How to transition from motor control to motion control

With more and more technologies widely applied in industrial automation, we have entered the era of Industry 4.0. New technologies continue to emerge, empowering artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analysis, industrial networks, network security, and functional security. However, most industrial automation, as the core of all other technologies, still relies on robots and motion control.

Motion control and motor control often appear simultaneously, which can be confusing. What is the difference between these two concepts? How can we apply the appropriate solution to one concept or both concepts in industrial automation? Welcome to continue reading to learn about the differences between motion control and motor control, as well as how to make them work together.

What is motion control?
Motion control is a subsystem of industrial automation systems. It synchronously controls multiple motors to complete a series of movements. For example, a multi axis robotic arm requires multiple motors to operate seamlessly in order to perform specific actions. Motion control is mainly used for trajectory planning, velocity planning, interpolation algorithms, and kinematic transformations. Motion control systems often appear in printing, packaging, and assembly applications.

As shown below, a motion control system typically consists of the following main components:
The motion controller can generate trajectory planning and then provide control commands to the motor driver.
Motor driver, which converts the control commands (usually speed or torque signals) of the motion controller into higher power voltage or current signals to drive the motor.

Several motors that can execute movements according to control commands
Position sensor provides the position/speed data of the motor rotor to the position/speed controller, achieving precise position/speed control

With more and more technologies widely applied in industrial automation, we have entered the era of Industry 4.0. New technologies continue to emerge, empowering artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analysis, industrial networks, network security, and functional security. However, most industrial automation, as the core of all other technologies, still relies on robots and motion control.

Motion control and motor control often appear simultaneously, which can be confusing. What is the difference between these two concepts? How can we apply the appropriate solution to one concept or both concepts in industrial automation?

However, motion control typically acts as a system monitor and requires communication between multiple motor controllers, data from other sources such as Ethernet (EtherCAT and TSN.), CAN, RS485, and commands from the Human Machine Interface (HMI) panel. As mentioned above, the motion controller can also participate in some motor control tasks, such as controlling the speed loop, position loop, and even torque loop. Therefore, the real-time control loop of the motion controller can range from 100 microseconds to hundreds of milliseconds, depending on the actual task that the motion controller is involved in.

Design of motion control system
The design of motion control systems can be quite complex, covering many aspects such as motor control, industrial networks, human-machine interfaces, codecs, information security, and functional security. Therefore, it requires multiple control units to coordinate with each other in the system.

Here, a complete set of devices is needed for motion control designers to choose from - which is also where NXP and its wide range of microcontroller (MCU) and microprocessor (MPU) product combinations come in handy.

In terms of motor controllers, NXP's Kinetis V MCU, Kinetis E MCU, LPC MCU, and Digital Signal Controller (DSC) offer multiple options, ranging from using ARM ® Cortex ®- From controlling simple motors with M0+kernel to running FOC algorithm on dual motors using Cortex-M33 kernel or efficient DSC kernel. Using the popular flash free i MX RT crossover MCU can precisely control more motors simultaneously. These MCUs not only have a wide range of processing capabilities to choose from, but also integrate peripherals that are very suitable for motor control, such as high-speed high-precision ADCs, high-speed comparators, flexible motor control timers and PWM, and DSP acceleration sensors. Safety features such as fault detection and automatic shutdown can seamlessly collaborate with the industrial safety compliance provided by these devices.

In terms of motion controllers, NXP provides I MX RT cross-border MCU and MPU product lines, including Layerscape and i MX series processors. These devices support the integration of rich industrial communication interfaces, such as Ethernet/IP, Profinet, EtherCAT, and TSN interfaces. The multi-core architecture provides sufficient power for communication protocols, motion trajectory planning, and real-time loop control. They are also equipped with advanced timers to support multi-mode counting and flexible pulse train output.

As shown in the figure, the motion control system can use a large number of MCUs and MPUs to achieve multiple motor drivers, promoting the coordinated movement of various robotic arms.

In order to accelerate the launch of motion control systems, we urgently need a fast and simple method for concept validation and prototyping. Therefore, NXP has been developing a reference design platform to provide rich industrial motion control functions and comply with industrial automation standards. We have recently launched i MX RT Industrial Driver Development Platform, which is based on i MX RT cross-border MCU, with a foundation of multi motor control, deterministic communication, and compliance with IEC 62443 safety standards. The four motor control development platform has been launched and can support a complete set of NXP products, including I MX RT Cross border MCU and EdgeLock ® SE050 safety components. These devices work together to demonstrate the functions required for industrial motor control systems, such as power management, driving four motors, industrial communication interfaces, HMI touch panel interfaces, and safety integration.

In summary, this article introduces the definition of motion control, the differences between motor control and motion control, and the industry trends in the design requirements of motion control systems.

Source: China Transmission Network