[Racer26]

The controller will know its operation profile ahead of time. It will have a command list along the lines of

Go 8.5" forwards at a speed of 1"/sec
Go 4.5" backwards at a speed of 10"/sec
Go 1" forwards at a speed of 100"/sec
Go 5" backwards at a speed of 50"/sec

Repeat ad infinitum.

The profiles its requested to move could be completely arbitrary, within its mechanical limits of stroke and speed, but they will be known before it starts, so yes, it will be able to plan for, and begin to decelerate as it approaches the arbitrary points.

Conversely, the profile could be as simple as:

Go 12" forwards at 1000"/sec
Go 12" backwards at 1000"/sec

Repeat.

(Obviously, 1000"/sec is way faster than it would be able to go, its an example of the simplest sort of command string. It will always return to the starting point before repeating the cycle.)

I have considered a pneumatic setup, with the sort of fancy valves we're not allowed to use in FRC, and it would probably work and meet the needs, but pneumatics are much noisier than electric motors (quiet operation is preferred for this application), and speed control would be difficult.