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As industry demands increasingly powerful and flexible machines, the complexity of motion sequences continues to grow. Higher cycle rates, increased dynamics, and more tightly synchronized processes are technically achievable. For OEMs, however, the key question is increasingly how much engineering effort is required to implement this complexity and how to prevent that effort from growing disproportionately.
The following article explains why, as motion complexity increases, not only technical performance but also engineering effort becomes a key consideration. It illustrates how integrated motion control concepts can help implement complex motion sequences economically and highlights the development potential this creates for engineering teams.
Coordinated Motion Determines Process Performance
In modern machines, motions are increasingly executed as part of coordinated processes rather than as isolated actions. Transport axes, grippers, and tools operate in parallel and must reach their target positions within defined time windows. For example, during the transfer of a product to a processing station, the tool is already being positioned while the transport axis delivers the product. As a result, success depends not only on the precision of an individual axis but also on the coordinated interaction of multiple axes in both space and time.
As the number of such dependencies increases, individual axis movements evolve into a comprehensive motion process. Motion control must therefore not only execute predefined motion profiles with precision but also coordinate multiple movements so that they interact reliably and repeatably within the overall process.
When Technical Complexity Becomes an Engineering Challenge
For machine builders, the challenge extends beyond the technical execution of these motion sequences. Motion profiles must be defined, axes synchronized, dependencies mapped, and the interaction with the overall machine process validated. The more interdependent the individual movements become, the more demanding it is to represent and coordinate these dependencies within the engineering environment. As motion complexity increases, engineering requirements can grow accordingly.
This is where the perspective shifts. The key consideration is no longer solely what motion control can achieve from a technical standpoint, but how efficiently this performance can be implemented. For OEMs, the relevant question becomes how development, modification, and commissioning can be organized so that motion control contributes directly to the economic viability of the machine concept.
Integration Makes Complexity Manageable
One answer lies in motion control concepts that do not treat motion control functions and machine logic as separate disciplines. When motion functions are integrated directly into the control programming environment, even complex motion sequences can be implemented and adapted within a single engineering platform.
The key advantage lies in seamless integration. There is no need for a separate motion programming environment or additional connections to the I/O layer. This allows engineering tasks to be structured more clearly because motion sequences and machine logic are developed within the same environment, eliminating the need for additional tools and interfaces.
Integration Simplifies Engineering
For OEMs, this approach becomes increasingly valuable as motion complexity grows. The more movements that must be coordinated and linked to the machine process, the more important it becomes to maintain an engineering structure that does not introduce additional complexity of its own.
This applies not only to the development of new machines. Modifications for changing process requirements, machine variants, or future expansions can also be implemented within the same engineering framework. There is no need to establish additional engineering workflows. Furthermore, separate motion tools are eliminated, removing the need for independent integration and synchronization with the control program. Especially for increasingly sophisticated machine concepts, integration can help keep engineering effort under control.
Motion Control eXtended (MCX) from Bucher Automation follows this integrated approach by embedding motion coordination directly into machine control. The strength of the motion control solution is therefore reflected not only in the range of motion tasks it can handle, but also in how efficiently this functionality can be implemented, adapted, and integrated into a machine concept.
When Motion Engineering Becomes Virtual
Virtual engineering and virtual commissioning are no longer future technologies. However, they have not yet become standard practice throughout the mechanical engineering industry. This creates an opportunity for OEMs to not only develop complex motion sequences in an integrated manner but also to decouple portions of development and testing from the physical machine.
Virtualization Accelerates the Development Process
Using virtual controllers, control programs and motion functions can be developed and tested without physical hardware. The key advantage is that development and testing activities can be decoupled from machine assembly, allowing them to begin earlier or proceed in parallel. Motion engineering can therefore start sooner, and initial results can feed directly into subsequent development stages before the physical machine is fully available. Combined with a digital twin, motion sequences can be validated under realistic conditions, and faults can be identified before physical commissioning begins. Corrections can therefore be made at an earlier stage of development, reducing the need for changes on the assembled machine.
For OEMs, the primary benefit is that physical commissioning can begin at a more advanced stage of development. This can shorten not only commissioning itself but potentially the overall development time required to deliver a finished machine.
To translate these time savings into economic benefits, however, the additional effort required for modeling and integration must also be considered. Virtualization is therefore particularly worthwhile when these efforts are offset by efficiency gains during subsequent development and commissioning activities.
Bucher Automation combines integrated motion control and virtual engineering through coordinated solutions. JetControl-VM extends the MCX approach into the virtual engineering domain. The complete STX and MCX functionality is available within a virtual controller, enabling motion applications to be developed and tested without physical hardware and used together with a digital twin for virtual commissioning. In this way, Bucher Automation addresses both the technical complexity of motion coordination and the associated engineering effort.
Conclusion
As motion sequences become increasingly complex, technical performance alone is no longer the decisive factor for OEMs. Equally important is the engineering effort required to integrate motion control into the machine. Integrated motion control concepts and virtual engineering methods provide the foundation for developing complex motion sequences in a structured manner, testing them at an early stage, and commissioning them systematically.
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Motion Control: Precisely Coordinating Complex Movements
FAQ
What impact does an increasing number of axes have on engineering?
With every additional axis, not only does the complexity of motion coordination increase, but so does the effort required for programming, testing, and commissioning. This is particularly true for synchronized motion sequences, where the number of dependencies between axes continues to grow. As a result, engineering structures that make this complexity easier to manage become increasingly important.
Why are complex motion sequences increasingly becoming a software challenge?
Today, the mechanical performance of modern drive technology is often no longer the limiting factor. The real challenge lies in efficiently linking motion sequences, process logic, and machine functions. As a result, an increasing share of the value creation shifts to the software and engineering level.
What are the typical challenges when scaling a motion application?
What may still be manageable in a machine with only a few axes can quickly become complex in larger machine concepts. Additional axes, product variants, or process steps increase the requirements for synchronization, parameterization, and testing. A scalable motion control architecture helps keep this effort under control.
What role does Motion Control play in modular machine concepts?
The more modular a machine becomes, the more important the coordinated interaction of individual machine modules is. Motion Control can help synchronize movements across different modules and make it easier to integrate extensions or variants into existing machine concepts without having to redesign the entire motion logic.
When does the use of a digital twin make particular sense for motion applications?
Digital twins are particularly beneficial for machines with numerous coordinated motions, short cycle times, or a high variety of product variants. In such projects, simulations can help test motion sequences before the physical machine is built and identify optimization potential at an early stage. In general, the benefits increase with the complexity of the application.
