how to communicate between 2 micro services

When the servo motor connects to microservices: How to let the two "brains" communicate smoothly?

Have you ever tried getting two servo motors to cooperate? One is responsible for precise rotation, and the other performs synchronized positioning - it seems simple, but for them to truly understand each other, the "communication" bridge in the middle often hides mysteries. It's like two people working hard on their own, but due to language barriers and out-of-sync signals, the effect is greatly reduced. In many machinery and automation projects, data transfer between equipment and systems is precisely the link that is most easily overlooked and often causes problems.

At this point you may be thinking: What if there was a clearer and more reliable way for different control units or microservices to "talk" directly? After all, who wants to see a well-designed robotic arm freeze due to signal delay, or an entire production line having to be suspended for maintenance due to data packet loss?

Why is communication between microservices always a hassle?

Imagine you are assembling a multi-jointed robot. Each joint is driven by an independent servo motor, and each motor is managed by an independent microcontroller (or microservice). They each perform their own duties: some calculate trajectories, some handle torque feedback, and some manage safety boundaries. Here comes the problem: the trajectory calculation unit needs to know the current position and load of the motor in real time; the safety monitoring unit needs to receive an overload alarm immediately; and all instructions are issued simultaneously within a few milliseconds.

Traditional communication methods—such as simple serial port protocols or custom binary streams—are insufficient in systems with higher complexity. Inconsistent data formats, weak error handling mechanisms, poor scalability... these trivial technical debts will eventually turn into project delays, debugging nightmares and even on-site failures.

Is there a way to make this conversation both concise and powerful?

In fact, the core idea is not complicated: just as two people need a common language and clear rules to talk, microservices also need a set of standardized "protocols" and efficient "delivery channels." It doesn't have to be overly complex, but meets a few key points: low latency, high reliability, easy to scale, and friendly to hardware resources.

In practice, many teams have begun to adopt lightweight message communication based on the publish/subscribe (Pub/Sub) model. Simply put, each microservice (such as a "Position Controller" or a "Speed ​​Monitor") can publish its own status messages to a shared "channel" while subscribing to other channels it cares about. When motor A completes an action, it publishes a "task completed" message; the planning module subscribes to the message and then triggers the next instruction. This approach decouples direct dependencies between services, making the system more flexible and easier to debug.

What does this mean for your servo motor project?

Responses become more real-time. Instructions and status updates are delivered in milliseconds, and the coordinated actions between motors will be smoother and more accurate, reducing pauses or jitters caused by waiting for data.

The system is more robust. Even if a microservice is temporarily restarted or an exception occurs, the message queue can temporarily store data to avoid information loss. Troubleshooting also becomes easier - you can observe the message flow in and out of each service individually and quickly locate whether the problem lies in the computing logic, communication links or the hardware itself.

Easier future expansion. When you want to add a visual recognition module or remote monitoring interface, you only need to subscribe it to the relevant data channel without rewriting the entire communication architecture. This modular freedom undoubtedly saves a lot of time and cost for product iteration and customization needs.

existkpowerHere, we do this

We tend to adopt a minimalist but efficient design philosophy: the communication layer is like a bearing in a machine—quiet, reliable, almost imperceptible, but indispensable.

For example, in a multi-axis collaboration case, we package the controller of each servo motor as an independent microservice. They exchange data through lightweight messaging middleware. Position command, torque feedback, alarm signal...each type of information has its own dedicated channel. This way, any service can "listen" or "speak" freely, while the core motion control logic remains clear and independent.

When debugging, engineers can retrace the complete data flow just like viewing conversation records. Add a new feature? Just write a new microservice and let it subscribe to the data it needs without disturbing other parts that are running smoothly. This structure brings not only technical elegance, but also psychological stability - you know how each part interacts, and you know where to start when requirements change.

Let communication return to its essence: simple, direct and reliable

In the final analysis, the choice of technical solutions is not to pursue novelty, but to solve practical problems more elegantly. In the world of servo motors and mechanical systems, reliability always comes first. The communication mechanism serves as a nervous system, and its health directly determines the overall performance.

, instead of tossing and turning in complex protocols and custom formats, it is better to return to the essence: establishing a set of unified, transparent, and easy-to-maintain dialogue rules. Let each microservice focus on its core tasks and leave communication to professional and lightweight channels. In this way, whether it is simple dual-motor synchronization or complex multi-robot collaboration, the system can handle it calmly.

After all, the best technologies are often the ones that don’t feel like they exist. When servo motors can talk freely, your creativity can truly flow freely.

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.