Why microservices architecture is quietly transforming your mechanical projects

I remember a few years ago, we encountered trouble in a servo motor controlled production line renovation project. The entire system is like an airtight stone. If a parameter needs to be adjusted, it must be recompiled and tested, and it may even affect the normal operation of other modules. Downtime was measured in hours, and field engineers were overwhelmed. At that time, I was thinking, is there a way to make each functional module work like an independent gear, which can not only coordinate precisely, but also be maintained and replaced independently?

Later, when I came into contact with the microservice architecture, I slowly understood that it solves far more than just technical problems.

What exactly are microservices? What practical troubles can be solved?

You can think of it like a modern machine shop.

In the past, you had a large combined machining center where turning, milling, drilling and grinding were all done on one machine. Is it efficient? It may be very high initially. But as long as there is a problem with one cutter head, the entire machine will have to stop. Want to upgrade a certain processing link? The entire control system may need to be replaced, which is costly and risky.

Now, microservices are like splitting the workshop into independent workstations: the lathe station is responsible for turning, and the milling machine station is dedicated to milling. Each station has its own small controller, independent power supply and maintenance channel. One station needs repairs and upgrades, while other stations continue to operate as usual. Raw materials and semi-finished products flow between stations through clear conveyor belts (that is, API interfaces).

For projects involving servo motors, steering gears and complex mechanical linkage, the benefits of this architecture are real:

• Upgrading becomes easy: Do you need to optimize the control algorithm of the servo? Only the "servo control service" separate module needs to be upgraded and tested without touching the motor drive or human-machine interface services. Deployment is fast and the scope of impact is small.
• More fault tolerance: If a service (such as "Location Feedback Processing Service") crashes due to unexpected data, it has its own independent operating environment and will not bring down the entire system like dominoes. Often it can restart automatically, or the system can be temporarily downgraded rather than completely paralyzed.
• More freedom in technology selection: Different services can be written using the tool best suited for it. Motor core control services with extremely high real-time requirements may use C++, while upper-level status monitoring and data analysis services may use Python or Go. No longer locked into a single technology stack.
• More flexible expansion: Found that the system’s data log module has become a bottleneck? It's very simple. Just add a computing instance for this "Log Service" alone. There is no need to expand the entire huge single application, which saves resources.

Is it flawless?

Of course not. There is no free lunch in the world.

Microservices introduce the complexity of distributed systems. Network communication is required between services, which brings new issues such as latency and network reliability. You need to consider how services discover each other, how to monitor the health status of a large number of independent services, and how to ensure data consistency. It's like managing a workshop composed of many independent craftsmen, coordination and communication (service governance) become a science in itself.

So, it's not a silver bullet. For small projects with simple functions and minimal changes, a monolithic architecture may be simpler and more straightforward. But when you are faced with a complex system that requires long-term iterations, clear module functional boundaries, and requires independent scalability of some links—such as modern automation equipment and intelligent robot arm control systems—the advantages of microservices begin to overwhelm the challenges posed by their complexity.

From concept to implementation: What do you need to focus on?

Once you understand the “why”, the next step is naturally the “how”. When implementing a microservices architecture, there are several key points worth paying more attention to when planning:

1. The Art of Partitioning Services: This may be the most core and difficult decision. If the division is too coarse, it will become a "small unit"; if the division is too fine, the operation and maintenance and communication overhead will increase dramatically. A good principle is to divide it around "business capabilities" or "domains", with each service encapsulating a complete, cohesive business functionality. For example, in a mechanical control system, "path planning", "servo drive", and "exception safety handling" can all be independent service boundaries.
2. Choice of communication mechanism: Synchronous calls between services are usually made through lightweight HTTP/REST API or more efficient RPC (such as gRPC). For scenarios that require decoupling, message queues (such as RabbitMQ, Kafka) can be used for asynchronous communication, allowing services to do their own thing and be driven by messages.
3. Data management considerations: Each service should have its own dedicated database (or database schema) to achieve autonomous data management. Avoid all services directly accessing a giant central database, which is the source of coupling. Services exchange necessary data through APIs to keep data boundaries clear.
4. Operation, maintenance and monitoring upgrades: When the number of services increases, you need a powerful tool chain: containerization technology (such as Docker) to ensure a consistent environment, orchestration tools (such as Kubernetes) to manage deployment and scaling, and centralized logs, link tracking and monitoring platforms (such as Prometheus, Grafana) to gain insight into the running status of the entire system.

: A future-oriented thinking model

In the final analysis, the adoption of microservice architecture is not only a technical upgrade, but also a change in thinking mode - from pursuing a large and stable "whole" to building an ecosystem composed of many agile and collaborative "individuals". It recognizes that change is the norm and embraces it architecturally.

Committed to providing reliable products in the fields of servo motors, steering gears and precision machinerykpowerFor us, we deeply understand that stability is as important as flexibility. In our own product development and technology integration, we continue to explore the implementation of these modern architectural concepts, striving to transform every technological advancement into real reliability and agility in customer projects.

Will your next project also face the dual expectations of rapidly changing requirements and system stability? Let’s start by thinking about the boundaries of your service.

Established in 2005,kpowerhas been dedicated to a professional compact motion unit manufacturer, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China. Leveraging innovations in modular drive technology,kpowerintegrates 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.