Guest Editorial: Advanced Motion Control for Mechatronic Applications with Precision and Force Requirements

Abstract

Motion Control (MC) is concerned with all the issues arising in the control of the movement of a physical device. This means that MC is not limited to the use of proper devices for sensing and actuation, in addition to suitable control algorithms, but it also deals with all the possible interactions of the controlled devices with the environment. This is the most remarkable aspect of MC, nowadays deployed in numerous mechatronic systems, especially those which are dynamically acting in heterogenous, time-varying, active, and human-accessible environments. With the progress of new technological solutions and design methods in the motion control systems, like virtual sensors, human-machine and environmental interfaces and, above all, novel control strategies including observation, adaption, and precision- and robustness-enhancing techniques, the level of motion control performance further raised in the last years. Especially the mechatronic systems which have comprehensive application-specific requirements on the precision of controlled motion and the complying interactive forces are benefiting from the advanced motion control techniques and related methods. Reduced energy consumption when inducing a controlled motion appears as an additional challenge.