Motion Control Systems- A brief History

The 1st & 2nd industrial revolutions brought the machinery to the world, allowing to reduce human effort & improve productivity. Back then, it was difficult to operate them & to control the motion of machines parts. For instance, in conventional lathe machines, it was difficult for the operator to control the motion to achieve precision machining.

About 70 years ago, electronic controls were first designed, when John Parson pioneered production to manufacture of Sikorsky helicopter blades. He took the advantage of early computer technology for precise & accurate cutting of aerodynamic shapes of blades. At that time, the idea of computer numerical control (CNC) machines was conceptualized.

By the end of the 1950s, the controls became a robust tool for mass production in manufacturing industries. After 1968, Distributed Control systems were developed for the automation of chemical process industries.

Motion control is now recognized as a key technology in mechatronics. Today, about 75% of the whole industrial process is fully automated which has boosted up their production rate & quality to a great extent.

We will be soon introducing an article which will describe the different technicalities involved in the motion control system, diving a little bit deeper to the details.