Motion control 路 Free
Servo Drives and Motion Control
What a servo system is, how to wire, mode, home, tune and network one, then motion programming in Studio 5000 and Siemens TIA Portal technology objects.
Inside the course
From the lessons
Servo Systems and Selection
AutomationDirect.com
Control Modes: Position, Speed, Torque
AutomationDirect.com
Tuning
AutomationDirect.com
Networking a Servo Drive
AutomationDirect.com
Conversion Constants and Mechanics
Shane Welcher SR
Homing, Gearing, Groups and Faults
Shane Welcher SR
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Explain servo motors, drives and feedback and choose a system, wire and jog a drive, use position, speed and torque modes, home and position, tune, handle braking and STO, network over EtherNet/IP and Modbus, program Logix motion with conversion constants, profiles, gearing and homing, and configure Siemens S120 drives, telegrams and technology objects with the MC_ blocks.
- Choose a servo system by torque, speed, inertia ratio and feedback
- Wire, configure and jog a servo drive
- Use position, speed and torque modes and know the runaway risk
- Home, position absolutely, gear electronically and tune with the scope
- Design the stop chain: STO, brake, regen
- Network a drive over EtherNet/IP and Modbus
- Program Logix motion: MSO, MAH, MAM, MAG, conversion constants, profiles, faults
- Configure Siemens S120, telegrams, technology objects and MC_ blocks
For you
Taking Servo Drives and Motion Control from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$28.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 20 hours
Twelve-station indexing turret on a pharma filler: size, tune, make safe and prove one servo axis
Engineer the single servo axis that indexes a twelve-station rotary turret on a liquid-filling line: derive the motion profile from the bottles-per-minute target, size the motor and gearbox by inertia ratio and RMS torque, write the axis list and PR move table, wire the PLC handshake and the STO circuit, tune the loop and record it, then prove the machine at FAT. You deliver the sizing spreadsheet, the drive parameter file, the tuning record and the FAT record. The sample pack shows what a machine builder's motion engineer hands to the pharmaceutical customer.
Sample document pack, 8 documents, filled in for the scenario
- Axis listAxis List and Motion Profile: Turret Index Axis A1
- ReportServo Sizing Report: Turret Index Axis A1
- Control narrativeControl Narrative: RF-1 Turret Index and Station Sequencing
- I/O listI/O List: PLC to Drive Handshake, Station Sensors and Safety
- Drive parameter listDrive Parameter List: ASDA-A3, Axis A1, as Commissioned
- Test reportTuning Report: Axis A1 Inertia Estimation, Gains, Settling and Resonance
- SRSSafety Requirements Specification: RF-1 Emergency Stop, Guard Doors and STO
- FATFactory Acceptance Test Record: RF-1 Turret Axis and Safety Functions
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
15 modules 路 66 lessons 路 10h 50m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01Servo Systems and Selection5 lessons25m
- 02Hardware, Wiring and First Jog3 lessons30m
- 03Control Modes: Position, Speed, Torque6 lessons55m
- 04Homing, Absolute Positioning, Gearing3 lessons25m
- 05Tuning3 lessons27m
- 06Braking, STO and E-Stop5 lessons40m
- 07Networking a Servo Drive6 lessons50m
- 08Studio 5000 Motion: From Scratch5 lessons1h 41m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Intermediate. PLC programming assumed.
- Software
- SureServo2 Pro (free) for the drive modules; for the PLC motion modules, optionally Studio 5000 Logix Designer (paid) or TIA Portal V21 (21-day trial) What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None required. A small servo kit makes tuning and homing real.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Studio 5000 and TIA Portal are only for the PLC motion modules.
Required
- 01Free
SureServo2 Pro
AutomationDirect
- Runs on
- Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 or 11
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- about 81 MB download
AutomationDirect describes SureServo2 Pro as free software for configuring, tuning and monitoring SureServo2 drives. Use is under the AutomationDirect end user licence agreement shown on the download page.
Steps
- 1.Open the SureServo2 Pro software download page.
- 2.Click Download for the current version.
- 3.Unzip the file and run the installer.
- 4.Start SureServo2 Pro and open or create a drive parameter file.
Official download pageautomationdirect.com
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 02Paid only
Studio 5000 Logix Designer
Rockwell Automation
- Runs on
- Windows (check the Studio 5000 entry on the Product Compatibility and Download Center for exact versions)
- Account
- A Rockwell Automation account plus a purchased licence (serial number or subscription)
Rockwell sells Studio 5000 Logix Designer as a perpetual licence or a paid subscription. Rockwell's product page offers no public free trial or free edition.
Steps
- 1.If your employer or college has a Studio 5000 licence, ask for access and the serial number.
- 2.Sign in to the Rockwell Product Compatibility and Download Center and search for Studio 5000 Logix Designer.
- 3.Download the version that matches your controller firmware.
- 4.Install it as administrator and activate the licence with FactoryTalk Activation Manager.
- 5.If you have no licence, use one of the free Rockwell tools listed below instead.
- Match the Logix Designer major version to the controller firmware you will use.
Rockwell Automation product pagerockwellautomation.comLegitimate free routes
- Connected Components Workbench Standard Edition: Free. Programs Micro800 controllers and includes a demo Micro800 Simulator.
- FactoryTalk Design Workbench: Free Rockwell tool for Micro800 controllers, listed with the free downloads on PCDC.
- RSLogix Micro Starter Lite: Free edition for MicroLogix 1000 and 1100.
- FactoryTalk Design Studio free trial: Rockwell's cloud-based Logix design software with a free 90-day trial in the browser.
- Rockwell Automation training: Instructor-led Studio 5000 courses; an employer licence is the other legitimate route.
- 03Free trial: 21 days
SIMATIC STEP 7 Professional and WinCC (TIA Portal) V21 Trial
Siemens
- Runs on
- Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise 64-bit (24H2), Windows 10 Enterprise 2021 LTSC, or Windows Server 2022/2025. Windows 11 Home is supported only for the Basic editions.
- Account
- A free Siemens account registered for Industry Online Support (SiePortal)
- Size
- about 8.1 GB for the main ISO, plus an optional 3.1 GB DVD 2 with hardware support packages
Siemens lets registered users download the V21 trial of STEP 7 (Basic and Professional), STEP 7 Safety and WinCC and test it for 21 days. The same package is used for the full product; after 21 days you need a purchased licence to keep working.
Steps
- 1.Open the Siemens trial page (entry 109989774) and sign in with your Siemens Industry Online Support account.
- 2.Download TIA_Portal_STEP7_Safety_WinCC_V21.iso (8.1 GB).
- 3.Download S7-PLCSIM_V21.iso (2.5 GB) from the same page: PLCSIM is a separate download.
- 4.Right-click each ISO, choose Mount, and run Start.exe as administrator. Install STEP 7 and WinCC first, then PLCSIM.
- 5.Follow the setup, accept the licence terms and restart the PC when asked.
- 6.Open TIA Portal V21 and create a new project to confirm it runs.
- Install from a local drive with plenty of free space; Siemens lists 20 GB free as the minimum and the ISOs alone are over 10 GB.
- You only need DVD 2 if you want extra hardware support packages.
- If you cannot install locally, Siemens also offers a 21-day TIA Portal Cloud trial in the browser (one-hour sessions, not in every country).
Official download pagesupport.industry.siemens.comAlternatives
- TIA Portal Cloud trial: 21 days free in a cloud virtual machine, no install. Sessions are limited to one hour and it is not available in every country.
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Servo Drives and Motion Control at a glance
Servo Drives and Motion Control is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in machine building and automation. It has 15 modules and 10h 50m of video lessons by AutomationDirect, Shane Welcher, Jason Watts AE, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in machine building and automation
- Format
- 15 self-paced modules, 10h 50m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Intermediate. Intermediate. PLC programming assumed.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- SureServo2 Pro (free) for the drive modules; for the PLC motion modules, optionally Studio 5000 Logix Designer (paid) or TIA Portal V21 (21-day trial)
- Hardware
- None required. A small servo kit makes tuning and homing real.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- AutomationDirect, Shane Welcher, Jason Watts AE (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
Motion control 路 FreeAllen-Bradley Kinetix Servo Motion with Studio 5000Rockwell motion from the axis tree to cams: the Kinetix family and Motion Analyzer, axis setup and hook-up tests, the RSLogix 5000 servo series, command operation and control bits, tuning with S-curves and trends, gearing and MRP, registration and event tasks, MAPC, MCCP and MAOC cams, coordinated and SFC motion, Kinetix 6000, 5500, 5300, 5700 and Sercos hardware, and diagnostics.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.More free courses: Free VFD and servo courses
Learning paths with this course
- Industrial robotics 路 7 coursesFANUC, ABB and KUKA, three of the robot brands most common on automotive and electronics lines, plus the servo and motion control they sit on.
Learner reviews
No reviews yet
Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Servo Drives and Motion Control, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Do I need a servo?
No. The drive modules can be followed with the free configuration software offline; a small servo kit makes tuning and homing hands-on.
Which vendors are covered?
AutomationDirect SureServo2 for the drive fundamentals (the same concepts apply to Delta, Yaskawa, Panasonic), Rockwell Kinetix for Logix motion, and Siemens S120 with TIA Portal technology objects.
How much maths?
Conversion constants and gear ratios: arithmetic. The rest is behaviour you see on a scope.
Is this safe to practise?
Servo axes move fast and hard. Practise with limits set, low speeds and torque limits, and never in torque mode without a speed limit.
Is the Servo Drives and Motion Control course really free?
Yes. Every module, practice task and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.
What certificate do I get, and is it a vendor qualification?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a vendor credential and is never described as one.
Who made the video lessons in the Servo Drives and Motion Control course?
The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Servo Drives and Motion Control
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$28.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- AutomationDirectthe SureServo2 servo drive tutorials
- Shane Welcherthe Studio 5000 servo controls series
- Jason Watts AEthe Siemens motion control and technology object lessons
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.