A powered surgical stapling and cutting instrument, comprising: (i) a staple cartridge, comprising: a housing; a plurality of staple cavities; a plurality of staples deployable from said staple cavities during a firing stroke; (ii) a firing member movable during said firing stroke to cause said staples to be deployed from said staple cavities; and (iii) a motor operably coupled to said firing member, wherein said motor is configured to generate at least one rotational motion to motivate said firing member to cause said staples to be deployed from said staple cavities during said firing stroke; (iv) a primary controller, comprising: a primary processor; and a primary storage medium storing first program instructions which, when executed by the primary processor, cause the primary processor to: determine a first acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said first acceleration to a predetermined threshold acceleration, wherein said first acceleration is determined based on a distance between a first position and a second position, wherein said distance is traveled by said firing member during said firing stroke, the instrument further comprising a first sensor configured to detect said firing member at said second position, wherein said first sensor is in electrical communication with said primary processor; and (v) a secondary controller, comprising: a secondary processor; and a secondary storage medium storing second program instructions which, when executed by said secondary processor, cause the secondary processor to: determine a second acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said second acceleration to said predetermined threshold value, wherein said second acceleration is separately determined by said secondary processor based on said distance, the instrument further comprising a second sensor configured to detect said firing member at said second position, wherein said second sensor is in electrical communication with said secondary processor. (i) a staple cartridge, comprising: a housing; a plurality of staple cavities; a plurality of staples deployable from said staple cavities during a firing stroke; a housing; a plurality of staple cavities; a plurality of staples deployable from said staple cavities during a firing stroke; (ii) a firing member movable during said firing stroke to cause said staples to be deployed from said staple cavities; and (iii) a motor operably coupled to said firing member, wherein said motor is configured to generate at least one rotational motion to motivate said firing member to cause said staples to be deployed from said staple cavities during said firing stroke; (iv) a primary controller, comprising: a primary processor; and a primary storage medium storing first program instructions which, when executed by the primary processor, cause the primary processor to: determine a first acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said first acceleration to a predetermined threshold acceleration, wherein said first acceleration is determined based on a distance between a first position and a second position, wherein said distance is traveled by said firing member during said firing stroke, the instrument further comprising a first sensor configured to detect said firing member at said second position, wherein said first sensor is in electrical communication with said primary processor; and a primary processor; and a primary storage medium storing first program instructions which, when executed by the primary processor, cause the primary processor to: determine a first acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said first acceleration to a predetermined threshold acceleration, determine a first acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said first acceleration to a predetermined threshold acceleration, (v) a secondary controller, comprising: a secondary processor; and a secondary storage medium storing second program instructions which, when executed by said secondary processor, cause the secondary processor to: determine a second acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said second acceleration to said predetermined threshold value, a secondary processor; and a secondary storage medium storing second program instructions which, when executed by said secondary processor, cause the secondary processor to: determine a second acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said second acceleration to said predetermined threshold value, determine a second acceleration of said firing member during said firing stroke; and compare said second acceleration to said predetermined threshold value,