How to interface with a MBC25081 Bipolar Microstep Driver

[redtank]

First time poster here,
I recently purchased a 34Y004S stepper motor from Anaheim Automation for a project at work. This motor is a high torque 8 wire unit, and I planned on using it wired as a unipolar motor. I built my own motor driver based on knowledge gained from this forum, and it works...so so. Decided to go with AA' MBC25081, which will require me to wire the motor in series (bipolar), but am not sure how to interface my Arduino with controllers inputs which are as follow:

1. SW3  Direction
2. Clock
3. SW4 On/off
4. SW2 MS2 (used with MS1 to micro and half step with open or closed)
5. SW1 MS1
6. VIN
7. GND

Hook up can be: Sinking or Sourcing

Looking at their schematic: http://www.anaheimautomation.com/products/stepper/stepper-driver-item.php?sID=56&serID=3&pt=i&tID=87&cID=20
I'm thinking of going with the Sourcing plan. All the above listed items are understandable with the exception of #2 Clock. Would I send a digital pulse to this to this input to get it to pulse the motor, assuming the Arduino GND is connected to terminal 7 (GND) on the controller? If not, can someone recommend another approach? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Cris

[marzetti]

The data sheet is a bit confusing. The driver's data sheet is showing the direction input being switched but that is rather unusual.  It is a step and direction type driver so if you were using the Stepper library you would use the 2 pin example using input 1 for direction and input 2 for step.  The tutorial on the Arduino website is not very clear in my opinion so you may find this tutorial easier to follow: http://danthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/easydriver-v31-tutorial.html.
It is written for the EasyDriver board but the connections are basically the same.
You didn't say exactly what sort of application you have but if there is any significant load involved you may need to use a library that implements acceleration such as AccelStepper.
And yes, you will need to connect the ground to the Arduino.

[redtank]

Yankee,
Okay, I visited danthompsonsblog and read up on how the Easydriver 4.2 is being used, also studied the code (code didn't use stepper.h library). With all that, I will do a three pin connection: one to "clock", two to "direction" and three, "gnd" to "gnd". I'm assuming the "clock" on the MBC25081 is the equivalent to "step" on an Easydriver board.

My application is to pull flat wire off a 10 lb. coil and feed it into a cut off mechanism. The stepper motor turns a drive roll that pulls on the wire. The wire is held against the drive roll with a urethane roll...sort of a pinching process. The motor has to have the torque for all this, but I feel the one I chose is up to the task, with 467 oz-in of torque. My decision to go with the factory MBC25081 is to insure I don't short change the motor, causing damage with a short life span. I'm undecided as to what I'm going to use as a power source, either a 12v SLA battery (with charger) or a high wattage PC switching power supply. The cut off machine must provide 10K parts per 8 hour shift, so reliability is a must.

Thank you,
Cris

[marzetti]

Yes, "clock" would be equivalent to "step". The motor should be more than adequate for your application but accelerating a 10 lb. spool from rest could cause missed steps without an acceleration ramp so, again, I would recommend AccelStepper.  Given the continuous duty of your application I would question the choice of power supply. An unregulated supply for the motor would be more reliable than a switching supply and use a small 5 V supply for the logic.
Also, motor torque would be maximized at a higher voltage so I would go with a 24 V supply. Something like this: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=6621+PS.

Good luck with your project.

[redtank]

Yankee,
Thanks for the tips regarding the linear power supply and AccelStepper library, I'll give both a shot.

Cris

[marzetti]

Cris-
Glad to help. I'm interested in low cost industrial automation myself so I'd be interested in seeing the finished project.

Greg