Improved Motion Components Help Speed System Design
The third annual Motion System Applications special issue from Design World is here. Each year we highlight some of the most intriguing applications using motion control technology.
As design requirements continue to evolve, manufacturers of motion components and systems, from mechanical elements like couplings and gears to electromechanical components such as motors and encoders on to newer intelligent integrated packages (think robotic systems), are responding to changing demands by offering innovative new designs that address current challenges as well as anticipate future needs.
In fact, it may be easier now more than ever to design a motion system. There are many reasons this is so. For starters, the commodification of components means that they are more readily available as off-the-shelf standards, which makes putting together a complete system a lot easier. Of course, there is still the need for custom components, but here too the process has gotten easier with online design and configuration leading to faster turn-around times.
Motion systems are also becoming more compact as component integration continues apace. So there is more functionality in, say, a stepper motor with an integrated encoder, drive, and controller, eliminating the need to source individual components and spend time connecting them all together.
Take robotics, for instance. These days, you can hardly visit a news site or scroll very far in your twitter feed without seeing a story about robots. Robot surgeons. Robot farmers. Robotic vehicles. Robots, it appears, have gone mainstream.
At their heart, robots are highly sophisticated motion control systems. So it’s no surprise that this year’s Motion System Applications issue features a section on a range of robotics applications. Senior Editor Lisa Eitel shows how robots are fast becoming the go-to technology 
in a host of new medical and design applications, while also improving and evolving systems in traditional applications such as packaging and material handling.
We hope you enjoy this special issue and that it offers you insight into your own design challenges. Drop us a line and let us know what you think.
Miles Budimir
Senior Editor
Filed Under: DIGITAL ISSUES • DESIGN WORLD, Motors • stepper