Automation: Advanced Controls Features for Challenging Motion Control Problems

Chicago, Illinois - Cycle time improvements, part quality benefits, and reduction in feature size are all beneficiaries of an advanced controls platform and its algorithms. Mechanical motion control systems tend to be blindly deployed into manufacturing environments while underutilizing the advanced control features and algorithms that are available. Paired with these control theory developments optimization is further deployed within the process. This is even true in cases where mechanical deficiencies are present in the system. Ultimately the importance of the control system cannot be overlooked. 

Improvement topics include: 

• Reduced position error due to a harmonic frequency. 
• Increased low frequency gain on friction (or stiction) sensitive systems. 
• Reduced position error at the tool tip point due to system vibrations. 
• Reduced dynamic follow error of identical moves iteratively. 

About the authors:
Dr. Profeta has more than 30 years of experience in technology driven companies. He is currently the Director of Controls Group at Aerotech with global P&L responsibility for the controls, drives and motors. He has earned a BS, MS, Ph.D., and Executive MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He has been awarded five patents and published forty-three papers. Dr. Profeta is also an adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh teaching software engineering.

After spending six years in the United States Marine Corps, Matt Davis started at Aerotech as a field service technician and worked in that role for over 14 years. Application startups, tuning and programming expertise led him to take on the role of Control Specialist under Dr. Profeta in March of 2014.