stepper MOTOR basic control

[martin_uib]

Hi everyone, this is my first post so i'll try my best.

First of all i'll introduce myself a little bit.
I'm an Electronic Engineering Student doing it's final project. I have knowledge of microcontrollers, basics of motors, electronics in general but i haven't tried to make projects with ARDUINO until now.

My project is basically a robot arm. I have to design the entire robot arm, from the 3D design to the electronics system.

I recently have started trying to use stepper motors, i heard about them i knew how they work, but i'm having problems to drive them propertly.

I'm using DM556 Stepper DRIVERS (link DM556 datasheet) and an ARDUINO uno as the controller.
My aim now is to test the maximum torque-speed limitations of the motors.

So i'm using a NEMA 23, 3Nm torque, 4A of current stepper motor from the RTellingent manufacturer.
I couldn't find to much info about the motor of this particular seller but i found a similar version of STEPPER_ONLINE. ---> (NEMA 23 Datasheet)

My system scheme is added as an png image.

My code do this:

uint8_t [b]PULSE [/b]= 7;      
uint8_t [b]DIR [/b]= 8;

int [b]PD [/b]= 800;
bool [b]SetDIR [/b]= LOW;


void [b]setup[/b](){
  
  pinMode( PULSE, OUTPUT );
  pinMode( DIR, OUTPUT );
  
  digitalWrite(DIR, SetDIR);
 
  delay(100);
}       




void [b]loop[/b](){

    for(int i=0; i<6000; i++){

        digitalWrite(PULSE, HIGH);
        delayMicroseconds(PD);
        digitalWrite(PULSE, LOW);
        delayMicroseconds(PD);
    }
delay(1000);
}

So, the motor rotates 6000 microsteps, then wait 1s and repeat again.

The problem is that I want to provide more current to the motor, up to 4A aprox because I want to test the max torque that can handle.

I configured the motor and the driver same to the torque-speed curve provided in the datasheet of the motor, I used 32V, 4.9A of peak current, and 2000 microsteps.

Then if i run the code using a PD (Pulse Duration) of 1000 micros or whatever value, the driver stops working, a red light turns ON permanently until i switch OFF the Power Supply and tun it ON again.

I noticed that using less current configurations the motor works perfectly, but in fact it should be possible to drive it at higher current values.

I also found that while increasing the current limit i can't set high speeds . So i'm limited using low speeds if i want more current.

I don't know if this behaviour is normal or not, i would like your opinions about that please.

Thanks everyone, if someone needs more information i'll be posting it here.

[Robin2]

martin_uib:
So i'm using a NEMA 23, 3Nm torque, 4A of current stepper motor from the RTellingent manufacturer.

I don't know what that means.

If it means that you have a current limiting power supply then it may be fighting with the current limiting feature of the driver. I suggest you have a power supply that can easily provide more current than is required (perhaps 30% to 50% more) and just use the current limiting on the driver to protect the motor.

...R
Stepper Motor Basics
Simple Stepper Code

[martin_uib]

Well, i described the specs of the stepper motor that im using.

Maybe you are right and i have to test with another power supply. I foud that the one i use can provide me up to 5A.

Considering that the power supply it's not the problem, any other idea about what could be happening?

Thanks for your reply!!

[martin_uib]

OKEY... sorry guys i'm an idiot

I didn't set my power supply to withstand the 4 Amps and it was limiting the motor performance....

Now it seems that i can drive the motor propertly, but i'll test it anyway.

[Robin2]

martin_uib:
Well, i described the specs of the stepper motor that im using.

But you did not fully describe the part that I highlighted in bold in Reply #1

Anyway, glad to see you have it working.

...R

[MarkT]

martin_uib:
I'm using DM556 Stepper DRIVERS (link DM556 datasheet) and an ARDUINO uno as the controller.
My aim now is to test the maximum torque-speed limitations of the motors.

So i'm using a NEMA 23, 3Nm torque, 4A of current stepper motor from the RTellingent manufacturer.
I couldn't find to much info about the motor of this particular seller but i found a similar version of STEPPER_ONLINE. ---> (NEMA 23 Datasheet)

You saw this 36V curve for the "similar" motor? https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/download/23HP45-4204S_Torque_Curve.pdf

If it really is similar you can expect a similar curve when powered from 36V. The supply voltage strongly
affects the curve though, higher voltages give higher speeds before the torque drops off. And higher
supply voltages also means less current is needed from the supply (some will find this counter-intuitive,
but this is how stepper drivers work).

The current pulled from the supply is not the same as the current the motor gets.