Motion control using time synchronization

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A motion control system is disclosed having a set of control nodes each of which controls motion along a single axis of the motion control system and which coordinate their collective motions using time synchronization technology.
Each control node corresponds to an axis of the motion control system and each control node includes a synchronized clock and participates in a protocol for synchronizing the synchronized clocks.
The application of a series of control values to each axis in the motion control system is coordinated using the synchronized clocks.
A motion control system based on time synchronization enables the use of simpler and cheaper computing resources in each control node in comparison to prior systems in which one control card must handle multiple axes simultaneously.
Each control node may be sized and optimized for the characteristics of a particular axis as well as the motion function to be implemented.
Only the exact number of control nodes used in motion function are used and extra capacity is not wasted.
A motion control system based on time synchronization enables the use of a conventional network communication link for clock synchronization rather than a specialized higher cost link that might otherwise be needed to coordinate motion control as may be the case prior systems.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description that follows.