An extension of the traditional ball and beam system into a ball and plate system is constructed using two magnetic suspension actuators for two degree of freedom control. System characteristics of the mathematical model with control configuration are developed. For control performance, a single‐chip microprocessor, serving as control kernel with basic electronic components, is designed and implemented. According to the backstepping control design procedure, the proposed controller is fabricated and tested. Several scenarios of dynamic operation, including oscillatory stabilization and circular trajectory tracking are tested to verify the system performance and capability.