IX CONCLUSION
The recent developments in motion control technology are due mainly to the advances in power electronics, control theory, and microprocessor technology. This paper has presented a review of the current developments in microprocessors and digital IC’s for motion control.
The computing and logic capacities of the new-generation advanced microprocessors such as DSP’s, RISC processors, and parallel processors are tremendous and can be exploited with advantages in the implementation of high-performance motion control systems.
The high execution speed of today’s processors can help to increase the sampling rate in digital motion control systems. The bandwidth can thus attain values comparable to that of analog controllers and the load disturbance rejection can be enhanced. The high computing capabilities of today’s processors allows one to implement in real time complex control algorithms such as optimum control, state feedback control, state observers, Kalman filters, and adaptive control with high sampling rate. Next generation intelligent controllers using expert systems, neural networks, and fuzzy logic can be implemented using advanced processors and ASIC’s. The multiprocessing capability of new-generation processors will facilitate the implementation of multitasking motion control systems.
The development of sophisticated real-time control systems requires effective hardware and software tools which have been being constantly improved to answer to new requirements created by the new microprocessors.
Today’s VLSI technology is sufficiently advanced to permit an end-user to participate to the development stages of an ASIC specifically suited for his application. Although motion control engineers will continue to use off-theshelf microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP’s, and RISC
processors in their designs, new trends will lend to the semicustom ASIC design path because of the performance and possibilities it can offer.
The evolution of VLSI and microprocessor technologies is expected to continue with an accelerating pace during the next decade. In the very near future, it would be possible for a motion control engineer to design a complete custom RISC-based or DSP-based controller and have it built into an ASIC.