A rod end bearing, also known as a heim joint (N. America) or rose joint (U.K. and elsewhere), is a mechanical articulating joint. Such joints are used on the ends of control rods, steering links,tie rods, or anywhere a precision articulating joint is required, and where a clevis end (which requires perfect 90 degree alignment between the attached shaft and the second component) is unsuitable. A ball swivel with an opening through which a bolt or other attaching hardware may pass is pressed into a circular casing with a threaded shaft attached. The threaded portion may be either male or female. The heim joint's advantage is that the ball insert permits the rod or bolt passing through it to be misaligned to a limited degree (an angle other than 90 degrees). A link terminated in two heim joints permits misalignment of their attached shafts (viz., other than 180 degrees) when used in tension. When used in compression, the through-rods are forced to the extreme ends of their ball's misalignment range, which cocks the link at an oblique angle.

A linear-motion bearing or linear slide is a b​earing designed to provide free motion in one direction. There are many different types of linear​ motion bearings.

A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. Couplings do not normally allow disconnection of shafts during operation, however there are torqu​e limiting couplings which can slip or disconnect when some torque limit is exceeded.

In three-dimensional space, an object may either rotate about, or translate along any of three axes. Thus the object is said to have six degrees of freedom (3 rotational and 3 translational). A linear stage exhibits only one degree of freedom (translation along one axis). In other words, linear stages operate by physically restricting 3 axes of rotation and 2 axes of translation thus allowing for motion on only one translational axis.

A linear stage or translation stage is a component of a precise mo​tion system used to restrict an object to a single axis of motion. The term linear slide is often used interchangeably with "linear stage", though technically "linear slide" refers to a linear motion b​earing, which is only a component of a linear stage.

Ball screws are used in aircraft and missiles to move control surfaces, especially for electric fly by wire, and in automobile power steering to translate rotary motion from an electric motor to axial motion of the steering rack. They are also used in machine tools, robots and precision assembly equipment. High precision ball screws are used in steppers for semiconductor manufacturing.

A ball screw is a mechanical linear actuator that translates rotational motion to linear motion with little friction. A threaded shaft provides a helical raceway for ball bearings which act as a precision screw. As well as being able to apply or withstand high thrust loads, they can do so with minimum internal friction. They are made to close tolerances and are therefore suitable for use in situations in which high precision is necessary. The ball assembly acts as the nut while the threaded shaft is the screw. In contrast to conventional lead screws, ball screws tend to be rather bulky, due to the need to have a mechanism to re-circulate the balls.