Universal axis controller
Along the lines of a universal power unit like the power cube it makes sense to create a universal controller that can be "plugged in" to whatever actuator system you need to control. Why let the control electronics/software for a system sit idle? Take the controller with you and use it in the machine you happen to be operating at the moment.
I assume this would be a distinct system in that it wouldn't be automated. So, automation systems could utilize the universal axis controller, but it would primarily be used by people as they move between different machines.
Characterizing an arbitrary arrangement of actuators isn't really straight-forward, but it will probably yield to some kind of nomenclature. Some sort of hardware description language is in order.
For example, an electric drill would have only one axis (or degree of freedom) which can be moved positively or negatively at different velocities. Drill
- Single axis
- Rotation
- positive/negative
- (angular) velocity
Or, arguably, the drill doesn't know or care that something is spinning, let alone how fast it's spinning. More accurately its "axis" is the variable-resistance switch that sends electricity to the motor. The state of the switch is what's important; the motor's actions are just a dependent variable.
That implies a high-level characteristic should be whether or not the axis control is closed-loop. If it is, then the feature being measured is important. If it isn't, then nothing at all is being measured, so things are much simpler. Okay, so the universal axis controller (UAC) should be an interface between an operator (human or automated) and the system with the axes. It should interface with and understand the signals of any sensors, translate those signals into whatever the operator needs to know, then translate control signals into whatever the axes need to move correctly. That's beginning to sound like a robot control system. Something like this Basic Input Output Elements thing.