The STEP controller comes with the NRMKPlatform SDK, a software framework designed for developing real-time control applications in a Linux/Xenomai environment, which operates on a hard real-time OS. For engineers less familiar with Linux, a development environment running on MS Windows® is also available to support embedded control application development.

STEP is integrated with EtherLab, a proven open-source EtherCAT master stack used for multi-axis synchronized, high-speed real-time distributed control. It supports the development of standard EtherCAT-based real-time control applications via a CoE (CANopen-over-EtherCAT) protocol-based programming interface. Additionally, software tools are provided for the automatic generation of basic CoE-based application code. To support the connection of various devices, STEP includes RS485 and CAN interfaces as standard ports. The NRMKPlatform SDK also provides real-time CAN functionality and integrates the open-source CANOpen framework software, CanFestival, for developing CAN-based applications.

STEP2 is the default controller for real-time control in the Indy lineup, running 4kHz model-based impedance control algorithms. For advanced research and development, STEP3 offers enhanced performance, enabling the development of algorithms based on high-speed deep learning inference computation.