Motion and positioning

Drivers for precision motion and positioning: PI piezo nanopositioners, Attocube, Newport Picomotor, Thorlabs APT.

Overview

Quatm supports a wide range of motion platforms, from piezo nanopositioning to long-travel stepper motors, behind a unified IMultiaxisStage interface.

Physik Instrumente (PI) piezo nanopositioning

Overview

GenericPIController wraps serial communication with PI general-purpose controllers and controls a variety of PI piezo positioning platforms through the ASCII command set.

PI piezo controller E-xxx series

Communication	serial (RS232)
Protocol	PI ASCII command set
Axes	depends on controller model
Accuracy	sub-nanometre

Typical applications include fine focusing of high-NA objectives, automatic fibre coupling alignment, interferometer beam path adjustment and control of the beam waist position of optical dipole traps.

Driver module: GenericPIController

Initialization

from quatm.drivers.PhysikInstrumente.base import GenericPIController

# serial connection
stage = GenericPIController(conn="/dev/ttyUSB0")

# home
stage.home(axis=0)

# absolute positioning (µm)
stage.move_to(axis=0, position=50.0)

# Relative move
stage.move_by(axis=1, delta=10.0)

# query current position
pos = stage.get_position(axis=0)

Key methods

Method	Description
`home(axis)`	Home the specified axis
`move_to(axis, position)`	Absolute positioning (µm)
`move_by(axis, delta)`	Relative move (µm)
`get_position(axis)`	Query the current position
`stop(axis)`	Emergency stop

Device configuration

"objective_z": {
    "type": "local",
    "module": "drivers.PhysikInstrumente.base",
    "class": "GenericPIController",
    "arguments": {"conn": "/dev/ttyUSB0"},
}

Usage example

# In the Experiment class
self.pi_stage = self.get_device("pi_stage")

# Move to the target position (µm)
self.pi_stage.move_absolute(x=50.0, y=25.0, z=10.0)

# Relative move
self.pi_stage.move_relative(dx=1.0, dy=0.0, dz=0.0)

Note: piezo translation stages have a limited travel range, and exceeding it triggers hardware protection. Consult the device manual to confirm the maximum travel before use.

Thorlabs APT/Kinesis translation stages

KDC101 / K10CR1 series

KDC101 / K10CR1 / filter wheel Thorlabs APT/Kinesis

Communication	serial (FTDI)
Protocol	APT (binary)
Applicable devices	DC servo motors, stepper motors, filter wheels, shutters

A unified wrapper for Thorlabs APT protocol devices.

Driver module: BasicKinesisDevice

from quatm.drivers.Thorlabs.kinesis import BasicKinesisDevice
stage = BasicKinesisDevice(conn="27200001")
stage.home()
stage.move_to(position=25.0)    # mm

Elliptec piezoelectric resonant motors

ELLx series Thorlabs Elliptec

Communication	serial (9600 baud)
Travel	depends on slider
Accuracy	µm level

Compact piezoelectric resonant motors, suited to space-constrained optical mounts.

Driver module: ElliptecMotor

from quatm.drivers.Thorlabs.elliptec import ElliptecMotor
motor = ElliptecMotor(conn="/dev/ttyUSB0", addrs=[0])
motor.move_to(axis=0, position=10.0)

Motorized filter wheels FW102/FW212

from quatm.drivers.Thorlabs.serial import FW
fw = FW(conn="/dev/ttyUSB0")
fw.set_position(position=2)    # switch to filter position 2

KDC101 motorized translation stage

Control Thorlabs KDC101/T-Cube series motorized translation stages through the .NET SDK.

from quatm.drivers.thorlabs.kdc101 import KDC101

stage = KDC101("26001234")   # Serial number
stage.home()                  # Home
stage.move_absolute(10.0)     # Move to 10.0 mm
pos = stage.get_position()    # Read current position

Function	Description
Homing	Automatically seek the limit switch
Absolute move	Move to the specified position (mm)
Relative move	Move relative to the current position
Position readout	Read the current position in real time

Attocube ANC300 / ANC350 nanopositioning

ANC300 Attocube

Communication	TCP/IP (port 7230)
Axes	up to 7
Travel	mm range
Accuracy	nm range
Suitable for	cryogenic / vacuum

A modular nanopositioning controller, remotely controlled over TCP/IP. It is widely used for precise positioning of objectives and samples inside cryostats.

Driver module: ANC300

from quatm.drivers.Attocube.anc300 import ANC300

anc = ANC300(conn=("192.168.1.30", 7230))

# home
anc.home(axis=0)

# Nanometer-level step
anc.move_by(axis=0, delta=0.1)  # 100 nm

# Continuous scan mode
anc.set_continuous_mode(axis=1, enable=True)
anc.set_continuous_speed(axis=1, speed=100.0)  # nm/s

ANC350 Attocube (USB)

Communication	USB HID (PyUSB)
Axes	up to 3
Control	direct USB connection

USB variant, suited to desktop applications.

Driver module: ANC350

from quatm.drivers.Attocube.anc350 import ANC350

anc = ANC350(conn=0)  # First USB device
anc.move_to(axis=0, position=50.0)

Newport Picomotor 8742 4-axis controller

Picomotor 8742 Newport

Communication	USB (PyUSB) or TCP/IP Telnet (port 23)
Axes	4
Step size	< 30 nm
Vacuum compatible	optional

A piezoelectric inertial motor controller supporting direct USB or network control. Vacuum-compatible models can be used directly for adjusting optical elements inside a vacuum chamber.

Driver module: Picomotor8742

from quatm.drivers.Newport.picomotor import Picomotor8742

# USB connection
pico = Picomotor8742(conn=0)

# Or TCP/IP
pico = Picomotor8742(conn="192.168.1.40", multiaddr=(0, 1))

pico.move_to(axis=0, position=5.0)  # mm
pico.home(axis=0)

SmarAct MCS2 / SCU3D high-precision positioning

MCS2 SmarAct

Communication	native MCS2 SDK
Axes	up to 18
Accuracy	nm range
Speed	up to 20 mm/s
Vacuum/cryogenic	optional modules

A modular high-precision positioning system supporting coordinated multi-axis motion and complex trajectories.

Driver module: MCS2

from quatm.drivers.SmarAct.MCS2 import MCS2

mcs = MCS2(locator="usb:sn:12345678")
mcs.move_to(axis=0, position=10.0)  # mm
mcs.get_position(axis=0)

SCU3D SmarAct 3-axis

Communication	SCU3DControl SDK
Axes	3

An integrated 3-axis controller for confined spaces.

Driver module: SCU3D

from quatm.drivers.SmarAct.scu3d import SCU3D

scu = SCU3D(idx=0)
scu.move_to(axis=1, position=25.0)

Standa 8SMC stepper motor controllers

8SMC4 / 8SMC5 Standa

Communication	serial (115200 baud)
Axes	1–4
Step resolution	depends on motor/lead screw
Application	long-travel translation stages, rotation stages

An economical stepper motor controller, suited to long-travel coarse positioning on optical tables.

Driver module: Standa8SMC

from quatm.drivers.standa.base import Standa8SMC

stage = Standa8SMC(conn="/dev/ttyUSB0")
stage.move_to(position=50.0)  # mm
stage.home()

Arcus Performax multi-axis stepper control

Performax Arcus Technology

Communication	USB (DLL) or RS485 serial
Axes	up to 4
Features	acceleration/deceleration profiles, limit detection

A high-performance stepper motor controller providing smooth S-curve acceleration and deceleration.

Driver module: GenericPerformaxStage

from quatm.drivers.arcus.performax import GenericPerformaxStage

stage = GenericPerformaxStage(idx=0, conn="USB")
stage.move_to(axis=0, position=100.0)
stage.set_acceleration(axis=0, accel=50.0)   # mm/s²

Trinamic TMCM-1110 integrated stepper motor

TMCM-1110 Trinamic

Communication	serial (9600 baud, TMCL protocol)
Features	StallGuard stall detection, CoolStep energy saving

An integrated stepper motor module with a built-in controller and driver. Suited to simple rotation/translation tasks and beam path shutters.

Driver module: TMCM1110

from quatm.drivers.trinamic.base import TMCM1110

motor = TMCM1110(conn="/dev/ttyUSB0")
motor.move_to(position=180.0)  # Rotation (°)
motor.set_velocity(500.0)      # °/s

Generic motion platform configuration

"objective_z": {
    "type": "local",
    "module": "drivers.Attocube.anc300",
    "class": "ANC300",
    "arguments": {"conn": ("192.168.1.30", 7230)},
}

Multi-axis coordination

All io.multiaxisstage drivers support independent axis mapping. The muxaxis tool can combine physical axes into a logical coordinate system, enabling advanced features such as tilt correction and coordinate transformation.