Segment
Control and software: deciding what the joints do
The mechanics decide what a robot can physically do. The control system decides what it actually does, and the software decides how long it takes a human to make it do something new — which in most deployments is the cost that matters.
In one sentence
Robot control comprises the drives and servo loops that execute commanded motion, the software that plans and programs that motion, and the safety systems that make operation near people permissible.
Underneath everything is a control loop running thousands of times a second, comparing commanded position to measured position and adjusting current to the motors. That layer is mature and largely invisible; a modern drive tunes much of itself and compensates for the arm's own flexing and inertia as it moves.
The layer above is where the industry's real problem lives. Programming an industrial robot has traditionally meant teaching points and writing vendor-specific code, which is why integration commonly costs several times the robot. Whether that changes is a bigger determinant of how much automation happens than any improvement in the hardware.
How this breaks down
Split by layer — the servo loop, the programming and simulation above it, and the safety case around both.
- Control and softwarethis page
- Simulation and digital twinsModelling a robot, its tooling and its surroundings — for offline programming and for training policies.Definition page
- Motion controlServo loops, coordinated multi-axis motion and the industrial networks that keep axes in step.Definition pageChokepoint
- Robot softwareTeaching, offline programming, middleware, and the reason most cells are never reprogrammed.Definition page
- Safety and collaborationWhy a fence is the cheap answer, and what a collaborative robot actually changes.Definition pageChokepoint
What this depends on
Technology dependencies are solved by engineering; supply dependencies are solved by building something, which takes years.
- Supply chain
Servo drives and power electronics
Every axis needs a drive; these share components and supply chains with the wider industrial motion market.
Silicon carbide electronics - Technology
The mechanism being controlled
A servo loop can only be as good as the joint under it; backlash and structural flex set a limit that no amount of tuning gets past.
Mechanics
What depends on this
Other pages in this map that name Control and software as something they cannot do without.
Companies across Control and software
Every company named on a step below this page, ordered by how many of those steps it appears at. Compiled from the pages themselves rather than written separately, so the two cannot disagree. Not a ranking and not a recommendation.
- ABBSwitzerland2 steps
- SiemensGermany2 steps
- Banner EngineeringPrivate1 step
- Beckhoff AutomationPrivate1 step
- Dassault SystèmesParis1 step
- HexagonStockholm1 step
12 more companies appear at a single step each; they are named on the pages for those steps.
How these pages are written
Each page explains one technology in plain language, states what it depends on, and names companies by what they supply at that step. Company roles are described qualitatively and deliberately carry no market shares, revenue figures or rankings — those change faster than an explainer can, and a stale number is worse than none. Ticker links point at company pages on this site and are provided for reference only.
Nothing here is investment advice, a recommendation, or a forecast. A company named on a page about a technology is not thereby a good investment, and the chokepoints described are structural facts about supply chains rather than predictions about prices. Technology moves; where a page describes something as unresolved or in development, that was true when it was written.
Plutux is not an investment adviser. Market data and AI-generated analysis are for information and education only, not investment advice. Disclaimer