Motion Control/​Automation

Motion Control

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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

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White Papers: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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The Engineer’s Guide to AC Gearmotor Nameplate Ratings
Stop guessing on AC gearmotor ratings. Are you considering both thermal and mechanical limits? Relying on current readings alone can lead to unexpected failures. This white paper dives...

White Papers: Medical
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Selecting the Appropriate Linear Motor
To ensure reliable operation and a long service life for your application, it is important to select the linear motor that best suits and ideally fulfills your requirements. This tutorial will help you to...

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
While AI-driven robotics is driving greater efficiency and productivity, the manufacturing sector still faces several challenges that need to be addressed. How can manufacturers prepare for this new era of automation? Ujjwal Kumar, Group President, Teradyne Robotics, one of the keynote speakers at Automate 2025, shares his insights about the future of automation.
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Quiz: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Without servo systems, there would be no automated factories. Since they’re so common, this quiz ought to be easy. Try it and see. How much do you know about servo systems? Test your knowledge with this quiz.
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White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
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Read Our In-Depth Guide to Designing and Specifying Linear Multi-Axis Automation Systems
From desktop-sized pick-and-place solutions to large manufacturing systems, linear multi-axis systems play an important role in a wide range of industrial...

Special Reports: Unmanned Systems
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles & Systems - April 2025
How next‐gen edge computers will shape drone warfare…first tests of a drone‐killing RF weapon…AI‐trained vehicles adjust to extreme turbulence on the fly. Read about these and other...

Blog: Motion Control
A tiny, soft, flexible robot that can crawl through earthquake rubble or travel inside the human body may seem like science fiction, but a team is pioneering such adaptable robots by integrating flexible electronics with magnetically controlled motion.
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INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A tiny, soft, flexible robot that can crawl through earthquake rubble to find trapped victims or travel inside the human body to deliver medicine may seem like science fiction, but an...
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INSIDER: Propulsion
Inspired by the movements of a tiny parasitic worm, Georgia Tech engineers have created a 5-inch soft robot that can jump as high as a basketball hoop. Their device, a silicone...
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INSIDER: Unmanned Systems
The Harvard RoboBee has long shown it can fly, dive, and hover like a real insect. But what good is the miracle of flight without a safe way to land? A storied engineering achievement by the Harvard...
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White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
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DieQua’s New Gearsync Helical Gearbox Series Debuts in Detroit
Servo motors, which are used for precise control of angular or linear position, speed, and acceleration, are commonly found in applications such as industrial automation, conveyor...

White Papers: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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Servo Coupling – Stiff or Stiff Enough?
Servo coupling selection usually starts with a decision between torsionally stiff couplings and vibration damping couplings. Almost all applications can be categorized into one of four key types. Learn...

5 Ws: Motion Control
GOAT (Good Over All Terrains), a bioinspired robot developed at EPFL, can change shape to alter its own physical properties in response to its environment, resulting in a robust and efficient autonomous vehicle.
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Articles: Test & Measurement
Today, electrically actuated (servo-electric) test systems have emerged as a preferred alternative to servo-hydraulics that have traditionally been used. Michigan-based eMpulse Test Systems is a supplier of these advanced testing systems. Read on to learn more.
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Products: Motion Control
See the new products, including igus' aluminum version of its drylin ® NT-60 telescopic rail; Tolomatic Inc.'s online Drive Integration Tool; Flexiv's KURAVIZON adaptive robot; Thomson Industries' upgrade to its stepper motor linear actuator online selector tool, which adds the ability to include encoders in the design process; and more.
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Articles: Power
Motor commutation involves the process of switching between motor phases to ensure smooth, continuous operation. In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of commutation, explain how it works, and discuss the challenges faced when trying to pair different motors and drives, especially across brands.
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
A team of MIT engineers has developed a training method for multiagent systems that can guarantee their safe operation in crowded environments. Read on to learn more about it.
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INSIDER: Unmanned Systems
A Ballbot is a unique kind of robot with great mobility, which possesses the ability to go in all directions. Obviously, controlling such a robotic device must be tricky. Indeed, ballbot systems...
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INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
As more satellites, telescopes, and other spacecraft are built to be repairable, it will take reliable trajectories for service spacecraft to...
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INSIDER: RF & Microwave Electronics
NASA and its partners recently tested an aircraft guidance system that could help planes maintain a precise course even while flying at high speeds up to 500 mph. The instrument is...
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INSIDER: Physical Sciences
An electrospray engine applies an electric field to a conductive liquid, generating a high-speed jet of tiny droplets that can propel a spacecraft. These miniature engines are...
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Special Reports: Robotics, Automation & Control
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Robotics & Motion Control - March 2025
From the operating room to the family farm to your next hotel stay, advances in robotics and automation are impacting a wide range of industries. Read all about it in this compendium of articles from the...

White Papers: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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Making the Jump to Electric
This white paper provides a practical guide for transitioning from hydraulic to electric actuators in industrial automation. It outlines a three-step process for making the switch: determining actual force...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Springtails, small bugs often found crawling through leaf litter and garden soil, are expert jumpers. Inspired by these hopping hexapods, roboticists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and...
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INSIDER: Unmanned Systems
From mountain goats that run up near-vertical rock faces to armadillos that roll into a protective ball, animals have evolved to adapt effortlessly to changes in their environment....
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INSIDER: AR/AI
Drone shows are an increasingly popular form of large-scale light display. These shows incorporate hundreds to thousands of airborne bots, each programmed to fly in paths that...
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White Papers: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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Important Success Factors for Dry-running Bearings in Construction Machinery
Choosing between plastic and metal bearings for construction machinery is a decision many manufacturers have to make. However, it’s a deceptively simple choice, as...

5 Ws: Motion Control
With the goal to democratize space research, MIT engineers have demonstrated the first fully 3D-printed, droplet-emitting electrospray engine which can be produced rapidly and for a fraction of the cost of traditional thruster.
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