Precision Motion Controllers and Drivers for Positioning Systems

Servo Motors, Stepper Motors, Brushless Motors, Linear Motors and Piezo Motors

PI provides a large variety of hardware & software solutions for high precision motion control. Our portfolio spans from integrated compact single axis servo controllers / drivers, such as popular Mercury-class motion controllers, to complex multi-axis systems for parallel-kinematics positioners, such as hexapods. 

Examples of Custom Motion Systems / Precision Automation

Choose from a Product Group below, or scroll to see all Product Groups

ACS Advanced Industrial Controllers 
PI recently acquired the majority shares of ACS Motion Control. Together with ACS, a plethora of controllers and drivers for virtually any type of motor drive can be offered: three phase, DC, brushless, stepper, ultrasonic, piezo-stick-slip, piezo-walk, linear-servo, high-speed voice coil, and, of course, piezo controllers for flexure-guided precision nano-positioners. 

OEM cards, rack-mount solutions and custom motion controllers with hundreds of axes are available. 

Flexible Motion Controller System for Servo, Stepper, and Piezo Motors

C-885 PIMotionMaster Flexible Multi-Axis Motion Controller
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C-885 PIMotionMaster Flexible Multi-Axis Motion Controller
  • Hosts modules for different drive technologies: servo motors, piezo step motors, ultrasonic motors
  • Scalable – grows with the application
  • Plug-and-play installation
  • Easy configuration and start-up
  • Space and cost-saving

Motion Controllers for Stepper Motors

C-663 Mercury™ Step Controller
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C-663 Mercury™ Step Controller
1-Axis, Networkable, for Stepper-Motors
  • High performance stepper motion control at low cost
  • 2,048 microstep resolution for very smooth motion
  • Open loop and closed loop operation
  • Network capability for multi-axis applications
  • Compatible and networkable with Mercury™ controllers
  • Joystick port for manual control

Precision Motion Controllers for Closed-Loop Positioning Systems

with Brushless (BLDC), Brushed, 3-Phase, and Voice Coil Motors

C-863 Mercury Servo Controller
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C-863 Mercury Servo Controller
For DC-Motors, Network Feature
  • High performance precision motion control at low Cost
  • 20 MHz encoder input for high speed & resolution
  • Macro programmable stand-alone functionality
  • Integrated servo power amp supplies up to 30 W
  • Data recorder
  • Network capability for multi-axis applications
C-884 PID Precision Servo Motor Controller
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C-884 PID Precision Servo Motor Controller
Cost Efficient, 6-Axis / 4-Axis
  • Position feedback: incremental and absolute-measuring encoders (no referencing)
  • Motor types: brushless servo motors and traditional DC motors
  • Trapezoidal velocity profile
  • Point-to-point motion, vector motion, user-definable trajectories
  • Powerful Python macro command language, nonvolatile storage for stand-alone operation
  • Data recorder for detailed motion system analysis
C-891 Compact Motion Controller for 3-Phase Brushless Motors
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C-891 Compact Motion Controller for 3-Phase Brushless Motors
Linear and Torque Motors
  • Designed for sine-commuted 3-phase linear and rotary motors
  • Automatic detection of the motor phase
  • 20 kHz control bandwidth
  • Digital inputs and outputs
  • A/B digital or analog (sin/cos) encoder signals
  • BiSS interface for absolute encoders
C-413 Compact Voice Coil Motion Controller
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C-413 / C-414 Compact Voice Coil Motion Controller
1 & 2 Axis, Optional Force Control
  • 1 or 2 motor channels
  • Up to 4 sensor channels for 2 force and 2 position sensors each
  • Servo update rate to 10kHz
  • TCP/IP, USB, SPI interface
  • A/B digital or analog (sin/cos) encoder signals
  • Extensive software support

Advanced Motion Controllers for 3-Phase Motors and Air Bearing Stages

These high performance controllers feature state of the art ACS SPiiPlusEC motion control modules and EtherCAT® master, and includes ServoBoost™ for up to eight axes of motion. ServoBoost™ provides better, more consistent servo performance that is insensitive to noise or (load) changes in the system.

This series of motion controllers from PI offers a completely integrated electronics solution, with controller, drives, and power supplies packaged together. The A-81x is in a compact 19-inch rack-mount enclosure for 1, 2, or 4 axes of motion, while the slightly larger A-82x is capable of controlling 4, 6, or 8 axes. These controllers are designed and optimized to work with the PIglide line of air bearing stages which feature direct drive linear and rotary servo motors and high resolution encoders.
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A-824/6/8 PIglide Motion Controller
High Power: 4, 6 & 8 Motion Axes
  • Fully integrated closed-loop servo, amplifier module & power supplies
  • 2000 W continuous, 3900 W peak
  • 3-Phase BLDC / voice coil / DC
  • Quiet PWM drives
  • Sine/cosine and BiSS-C encoders
  • 20A peak output current/axis
This series of motion controllers from PI offers a completely integrated electronics solution, with controller, drives, and power supplies packaged together. The A-81x is in a compact 19-inch rack-mount enclosure for 1, 2, or 4 axes of motion, while the slightly larger A-82x is capable of controlling 4, 6, or 8 axes. These controllers are designed and optimized to work with the PIglide line of air bearing stages which feature direct drive linear and rotary servo motors and high resolution encoders.
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A-811/2/4 PIglide Motion Controller
Compact: 1, 2 & 4 Motion Axes
  • Fully integrated closed-loop servo, amplifier module & power supplies
  • 600W power supply
  • 3-phase BLDC / voice coil / DC
  • Quiet PWM drives
  • Sine/cosine and BiSS-C encoders
  • 10A Peak output current/axis
A-811 PIglide Motion Controller 1-Axis Benchtop Version
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A-811 PIglide Motion Controller
1-Axis Benchtop Version
  • Fully-integrated servo-controller with drive
  • Compact benchtop device, external AC/DC-P/S
  • For 3-phase / voice coil / DC motors
  • Quiet PWM drives
  • Sine/cosine and BiSS-C encoders
  • Functional safety: STO (Safe Torque Off)
An advanced algorithm called ServoBoost™ in ACS motion controllers automatically adapts the servo settings to load changes in real time.
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Motion Controller Adapts to Different Loads in Real Time: ServoBoost™ from ACS

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An advanced algorithm called ServoBoost™ in ACS motion controllers automatically adapts the servo settings to load changes in real time.

Motion Controllers for Ultrasonic Piezo Motors

C-877 Compact Low Cost Controller
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C-877 Compact Low Cost Controller
For Ultrasonic Motors
  • Low cost single axis version
  • Proprietary PID servo control for ultrasonic direct drive motors with dynamic parameter switching
  • Data recorder
  • Macro programming language, for automation and stand-alone operation
C-867 Closed-Loop Controller / Driver
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C-867 Closed-Loop Controller / Driver
For High-Speed Ultrasonic Piezo Linear Motors
  • Optimized for PILine® ultrasonic piezo linear motors
  • High-bandwidth encoder inputs allow high speed and resolution
  • PID servo motion control with dynamic parameter switching
  • Integrated piezo motor power driver
  • USB, RS-232 and analog interfaces (e.g. for joystick)
  • 4 + 4 programmable TTL-I/Os for flexible automation

Stick-Slip Piezo Motor Controller / Drivers for Q-Motion Positioners and PiezoMike Actuators

E-871.1A1N Servo Controller
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E-873 Servo Controller
For Closed-Loop Piezo-Ratchet Actuators / Q-Motion Stages
  • Integrated power amplifier and voltage generator for piezo inertia drives
  • TCP/IP,  USB, RS-232
  • Extensive software support: LabVIEW, MATLAB, C / C++ / C# / VB.NET, Python
  • Optional joystick for manual operation
E-871 / E-872 Stick-Slip Piezo Driver/Controller
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E-872 Stick-Slip Piezo Driver/Controller
For Open-Loop Piezo-Ratchet Actuators / Q-Motion Stages
  • Integrated power amplifier and voltage generator for piezo inertia drives
  • OEM driver available
  • Serial control of up to 4 stages and actuators by one unit
  • TCP/IP, USB, USB for joystick, digitial I/O

PiezoWalk® Motor Controllers

The controller features a high-speed servo (50kHz update rate) and also includes a data recorder and a wave generator. The comprehensive software package comes with LabVIEW drivers and shared libraries for Windows and Linux. Multiple interfaces such as TCP/IP, USB, RS-232, are installed as well as eight digital I/Os for trigger functions and external synchronization.
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E-712.1AM Precision Motion Controller
For NEXLINE® Nanopositioning Linear Motors
  • Special motion control algorithms for NEXLINE®nanopositioning linear drives
  • Ultra-Fast servo: 50kHz update rate
  • 32-bit digital filters
  • Highly stable 20-bit D/A converter
  • Fully programmable low-pass and notch filters
  • Non-volatile user settings and last-position data
  • PI General Command Set compatible
E-861 Networkable Motion Controller/Driver
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E-861 Networkable Motion Controller/Driver
For NEXACT® Linear Drive Nano-Positioners
  • Precision motion control for NEXACT® drives and positioning systems
  • Complete system with controller, integrated power amplifiers and software
  • Open-loop operation, or closed-loop with linear encoder
  • High performance at low cost
  • Daisy-chain networking for multi-axis operation
  • Non-volatile macro storage for stand-alone functionality with autostart macro
E-862 Low-Cost NEXACT® Piezo Motor Driver
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E-862 Low-Cost NEXACT® Piezo Motor Driver
  • For NEXACT® piezo motor drives & nano positioning Stages
  • Combined step generator and power amplifier
  • Cost-effective design
  • Interface for automation, joystick for manual operation