Control Systems

We are offering three lines of control systems.

	The Simple Control Units (SCU) are stand-alone devices for small micropositioning systems. They should be chosen if a solution with a low cost-level is required for positioning of up to three positioners with sub-µm resolution. The HCU-3DM and CU-3DM controllers support control with feedback from microsensors.


The Modular Control System (MCS) is suitable for small and large micro- and nanopositioning systems. It is a good choice if sub-nm resolution is required or if large manipulation systems must be controlled.


	The Step Direction Control (SDC) is a low-level control system, which allows to move SmarAct’s positioners in a stepper motor like manner, but with a very high resolution and precision.

The main properties of the control systems are given in the following table.

Controler	SCU line	MCS line	SDC line
Step mode	yes	yes	yes
Scan mode	no	yes	yes
Resolution [nm]	~ 50	< 1	< 1
Microsensor	yes	yes	no
Nanosensor	no	yes	yes
Number of channels	1 or 3	n x 3	n x 1

The control lines SCU and MCS come with a USB-interface and a Windows^® software package consisting of a basic stand-alone control program as well as a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) and a LabVIEW® driver for the integration into your software. Alternatively, an RS-232 interface is available.
The SDC line does only need two TTL signals in order to set the direction and to command the motion.