1. SPiiPlus Training Class
ACSPL+ Overview

2. What is ACSPL+?
ACS Motion Control’s programming language, 2nd generation (+)
High level real-time scripting language built for motion control
But powerful enough for general computing!
Large command set includes both simple procedures and powerful motion operations
Supported in all SPiiPlus products

3. What Can ACSPL+ Do For You?
With ACSPL+ you can write a complicated motion algorithm in a few lines of code
2D raster scan
Electronic camming
Gantry control
Robot kinematics
High speed camera triggering
High speed position capture

4. What Can ACSPL+ Do For You?
That’s not all - with ACSPL+ you can handle general automation and signal processing.
PLC operations
High speed data collection
I/O debouncing
Real-time program scheduling
State machines
Data processing

5. How Does ACSPL+ Compare to C/C++?
C/C++ is a powerful general purpose computing language
With C/C++ you can do just about anything
The problem: you have to either find the libraries or explicitly code everything!
With ACSPL+ all the commands are at your fingertips!
No libraries to include / link
Simple compiling on the controller
No Main function!

6. How Does ACSPL+ Compare to C/C++?
Example: Enable a motor and move it a distance of 5000 units.
C / C++:
#include "MotionLibrary.h"
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
EnableMotor(0);
PointToPoint(0, 5000);
return 0; }
ACSPL+:
ENABLE 0
PTP 0, 5000
STOP

7. How Does ACSPL+ Compare to Other Motion Control Languages?
ACSPL+ uses commands with basic English syntax
Easy to understand by reading the code
ACSPL+ is powerful scripting language
Built-in features make logic control simple
ACSPL+ provides many of the basic features that programmers expect
Standard math order of operations and operators
Standard logical operators

8. How Does ACSPL+ Compare to Other Motion Control Languages?
Example: Enable a motor and move it a distance of 5000 units.
ACSPL+:
ENABLE 0
PTP 0, 5000
STOP
Galil Language:
SHA
PA 5000 BG EN
Parker AcroBASIC:
DRIVE ON X
MOV X5000
END

9. How Does ACSPL+ Compare to IEC-61131-3 Languages?
IEC defines 5 global languages used by PLCs
Global standard for PLCs
Very useful for logic control
Very difficult for multi-axis motion
Uses PLCopen function blocks for motion
ACSPL+ is powerful scripting language
Meant for multi-axis motion
Can interact with IEC languages via SPiiPlus soft PLC

10. How Do ACSPL+ Programs Run?
Sequential Language
Programs start at designated line or label
Executes one line of buffer code after another at controller cycle rate (CTIME)
Can execute more than 1 command per line
Can execute more than 1 line per controller cycle

11. How Do ACSPL+ Programs Run?
Starting by line number:
START 0, 1
START 0, 4
START 0, 9
START 0, 14
Starting by label:
START 0, START_POINT_1
START 0, START_POINT_2
START 0, JUMP_POINT

12. ACSPL+ General Features
Structured programming constructs (flow control statements)
IF statements, WHILE loops, subroutine CALL
Support for standard arithmetic operators * /
Support for standard logical operators >, <, =, <> (not equal), ^ (logical not), ~ (inversion)

13. ACSPL+ General Features

14. ACSPL+ General Features
Multiple commands per program line
Semicolon (;) separated
Program comments
Start with exclamation mark (!)
Firmware and user-defined variables
32-bit integers
64-bit floating point
Scalar, 1-D arrays, or 2-D arrays (zero indexing)
Global or local in scope

15. ACSPL+ General Features

16. ACSPL+ General Features
Standard math library
Trigonometric functions
Exponential and logarithmic functions
Power / square root
Basic array processing
Average, min, max functions
Basic signal processing
Dead-zone, edge detection, lag functions
Interpolation (linear, spline)

17. ACSPL+ General Features

18. ACSPL+ General Features
Robust motion programming support
Enable / Disable motors
3rd order (S-curve) motion generation
User-defined motion parameter units
On-the-fly motion parameter updates
Software position limits
Motion tracking
PT and PVT path motion
Error-mapping
Forward and inverse kinematics

19. ACSPL+ General Features

20. ACSPL+ General Features
Up to 64 independent program buffers
Separate storage for each buffer
Separate memory space for local variable declaration
Isolated environment for program editing / execution
Separate thread for concurrent execution
Independent autoroutine (interrupt) execution

21. ACSPL+ General Features
Program buffer synchronization
Mutual exclusion via global variables
WAIT and TILL commands
Real-time program scheduling
Guaranteed response time
Guaranteed execution time

22. ACSPL+ General Features

23. ACSPL+ General Features
Built-in safety control
Firmware defined fault handling routines
Support for user-defined fault handling routines
Simplified EtherCAT interface
Map EtherCAT PDOs to ACSPL+ variables
CoE read/write functions for Object Dictionary access

24. ACSPL+ General Features
Low level socket communications interface
Support for Ethernet and serial communications
Byte-level data manipulation
ASCII command support
High level host communication interface
Client-server model (host is client)
Support for asynchronous controller interrupts
C and COM library for multiple language support (C, C++, .NET, LabView)
Can do just about anything that can be done in ACSPL+