Abstract: In a hard disk drive memory, a device for controlling a seek operation in which the head is gradually accelerated, then gradually decelerated to move the head quickly from one track to another. The head detects the current track position and triggers a "seek profile" based on the distance of the destination track whereby the device determines the ideal acceleration curve for the seek to be performed. From this, the head begins the seek over a series of consecutive time segments, monitoring its position and determining nominal position at the end of the next successive time segment. In this way the seek profile is updated at each small time segment. Thus, the final head placement is more accurate than in conventional art, in which only an initial distance estimate is used to guide the placement of head. The gradual acceleration/deceleration of the head reduces noise and system wear compared with the full-power acceleration/deceleration utilized in the prior art.