected for proper operation of the machine.
➤ Torque–speed curves for each of these motors and design procedures
for proper motor sizing.
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Feedback Devices
Figure 7: Encoders are used in motion control applications as feedback devices.
(a) Rotary encoder (Reproduced by permission of US Digital Corp. ). (b) Linear
encoder (Reproduced by permission of Heidenhain Corp.)
➤ Feedback devices are used to measure the position or speed of the
load.
➤ Also, the drive and the controller use feedback to determine how
much current needs to be applied to each phase of the motor.
➤ Most common feedback devices are resolvers, tachometers, and
encoders.
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Feed back Devices
➤ Encoders, which can be rotary or linear as
shown in Figure [Link] addition, encoders can be
incremental or absolute.
➤ Selection of the feedback device depends on
the desired accuracy, cost, and environmental
conditions of the machine.
➤ A different type of feedback is provided to the
controller from detection sensors such as
proximity switches, limit switches, or
photoelectric sensors. Figure 8: Photoelectric
➤ These devices detect presence or absence of an sensors are used for
object. For example, a photoelectric sensor detection of presence of
such as the one in Figure 8 may detect arrival an object
of a product on a conveyor and signal the
motion controller to start running the conveyor.
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