A motion controller controls the motion

Motion control

Motion control is a sub-field of automation, in which the position or velocity of machines are controlled using some type of device such as a hydraulic pump, linear actuator, or an electric motor, generally a servo...

 of some object. Frequently motion controllers are implemented

Implementation

Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy.-Computer Science:...

 using digital computers, but motion controllers can also be implemented with only analog

Analog computer

An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved...

 components as well.

Implementation

Motion controllers require a load (something to be moved), a prime mover (something to cause the load to move), some sensors (to be able to sense the motion and monitor the prime mover), and a controller to provide the intelligence

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

 to cause the prime mover to move the load as desired.

Just about everything that is man-made requires motion control during its manufacture, packaging, distribution

Distribution (business)

Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...

 or use.

Benefits

Motion controllers are used to achieve some desired benefit(s) which can include:

• increased position and speed accuracy
• higher speeds
• faster reaction time
• increased production
  Production, costs, and pricing
  The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to industrial organization:Industrial organization – describes the behavior of firms in the marketplace with regard to production, pricing, employment and other decisions...
  
  
• smoother movements
• reduction in costs
• integration
  Digital integration
  Digital integration is the idea that data or information on any given electronic device can be read or manipulated by another device using a standard format.-Cell phone calendar to public digital calendar :...
  
   with other automation
  Automation
  Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
  
  
• integration with other processes
  System integration
  In engineering, system integration is the bringing together of the component subsystems into one system and ensuring that the subsystems function together as a system...
  
  
• ability to convert desired specifications into motion required to produce a product
• increased information and ability diagnose and troubleshoot
• increased consistency
• improved efficiency
• elimination of hazards to humans or animals

Gaming

Motion controllers using accelerometer

Accelerometer

An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, also called the four-acceleration. This is not necessarily the same as the coordinate acceleration , but is rather the type of acceleration associated with the phenomenon of weight experienced by a test mass that resides in the frame...

s are used as controllers for video games, which was publically introduced in 2006 by Nintendo

Nintendo

is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

's Wii Remote

Wii Remote

The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

, which uses accelerometers to detect its approximate orientation and acceleration, and serves an image sensor, so it can be used as a pointing device. It was followed by other similar devices, including the ASUS Eee Stick

ASUS Eee Stick

The Eee Stick is an accessory that is expected to be bundled with specific models of the Eee PC and Eee Box. These specific models will also come with games that will take advantage of the features of this hardware. This accessory is very similar to Nintendo's Nunchuk attachment...

, Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

's PlayStation Move (which also uses magnetometer

Magnetometer

A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...

s to track the Earth's magnetic field and computer vision

Computer vision

Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...

 via the PlayStation Eye

PlayStation Eye

The PlayStation Eye is a digital camera device, similar to a webcam, for the PlayStation 3. The technology uses computer vision and gesture recognition to process images taken by the camera. This allows players to interact with games using motion and color detection as well as sound through its...

 to aid in position tracking), and HP's Swing. Other systems use different mechanisms for input, such as Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

's Kinect accessory, which uses a combination infrared

Infrared

Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...

 structured light

Structured light

]Structured light is the process of projecting a known pattern of pixels on to a scene. The way that these deform when striking surfaces allows vision systems to calculate the depth and surface information of the objects in the scene, as used in structured light 3D scanners.Invisible Structured...

 and computer vision, and the Sixense TrueMotion

Sixense TrueMotion

The Razer Hydra is a motion and orientation detection game controller developed by Sixense Entertainment, a company founded in 2007, in partnership with Razer USA...

, which uses a magnetic field to determine position and orientation.

The Sega Activator, based on the Light Harp invented by Assaf Gurner, was released for the Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1993. It could read the player's physical movements and was the first controller to allow full-body motion sensing. However, it was a commercial failure due to its "unwieldiness and inaccuracy". The Atari Mindlink

Atari Mindlink

The Atari Mindlink was an unreleased video game controller for the Atari 2600.Intended for release in 1984, the Mindlink was unique in that one had to move the muscles in one's head to control the game. These movements would be read by infrared sensors and transferred as movement in the game.Games...

 was an early proposed motion controller for the Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

, which measured the movement of the user's eyebrows with a fitted headband.