This paper reviews the essential elements in effective load unit design and introduces a novel approach to digital control loading and motion with extensive performance and logistics benefits. Performance of the digital system is superior to modern analog systems. A 3-KHz iteration rate provides the ability to model non-linear characteristics which are difficult to reproduce cost-effectively in an analog model. Maintenance and sparing of the digital controller is simplified by the use of a minimum number of different card types with built-in automated diagnostics which locate failures at the board level. Updates and maintenance adjustments are performed through user-friendly software utilities, with rigid configuration control of the system's state via software backups.