Can i use Arduino to control a driver for a stepping motor?
Standalone, so i can program i cycle into the board and the use it stanalone to execute the cycle?
greets, Rob
Hello Rob,
Yes it's possible, the main problem is the power interface and the driving circuit. I use L297, L298 couple to drive a CNC milling machine with an Arduino board. You can use other components, take a look at : http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/motorstepdriver.htm.
If you use unipolar steppermotors ( 5 or 6 wires) you can control them very easily with the UCN5804B chip. Just two digital outs are needed to control a motor, one for direction and one for stepping.
Unfortunately the UCN5804 is a bit expensive.
Unipolar stepper motors can be scavenged from old 5 1/4 "" floppy diskdrives if you can get some of them.
Some small inkjet printers also have them, but most use bipolar stepper motors (4 wires)
MikMo
do unipiolare stepmotors have any advantage compared to bipolar types?
Bipolars are better. Unipolars are cheap and easy to control. Bipolars are smoother, etc etc etc.
But for tiny apps unipolars are good. It shouldnt matter until you get up to the level that you're actually checking the oz/in power of the stepper.
For years worth of discussion on stepper motor drivers, including these chips, see the CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroup.com
These guys build serious machinery, mostly controlled by PC's, under Windoze and Linux.
regards-
Elliot
Hello Rob,
Yes it's possible, the main problem is the power interface and the driving circuit. I use L297, L298 couple to drive a CNC milling machine with an Arduino board. You can use other components, take a look at : http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/motorstepdriver.htm.
Any recommended driver for a bipolar?
Thanks!
ñeurascenic
Controller as in chip? As in board? Depends on what you need (sorry for the lame answer).
If you need to make your 2 oz robot move a wheel or manipulator.. well you could program a little Uc. Or a million othere ways. If you need to cnc control a desktop metalworking mill you need a lot more.
Go check out Xylotex controllers. Theyre what i use on my minimill and theyre Very good (only downside of them is that theres little/no circuit protection. So if you hook up the wrong wire to the wrong stepper lead.. bang)
cdreid,
Yea, I am thinking of something like a mill. I want to hack together a simple X,Y positioning table made from stripped down scanners. Later, mayber even add a Z to it.
I want to control it directly from my CAD app. It looks as though the L297, L298 are what I am looking for. But I shall check out your Xylotex controllers too.
Thanks for the reply,
ñ