In-Motion Blog

"We design and build servo drives for motion control systems." That's an answer we might give when someone asks "What does ADVANCED Motion Controls do?" For some people, that's all they need to know. For others, it might raise more questions than answers. We have to remember that not everyone has a background in motion control, or electronics, or even…

You've searched the internet and talked to every servo drive manufacturer, but you just can't find a servo drive with all of the features that you need.  What's going on? Are you being unreasonable? Are your specifications unusual? It can't be this hard… can it? Reasons you might need a custom servo drive: You need a feature that just doesn't…

Servo drives have evolved far beyond the basic power amplifiers they once were. They can now be complex pieces of electronic equipment with dozens of additional features to expand upon and improve their motion control capabilities. We've compiled a list of a few servo drive features that are, in our professional opinion, really cool. How many of these did you…

We all make mistakes. Even people who've been working with servo drives for over a decade make mistakes. I've even seen it happen countless times in our own labs. Heck, I'll admit I've made mistakes while setting up servo drives on a non-zero number of occasions. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that our customers also run into trouble…

In the world of servo systems, there are two kinds of problems you might run into: Problems that are discovered early and can be addressed before they get to the customer. Problems that are discovered late - after production starts or after they get to the customer. These are the worst. Wouldn't it be great if there were a set…

We talk about the upcoming trends in servo drives every year and I have to say, 2020 really didn't turn out the way we expected.  It wasn't all bad though.  We were able to eke out a few milestones and continue moving forward with new designs, but with 2020 out of the way we think we're set up for great…

If you're looking for a servo drive that is compact, has a high power density, and is easy to install, look no further than FlexPro "FM" line of machine embedded servo drives. Here is an overview of the FlexPro FM060-10-EM in just one minute... (and 14 seconds...shhh) Let's get to it! Quick Specs and More Information Up to 10A continuous…

We're changing things up and doing this blog post as a video, aka a vlog.  We'll be taking a closer look at the FE060-25-EM EtherCAT servo drive.  One of the things that's hard for our customers to grasp is how small these servo drives are yet they don't sacrifice on power, performance or features.  We're hoping this video will get…

In the age of digital servo drives that use PC based configuration tools, analog servo drives still have a place in motion control systems.  While digital drives use configuration software and an on-screen interface, analog servo drives use switches and potentiometers. You can read more about the differences between analog and digital servo drives here. Today we're going to show…

In their college years, some students begin to take interest in robotics and motion control. As cliché as it may sound, the students of today are the innovators of tomorrow. In order to better facilitate innovation in our youth, ADVANCED Motion Controls has proudly run its own University Outreach program since 2004. For 15 years, we've supplied servo drives to…

What's the Difference Between a Servo Drive and a Servo Amplifier? A lot of motion control terminology is used interchangeably, situationally, and sometimes incorrectly. We'll be the first to admit that it can be a bit confusing at times, and understandably so. Some of the motion control lingo has changed over time, and it hasn't changed the same way in…

Determining the start date of motion control greatly depends on your definition of motion control. An argument could be made that it started with the invention of the mechanical cam. Others might say it didn't start until PID control was introduced. There's no definitive beginning, but we're just going to start with electric motors, just under 150 years ago. You…

Most motor control systems use couplings such as gears, ball screws, belts and other methods to transmit the forces from the motor to the load.  They're used for various reasons, such as to increase the torque through gear ratios, change rotary motion to linear motion or change the angle of the applied torque.  Along with their benefits these transmission systems…

2020 is shaping up to be an exciting year for new servo drive technologies and capabilities. Continuing with the trend from the past few years, servo drives in 2020 will have even more power and more features packed into the micro-sized form factor that's becoming popular in the industry. Mobile robotics and tightly integrated machines are driving forces for miniaturization.…

When searching for a servo drive, you'll be able to find thousands of options. ADVANCED Motion Controls alone offers over 200 servo drive models, and that's without considering custom options. But finding one that meets all the needs for your application can be a bit more complex. Servo drives have different power ranges, sizes, network options, intelligence, form factors, digital…