A method of simulating an axis of motion in an industrial controller , the method comprising the steps of: generating a first reference signal corresponding to a desired operation of the axis of motion with an axis controller ; transmitting the first reference signal from the axis controller to a control module , wherein a motor drive contains the control module and the control module is adapted to receive as an input the first reference signal , and, as a second input, a position feedback signal corresponding to the angular position of a motor connectable to and controllable by the motor drive ; generating a second reference signal by the control module , as a function of the first reference signal and the position feedback signal, as an output from at least one control loop; providing the second reference signal as an input to a simulation module ; and determining, by the simulation module , at least one of an estimated velocity and an estimated position of the motor , wherein the determining comprises feeding back the estimated velocity through a dynamic gain which varies a gain factor (a 1 ) as a function of the estimated velocity of the motor , wherein, if the motor is disconnected from the motor drive , the simulation module is adapted to generate the estimated position of the motor and the position feedback signal is the estimated position of the motor , and the motor drive is adapted to use the estimated position generated by the simulation module ; and if the motor is connected to the motor drive , the position feedback signal is generated by an encoder operatively connected to the motor , and the motor drive is further adapted to use the position feedback signal generated by the encoder . generating a first reference signal corresponding to a desired operation of the axis of motion with an axis controller ; transmitting the first reference signal from the axis controller to a control module , wherein a motor drive contains the control module and the control module is adapted to receive as an input the first reference signal , and, as a second input, a position feedback signal corresponding to the angular position of a motor connectable to and controllable by the motor drive ; generating a second reference signal by the control module , as a function of the first reference signal and the position feedback signal, as an output from at least one control loop; providing the second reference signal as an input to a simulation module ; and determining, by the simulation module , at least one of an estimated velocity and an estimated position of the motor , wherein the determining comprises feeding back the estimated velocity through a dynamic gain which varies a gain factor (a 1 ) as a function of the estimated velocity of the motor , wherein, if the motor is disconnected from the motor drive , the simulation module is adapted to generate the estimated position of the motor and the position feedback signal is the estimated position of the motor , and the motor drive is adapted to use the estimated position generated by the simulation module ; and if the motor is connected to the motor drive , the position feedback signal is generated by an encoder operatively connected to the motor , and the motor drive is further adapted to use the position feedback signal generated by the encoder . <EOS>