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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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Aerospace and Agriculture Aerospace , Agriculture , Automotive , Building Products/Materials , Electric Power Generation , Electronics/Electrical Components , Factory Automation , Food & Beverage , Machine Tool , Medical Devices , Military/Defense , Mining , Motion Control Component Manufacturing , Office Equipment , Packaging , Robotics , Semiconductor , Textile/Apparel , and Wood Products/Lumber

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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

July 22-23, 2025
Hyatt Regency, Minneapolis, MN

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