National Instruments provides a wide range of motion hardware products featuring support for thousands of servo/stepper/piezo actuators, advanced data acquisition and vision synchronization, and easy-to-use software. Hardware options include centralized (plug-in) controllers for PCI and CompactPCI/PXI; distributed controllers for CANopen; custom controllers for National Instruments CompactRIO, Compact FieldPoint, and M Series DAQ devices; and a variety of servo/stepper drives and breakout interfaces.
Take a 15-minute online tutorial on motion control
Motion Controllers
Centralized (Plug-In) Controllers
| Distributed Controllers
| Custom Controllers
| Servo Drives
| Stepper Drives
Centralized (Plug-In) NI 73xx Motion Controllers
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NI 733x Stepper Controller
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NI 734x Servo/Stepper Controller
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NI 735x Servo/Stepper Controller
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| Description |
2, 4 |
2, 4 |
2, 4, 6, 8 |
| PAC Platforms |
PCI, CompactPCI/PXI |
PCI, CompactPCI/PXI |
PCI, CompactPCI/PXI |
| Linear, Circular, Spherical, and Helical Interpolation; Blending |
• |
• |
• |
| Trapezoidal, S-Curve Profiles |
• |
• |
• |
| Closed-Loop Stepper Control |
• |
• |
• |
| Contouring, Electronic Gearing, On-Board Programming |
– |
• |
• |
| Sinusoidal Commutation for Brushless Servo Motors |
– |
– |
• |
| Buffered Breakpoints, Buffered High-Speed Capture, 4 MHz Periodic Breakpoints |
– |
– |
• |
| Number of Axes per 62.5 µs PID Rate |
- |
1 |
2 |
| PWM Lines/DIO Lines/Analog Input Resolution |
2/32/- |
2/32/12-bit |
2/64/16-bit |
| Maximum Step Output Rate/Encoder Input Rate |
4 MHz/20 MHz |
4 MHz/20 MHz |
8 MHz/20 MHz |
| Programming API |
NI-Motion Driver |
NI-Motion Driver |
NI-Motion Driver |
| Software |
NI Motion Assistant, NI LabVIEW, C, Visual Basic |
NI Motion Assistant, NI LabVIEW, C, Visual Basic |
NI Motion Assistant, NI LabVIEW, C, Visual Basic |
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Distributed NI SoftMotion Controllers
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NI SoftMotion Controller for Copley CANopen
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| Supported Intelligent Drives |
Accelnet and Xenus from Copley Controls |
| Maximum Number of Axes |
15 |
| PAC Platforms |
PCI, CompactPCI/PXI |
| Linear, Circular, Spherical, and Helical Interpolation; Blending |
• |
| Trapezoidal, S-Curve Profiles
|
• |
| Contouring, Electronic Gearing, On-Board Programming
|
• |
| Buffered Breakpoints, Buffered High-Speed Capture, 4 MHz Periodic Breakpoints |
- |
| Communication Interface |
NI-CAN Interface Device (included with NI SoftMotion Controller for CANopen) |
| Supervisory Control and Trajectory Generation Execution Target |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS (run-time engine included) |
| PID Execution Target |
On Drive |
| Programming API |
NI-Motion Driver |
| Software |
NI Motion Assistant, NI LabVIEW, C, Visual Basic |
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Custom Motion Controllers with NI SoftMotion Development Module
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FPGA-Based with NI CompactRIO
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FPGA-Based with NI R Series
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RTOS-Based with NI Compact FieldPoint
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RTOS-Based with NI M Series
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| Number of Axes |
6 per 3 Mgates FPGA |
2 per 1 Mgates FPGA 6 per 3 Mgates FPGA |
2 per 1 Mgates FPGA 4 per 2 slots |
2 per slot |
| PAC Platforms |
NI CompactRIO |
PCI and CompactPCI/PXI (with NI 78xx and/or NI CompactRIO Expansion Chassis) |
NI Compact FieldPoint |
PCI, CompactPCI/PXI |
| Supervisory Control and Trajectory Generation Execution Target |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS/RTX |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS |
| PID Execution Target |
LabVIEW FPGA |
LabVIEW FPGA |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS |
LabVIEW Real-Time ETS |
| PID Rate |
200 kHz |
200 kHz |
200 Hz per axis |
1 kHz per axis |
| Programming API |
Custom API with NI SoftMotion Development Module |
Custom API with NI SoftMotion Development Module |
Custom API with NI SoftMotion Development Module |
Custom API with NI SoftMotion Development Module |
| Software |
NI LabVIEW |
NI LabVIEW |
NI LabVIEW |
NI LabVIEW |
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Servo Drives and Breakout Interfaces
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NI MID-7652 Drive
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NI MID-7654 Drive
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NI UMI-7772/4 Universal Motion Interface
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NI UMI-7764 Universal Motion Interface
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| Type |
Brushed DC Drive |
Brushed DC Drive |
Connects to Any Third-Party Brushed and Brushless DC Drives |
Connects to Any Third-Party Brushed and Brushless DC Drives |
| Number of Axes |
2 |
4 |
2 or 4 |
4 |
| Connectivity to Motion Controller/strong> |
68-Pin Direct Cable |
68-Pin Direct Cable |
68-pin Direct Cable |
68-Pin Direct Cable |
| Connectivity to Drive |
- |
- |
D-Sub to Pigtail Cable |
Screw Terminals |
| Maximum Continuous Current |
5 A |
5 A |
- |
- |
| Maximum Peak Current |
10 A |
10 A |
- |
- |
| Isolation |
- |
- |
• |
- |
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Stepper Drives
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NI MID-7602
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NI MID-7604
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NI UMI-7772/4 Universal Motion Interface
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NI UMI-7764 Universal Motion Interface
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| Type |
2-Phase Stepper Drive |
2-Phase Stepper Drive |
Connects to Any Third-Party 2- or 5-Phase Stepper Drives |
Connects to Any Third-Party 2- or 5-Phase Stepper Drives |
| Number of Axes |
2 |
4 |
2 or 4 |
4 |
| Connectivity to Motion Controller |
68-Pin Direct Cable |
68-Pin Direct Cable |
68-Ppin Direct Cable |
68-Pin Direct Cable |
| Connectivity to Drive |
- |
- |
D-Sub to Pigtail Cable |
Screw Terminals |
| Maximum Current Per Phase |
1.4 A |
1.4 A |
- |
- |
| Isolation |
- |
- |
• |
- |
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