Dear All,
I have designed PCB for controlling 18 stepper motor using A4988 stepper driver (Purchased from here: Stepstick A4988 Stepper Driver Module Stepstick A4988 Stepper Driver Module ).
And in PCB i want all 18 drivers to be mounted on single PCB having ports for connecting to Motor and Arduino. Please review my PCB design link given below:
Please review it and let me know what improvement could be made and any problem in PCB design also could this PCB traces handle current of 2 Amps & how do i check it?, so that i can give it for final printing.
If you know that you have it all wired correctly, I would suggest that you try and make your traces a little thicker wherever possible. I would also recommend that you and try to make the traces connecting to the via's 45 degrees.
Oh, and also I am pretty sure the capacitors are supposed to be directly next to the modules.
Ok.. actually i have use auto router tool available on easyEDA will manually correct component location and traces. One more thing i want to add is this PCB can handle the current that stepper motor draw (Each motor will draw 2 Amps of current) and how i could check it?
I couldn't find the whole layout on your link so I'll give some general advice.
The low cost prototype houses only provide 1 oz copper. A typical commercial design is 2 oz. I realize that means nothing to you, but the current capability is somewhat low.
Your VIAS have lower capacity that the tracks. You should increase the drill size of the VIA and use multiples for higher current traces.
I mean no offence but looking at how you placed the capacitors and your questions I would think your component layout needs some attention. If I could see the whole board I could make more suggestions.
Keep in mind, at 2 amps each and 18 drivers you have the potentials for some very high currents. Layouts like these take a lot of component placement planning.
What you want to do here is not a trivial task for the hobbyist.
