A automation equipment control system comprises a general purpose computer with
a general purpose operating system in electronic communication with a real-time
computer subsystem. The general purpose computer includes a program execution module
to selectively start and stop processing of a program of equipment instructions
and to generate a plurality of move commands. The real-time computer subsystem
includes a move command data buffer for storing the plurality of move commands,
a move module linked to the data buffer for sequentially processing the moves and
calculating a required position for a mechanical joint. The real-time computer
subsystem also includes a dynamic control algorithm in software communication with
the move module to repeatedly calculate a required actuator activation signal from
a joint position feedback signal.
