Tutorial
Technical Notes
Motion Control Solutions for Research and Industrial Environments
With 50 years of experience in delivering a wide array of high-performance motion solutions and systems into research and industrial environments, Newport has a motion control solution for almost any application. Newport controllers like the XPS are driving innovative motion systems on the leading edge of the semiconductor evolution to 450 mm wafer process. At the same time, compact Newport CONEX controllers are driving miniature stages and actuators in portable diagnostic equipment, advancing care in the Life and Health Sciences. The ESP301 continues to be an industry standard for Research and Development.
Selecting a Motion Controller
Newport ESP technology has been developed to make Newport stages and actuators effectively plug-and-play when used with compatible Newport controllers. The XPS Universal Motion contrroller has been developed with a configuration wizard utility for integrating third party stages and actuators and can be used with a variety of motor types, including: Linear, DC Servo, Stepper, Piezo, Voice Coils, and Galvos. This XPS also includes many Analog and Digital I/O for integration of supporting instrumentation.
| Series |
Number of Axis |
ESP Stage Detection |
Display |
Compatible Motors |
Communications |
I/O |
 |
XPS Series Universal High-Performance Motion Controller/Driver |
1 to 8 |
Yes |
Remote, GUI |
*DC, Brushless DC, Stepper, Peizo, Galvo and Voice coil |
Ethernet |
4 Analog In, 4 Analog Out
30 TTL In, 30 TTL Out |
 |
Hexapod 6-Axis Parallel Kinematic Positioning System |
6 |
Yes |
GUI |
HXP-MECA |
Ethernet |
4 Analog In, 4 Analog Out
30 TTL In, 30 TTL Out |
 |
ESP301 Series 3 Axis Motion Controller/Driver |
1 to 3 |
Yes |
Front Panel, GUI |
DC and Stepper |
USB, RS232, IEEE-488.1 |
16 TTL I/O |
 |
CONEX Controllers with integrated Stages/Actuators |
1 |
Yes |
GUI |
DC or Stepper |
USB |
No |
 |
SMC100 Single-Axis Motor Controller/Driver |
1 |
Yes |
Remote, GUI |
DC or Stepper |
USB, RS232 |
1 Analog In
4 TTL In, 4 TTL Out |
 |
NewStep Expandable Motion Controller System |
1 (up to 8 with NSC-SB) |
Configurable |
GUI |
Small Stepper |
USB, RS232 |
No |
 |
NanoPZ PZC200 Controller |
1 (up to 8 with PZC-SB) |
Preconfigured |
GUI |
PZA12 Piezo Motor |
USB, RS232 |
No |
 |
Agilis™ Motion Controllers |
2 (up to 8 on AG-UC8) |
Preconfigured |
GUI |
Agilis Piezo Motor |
USB |
No |
 |
NPC3/NPC3SG 3-channel Piezo Amplifier |
3 |
No |
Front Panel |
Piezo stack |
USB, RS232 |
1 Analog In, 1 Analog Out |
 |
Intelligent Picomotor™ (iPico™) Modules |
1 to 3 |
No |
Remote |
Picomotor Piezo |
RS485, Ethernet |
No |
 |
Open-Loop Picomotor™ Controller/Driver Module |
1 to 4 |
No |
Remote |
Picomotor Piezo |
USB 2.0, 10/100 Ethernet |
No |
 |
TTL/Analog Picomotor™ Driver |
1 |
No |
No |
Picomotor Piezo Motor |
No |
1 Analog In
4 TTL In |
* Drivers for each motor type must be purchased separately. The XPS-DRV00P is required to control the drivers of 3rd-party galvos and voice coil motors.
Additional XPS Motion Controller Capabilities
- Advanced synchronized motion and contouring
- Advanced trajectories
- Advanced error compensation
- Advanced events and triggers
- Advanced data acquisition and position capture
Additional ESP301 Motion Controller Capabilities
- Advanced synchronized motion and contouring
- Basic trajectories
- Basic error compensation
- Basic events and triggers