Controlling motors with computers

Motors are universal in whatever happens in science or the real world. They are used everywhere there is a motion required. There are various kinds of motors :

Servo motor: This is a brushless motor

Stepper motor

Induction motor

Motors used to be dumb rotating machines but as the technology has developed, the motors have become more advanced that can be precisely controlled. The technology has advanced such that the location of the position of the motor can now just be controlled by the computer by sending a command. This used to require a PLC (programmable logic controller) that controlled the motor but moving forward a company called animatics (now acquired by MOOG) invented motors that are completely controlled by a computer. The commands that are sent to the motor are short segments of code that make sense in English and make the making of program for the motor so easy.

Here is a segment of the code that can be used to control the motor that is abstracted from the animatics user manual.

EIGN(2)   ‘Disable Left Limit

EIGN(3)   ‘Disable Right Limit

ZS ‘Reset errors

ADT=100   ‘Set Target Acceleration

VT=100000 ‘Set Target Velocity

PT=300000 ‘Set Target Position

G ‘Go, Starts the move

TWAIT ‘Wait for move to complete

PT=0 ‘Set buffered move back to home

G ‘Start motion

END ‘End program

Consider how simple that makes making things. Typically, this used to require multiple computers, controllers, power supplies but using smart motors makes this simple. You just enter a command through the program (Visual basic, C++, as two examples) and it controls the motor. Look up the company’s website to get more information.


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