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KINGSTAR Soft Motion provides all the benefits of a software solution to motion control in an automatically configured EtherCAT environment with “plug-and-play” compatibility. With the highest quality and performance of pre-integrated and pre-tested motion libraries, KINGSTAR delivers motion control at half the cost of traditional hardware platforms. Deliver Software-Only Motion Control and Positioning Systems Quickly and Affordably KINGSTAR Soft Motion is an open and standards-based, software-only solution that streamlines motor control and automation. Soft Motion runs directly on the PC, uses the NIC card for I/O, and uses the powerful EtherCAT protocol to free you from the shackles of proprietary and costly hardware. With Soft Motion, motion control engineers can design, develop and integrate PC-based machine controllers in a “plug-and-play” environment for consolidated, inexpensive and scalable motion and vision control.
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KINGSTAR Soft Motion - Data Sheet
POSTED 09/21/2015
KINGSTAR Soft Motion Platform - Product Brief
KINGSTAR products are designed for industrial machines requiring motion control and positioning systems. KINGSTARr’s all-software approach sets it apart from other machine control solutions. Using the EtherCAT standard; the power of Industrial PCs; and the Windows operating system, enhanced by hard real-time software that transforms Windows into a real-time operating system (RTOS), you can create software-only, PC-based machine controllers that lower the costs of industrial machines while delivering equal or better precision and performance.
KINGSTAR Soft Motion Platform
KINGSTAR Motion software replaces costly motion control boards such as those from ACS Motion, Aerotech, Galil and others. KINGSTAR Motion also supports CANOpen over EtherCAT further lowering the total costs.
Engineers customize the control system for their machine without facing the challenges of engineering real-time control threads required for high-speed precision. Engineers work exclusively in Windows in the "Open Loop" process and submit one or more commands to the motion kernel API, which handles the rest of the "Closed Loop" processing.
- Replaces expensive motion control hardware with lower cost motion software
- Provides APIs compatible with popular hardware motion cards
- Contains EtherCAT master and EtherCAT auto configuration
- Replaces proprietary network protocol and IO hardware with EtherCAT standard
- Enables use of EtherCAT-based servos which also offer lower cost
- All development can be done in Microsoft Visual Studio using managed code
Editions
KINGSTAR Soft Motion Pro
- Enables coordinated motion at 125 microsecond intervals
- Up to 3 cores for dedicated motion control
- Machine control API that delivers real-time precision and is 100% accessible from Windows Development Environment
KINGSTAR Soft Motion Entry
- Supports uncoordinated motion at 1 millisecond intervals
- 1 core for dedicated motion control
- Machine control API that delivers real-time precision and is 100% accessible from Windows Development Environment