TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Published 2026-01-19
Have you ever taken apart Lego? Just those small squares, you can build castles, cars, and robots by putting them together yourself. When I was young, I had fun, and when I grew up, I worked on projects such as machinery, servo motors, and steering gears. The principle is actually a bit similar - except that the parts become code blocks.
Many teams are talking about "microservices" now, which sounds very advanced, right? But to be honest, many people’s first reaction is confusion: What on earth is this? Why does my servo control program get stuck while running? Is it related to this? Why is it that as the project gets bigger, adding a new sensor becomes as scary as changing the engine of an already running car?
Let’s forget about those thick theoretical books for now. Imagine you have a super complex robot project, and all the code - from reading sensor data, calculating the steering angle, to driving the motor movement, uploading status logs - are all squeezed into one huge program. It might be okay at first, but trouble comes when you want a certain link, or a certain sensor suddenly needs to be updated. If you move in one place, your whole body may tremble, and the testing is endless. It's like all the joints of your robot are controlled by a common nerve. If one place cramps, the whole body can't move smoothly.
So, the question is here: How do we make complex systems flexible and easy to maintain, so as not to affect the whole body?
The answer may lie in the somewhat technical-sounding word "microservices." But let’s not talk nonsense today, let’s talk about the real changes it can bring to the work at hand.
You can understand microservices as a design idea. It is not a specific chip or software, but splitting your big project into independent small functional modules. Each module (a "microservice") only focuses on one thing and can be run and updated independently.
What is the most direct benefit of doing this?
Changes made easy. Suppose you feel that the servo control is not smooth enough and want to change it. In the past, you had to carefully find the corresponding part in the giant code base, for fear of touching something else. What now? You only need to pay attention to the "servo control" microservice, test, and update it. As long as the interface for communicating with the outside world remains unchanged, other parts - such as sensor reading and status reporting - will not feel the change at all, and the project will run as usual. It's like upgrading the drive for only one arm of a robot without affecting its vision system.
It's easy to locate a problem. An action of the robot suddenly went wrong. If it's a monolithic program, you have to investigate all possibilities like a detective. But with a microservice architecture, it is clear which service is responsible for which link. If the action is wrong, check the "Motion Planning" service log first; if the data is wrong, check the "Sensor Processing" service. The isolation is strong, and the scope of tracing the problem is suddenly reduced.
Now that you understand the “what” and “why,” you may be thinking: This sounds great, but how do I tell if my project requires it? In other words, how to start?
There is no absolute formula here, but there are a few angles you can think about:
Of course, it's not a panacea. Breaking things up means you have more "widgets" to manage, and network communication between them needs to be considered. For projects that are very small, very defined, and completed quickly by a single person, it may be more efficient to keep the monolithic structure simple and straightforward. It's like repairing a watch and assembling a car, the organization required is naturally different.
If you think this idea is worth a try, you might as well start with a relatively independent sub-function. Don't think about becoming fat in one bite.
For example, in your robot project, the "data recording and uploading" function is relatively independent. You could try pulling it out and making it into a separate little serving. It is only responsible for collecting data from the message bus or designated ports, saving it, or sending it somewhere. The main program (or other service) only needs to throw the data to be recorded to it.
In this process, you will naturally encounter and think about those key questions: What is the most appropriate way to communicate between them? (For example, a simple HTTP API or a lightweight message queue?) How to agree on the data format? How to deploy and start this independent service?
Doing it once, even if it is small, will give you a deeper understanding than reading ten articles. You will find that this kind of "Lego-like" thinking ultimately gives you a sense of order and control. Your project is no longer a black box monster, but a group of partners with a clear division of labor and each performing their own duties. You can attack one part with more confidence because you know you won't inadvertently destroy other parts.
In the final analysis, the choice of technical concepts is not to catch up with the trend, but to make the tools better serve our creation. Whether it is exquisite servo control or complex multi-axis robot arm collaboration, the clear, flexible, and maintainable underlying structure allows you to focus more on implementing the cool functions themselves, instead of getting entangled in intricate code dependencies day and night.
When each "microservice" operates reliably like a precise gear, the mechanical world you build will naturally be smoother and more powerful. The rationale behind this is somewhat similar to using Kpower's precision components to create a stable and reliable power core - both are pursuing something efficient, reliable and elegant.
Established in 2005, Kpower has been dedicated to a professional compact motion unit manufacturer, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China. Leveraging innovations in modular drive technology, Kpower integrates high-performance motors, precision reducers, and multi-protocol control systems to provide efficient and customized smart drive system solutions. Kpower has delivered professional drive system solutions to over 500 enterprise clients globally with products covering various fields such as Smart Home Systems, Automatic Electronics, Robotics, Precision Agriculture, Drones, and Industrial Automation.
Update Time：2026-01-19
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