Monitoring takes the form of sensors and intelligent devices connected to a digital processor. These monitored values are used for computing and then controlling some sort of real-world action. Many ...

Using pulse outputs from a PLC is a cost-effective way to get simple motion. Most, if not all, PLC manufacturers provide a way to control servos and steppers using a pulse train signal. So when a ...

How does a piezoelectric transducer (actuator) work? Modern Piezo actuators are based on thin piezoceramic layers manufactured in a co-fired process to form a monolithic unit. They are also called ...

Thanks to hype in the popular media, the term “automation” tends to conjure images of robots, artificial intelligence and the cloud in the minds of most people. The root of most manufacturing ...

More of the automation world is getting on board with a new generation of motion-control and servo-drive technology: “cabinet-free,” or distributed, control and drive systems. In today’s automated ...

Just as different motion control systems have different characteristics, so too do the different networks used by those systems to communicate. Understanding those differences can have a major impact ...