View source for Engineering:Motion system

{{Short description|Component of test and measurement system}}
<!-- what is the thing that is move? what is the nature of the test or measurement on it? -->
'''Motion system''' in engineering and systems, is a component of a [[Experiment|test]] and [[Measurement|measurement]] [[Philosophy:System|system]] that provides motion to a [[Structural load|load]] or loads in a one or many directions. Generally a motion system is made up of a set (or stack) of linear and rotational stages. A [[Engineering:Linear stage|linear stage]] moves in a [[Straight line|straight line]], while a rotation stage moves in a partial or full circle. A stage can either be manually controlled with a knob control, or automated with a [[Engineering:Motion controller|motion controller]].

A motion system generally is computer controlled and can perform fast, reliable, repeatable, and accurate positioning of loads. Most systems will support motion in the horizontal plane (x and y directions), which is referred to as an xy stack. Often either a vertical motion along the z axis (up/down motion) or rotational motion (r axis) is placed on top of the xy stack.

For automated stages, a scale can be attached to the internals of the stage and an encoder used to measure the position on the scale and report this to the controller, thereby determining the precise position of the stage. This allows for a motion controller to reliably and repeatably move to set positions with the linear stage.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Kreuztisch 1.jpg|A coordinate table provides linear motion in an xy plane
File:Hexapod0a.png|A hexapod, like a [[Stewart platform]], provides [[Physics:Six degrees of freedom|six degrees of freedom]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Engineering:Linear stage|Linear stage]]
* [[System of measurement]]

==External links==
Motion Basics and Standards [https://web.archive.org/web/20080408155315/http://www.newport.com/Motion-Basics-and-Standards/140230/1033/catalog.aspx]

[[Category:Systems engineering]]

{{Sourceattribution|Motion system}}