Challenges in Motion Control Systems

Abstract

Motion control technology is making its way into the unstructured world inhabited by humans. It allows development of applications beyond the structured environment of an industrial plant. Such applications of motion control technology require shifting focus to the models, control strategies and algorithms needed for systems to work, interact, and cooperate with humans or other artifacts in an unstructured environment. Real-world haptic interactions are becoming an important technology with potential application in many different fields like surgery, teleoperation, cooperative work, microsystems, and education. These developments are leading to numerous challenges that need to be solved in order to develop practical and competent systems that support the human operator, and are fault tolerant, safe, easy to use, and capable of adapting to long-term changes in the environment. This paper discusses a number of the emerging issues within motion control technology, including but not limited to new algorithms that allow concurrent force/position control, human-in-the loop control, control in functionally related systems and haptics over internet.