SURGICAL INSTRUMENT COMPRISING A SENSOR CONFIGURED TO SENSE WHETHER AN ARTICULATION DRIVE OF THE SURGICAL INSTRUMENT IS ACTUATABLE

A surgical stapler having an end effector, a firing drive electric motor, and a control circuit is disclosed. The firing drive electric motor is configured to actuate a staple firing stroke of the end effector. The control circuit can be configured to provide a pulse width modulated (PWM) electrical signal to the firing drive electric motor and adjust a duty cycle of the PWM electrical signal based at least in part on a speed of the staple firing stroke. The control circuit can further be configured to provide a pulse width modulated (PWM) electrical signal to the firing drive electric motor, adjust a duty cycle of the PWM electrical signal based at least in part on a target speed of a staple firing stroke, and lower the target speed in response to the duty cycle exceeding a safety threshold value.