Braiding machines and carriers for braiding machines

A carrier for supporting a yarn to be used by a braiding machine, comprising:

• a spool carrying the yarn;
• a motor drivingly engaged to the spool;
• at least one sensor for producing data about a condition of the yarn in the spool;
• and
• a controller operatively connected to the motor and to the at least one sensor, the controller having a processor and a computer-readable medium operatively connected to the processor and having instructions stored thereon executable by the processor for:
• receiving said data from the at least one sensor, the receiving of the data including receiving data about a quantity of yarn remaining around the spool;
• determining operation parameters of the motor based on the received data;
• and
• operating the motor per the determined operation parameters to create the desired tension in the yarn.