Without precision motion control, artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous vehicles would still be science fiction. After all, the world today runs on semiconductors — specifically integrated circuits. Modern CPUs, microcontrollers, and RAM are only possible with ever-improving capabilities to control motion with sub-micron or even nanoscale repeatability.
Structures in the first microprocessors from the 1960s were on the order of 10 microns; that measurement has been reduced to single-digit nanometers for the latest generation of chips. The familiar downward physical scaling of Moore’s law drives both an upward trend in capability and processing power and a downward trend in cost due to the ability to generate more chips per wafer. Without the continuous advancements in motion control, precision mechanics, and optics, such progress would be impossible.
