ACS Motion Control, an international manufacturer of advanced multi-axis motion controllers and integrated control modules, has developed a low-cost, small-footprint approach to complete machine control. Designated the SPiiPlus LF-CM, the machine controller provides multi-axis integrated control and up to 64 additional nodes (axes or I/O) via CANOpen network extension in a fraction of the footprint size of other products on the market. The controller includes a full PLC, programmable in any of the standard 5 IEC61131-3 languages with an update rate of 1ms. The SPiiPlus LF-CM is ideal for cost-sensitive multi-axis systems where space is at a premium including biomedical, wafer handling and inspection laboratories, factory automation machinery and servo control applications. "Other competing low-cost, low footprint controllers typically have dedicated low-cost SW packages, whereas the SPiiPlus LF-CM provides the same high-performance, motion-oriented SW platform seen in all of our SPiiPlus controllers," said Jason Goerges, applications engineer at ACS Motion Control. "With the SPiiPlus family, ACS offers customers several total machine control solutions. The machine control methodology incorporates high-performance motion control along with the ability to access and manipulate many I/O points and axes, combining the performance of a dedicated multi-axis servo controller and the flexibility of a PLC." The SPiiPlus LF-CM amplifiers utilize a bus voltage of 60V DC and have a maximum output voltage of 53V. With a continuous output current of 4A per axis, the controller provides uncompromised accurate machine control. The controller has a fully automatic drive protection and controls 1 and 3 phase motors and 2-phase/stepper motors with encoders. The machine controller features interface capabilities with many of ACS SPiiPlus' accessories including HSSI I/O modules, HSSI external drive modules and HSSI absolute encoder modules. Design-in of the SPiiPlus LF-CM is simple with the use of ACS' terminal breakout kits and din-rail mounting kits. The controller comes with a free complete software package and is available to download right from ACS' website. www.acsmotioncontrol.com.