Motion Control/​Automation

Motion Control

Topics:

Browse innovative developments in motion control technologies. Find essential news, technical briefs and applications used in PID controllers, servo motors, direct drive solutions, autonomous positioning, and motion-related components.

Latest Briefs & News

Products: Power
Motion Design’s 2023 Guide to Motors provides a comprehensive list of today’s top manufacturers in many technology fields.
Feature Image
Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
As the demand grows for increased productivity, higher product quality, rapid development time, and lower engineering costs, adopting linear motor technology is increasingly popular by leveraging modular linear motor designs.
Feature Image
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Capitalizing on the benefits cobots, of course, requires choosing the right cobot for the job. This article discusses five key considerations for selecting a cobot for your manufacturing application.
Feature Image
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Direct drive motors have a long-standing history as a technology that has continually evolved and improved. This article introduces the technology behind direct drive motors, explores their advantages, and discusses example applications.
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Motion Control
Pro Spot International was founded in 1984 by Ron Olsson, shortly after coming to America from Sweden. Almost 40 years later, Pro Spot is one of the leading companies in automotive repair tools.
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Motion Control
A company from Denmark found a problem with its oil rig, where wind caused service loops to swing, become entangled and snag, resulting in downtime. The company solved the problem with a 33.5-meter e-loop from igus, the Germany-based manufacturer of high-performance plastics.
Feature Image
Briefs: Motion Control
Grasping objects is a problem that is easy for a human, but challenging for a robot. Researchers designed a soft, 3D-printed robotic hand that cannot independently move its fingers but can still carry out a range of complex movements.
Feature Image
Briefs: Motion Control
One of the strategies to combat the mounds of waste found in oceans — especially around coral reefs — is to employ robots to master the cleanup. However, existing underwater robots are mostly bulky with rigid bodies, unable to explore and sample in complex and unstructured environments, and are noisy due to electrical motors or hydraulic pumps.
Feature Image
Briefs: Motion Control
Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute have designed a system that makes an off-the-shelf quadruped robot nimble enough to walk a narrow balance beam — a feat that is likely the first of its kind.
Feature Image
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Researchers have invented a new kind of walking robot that takes advantage of dynamic instability to navigate. By changing the flexibility of the couplings, the robot can be made to turn without the need for complex computational control systems.
Feature Image
White Papers: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Document cover
Engineer’s Guide to Replacing Problematic Hydraulic Cylinders With High-force Electric Actuators

This eBook from Tolomatic examines how new, high-force electric linear actuators are capable of delivering the power of hydraulics in many...

INSIDER: Design

A newly created real-life Transformer can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

It’s a long-held notion, proven in fact, that robots are the perfect instrument to free humans from jobs that are dull, dirty, and dangerous — the “3 Ds” in industry speak — with...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Unmanned Systems

In the film “Top Gun: Maverick,” Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, is charged with training young pilots to complete a seemingly impossible mission — to fly their jets deep into a rocky...

Feature Image
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Combining an industrial robot, computerized vision system, AI, and machine learning, Skyline Robotics has succeeded in automating window washing for the world’s skyscrapers.
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Leveraging a high-speed permanent magnet motor, an environmental control system aboard the ISS represents a step change toward electrification and optimization.
Feature Image
White Papers: Medical
Document cover
Linear Motion Design Considerations for Medical Device OEMs

Electromechanical linear actuators have become integral components of modern medical devices because of their high precision, accuracy, and ability to deliver repeatable motion...

White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
Document cover
Automotive Applications

Tolomatic’s Automotive Applications resource guide will help you learn the scope of how actuators are being used in the industry at both manufacturers and tiered providers. Explore our wide range of electric and...

Special Reports: Motion Control
Document cover
Robotics - July 2023

Read about the latest advances in robots for space exploration, healthcare, manufacturing, and more in this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech Briefs, Medical Design Briefs, and Aerospace &...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Researchers from UCLA and the United States Army Research Laboratory have laid out a new approach for enhancing artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technologies by...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Aerospace

Aerospace engineers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft.

Feature Image
INSIDER: Nanotechnology

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving...

Feature Image
White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
Document cover
Which Features Make Reed Switches and Sensors Ideal for Industrial Design?

With industrial robotics on the rise, designers need components to provide suitable speed, operational life, and varied switching abilities.

Industrial...

Articles: Power
Power transmission is critical in industrial automation as it enables machines to work together seamlessly, reducing downtime and maximizing productivity.
Feature Image
Briefs: Motion Control
The tiny motors mimic how rock climbers navigate inclines.
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A catalytic reaction causes a two-dimensional, chemically coated sheet to spontaneously morph into a three-dimensional gear.
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Design
“AurOrA” is a small autonomous vehicle, which in the future will move independently around fruit orchards and detect full fruit boxes, pick them up, and take them to a defined unloading point.
Feature Image
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Inspired by the human finger, MIT researchers have developed a robotic hand that uses high-resolution touch sensing to accurately identify an object after grasping it just one time.
Feature Image

Videos