Microstepping Driver Kit

type="html">Stepper motors are a dream come true for many hobbyists. They are being used in robots, CNC routers, engraving machines, tilt & pan security cameras, hot wire foam cutters, telescope drive mechanisms and even Halloween animations. This versatile stepper motor driver has been designed to be both powerful and precise enough to work in all of these applications. It uses the Allegro/Sanken SLA7062M IC which combines low-power CMOS logic with high-current, high voltage power FET outputs. It is capable of handling motor winding currents of up to 3 AMPS per phase and it operates from a single supply voltage of 10-40 volts DC.

The microstepper drive works with any unipolar (6-wire) motor. Unlike traditional “R/L” unipolar drives that use power wasting series resistors, this circuit uses a Pulse Width Modulated "chopper" drive to deliver maximum power to your stepper motor with no dropping resistors. The motor current is fully adjustable from 500 mA to 3.0 Amps with an onboard potentiometer. The circuit also has an automatic current reduction feature that reduces motor current by 50% when the motor is idle for more than 2 seconds.



The drive accepts simple STEP & DIRECTION signals. The input signals are fully opto-isolated and can be easily interfaced to any control source including a Microchip PIC, an Atmel AVR or a PC parallel port. The input signals are directly compatible with all of the major CNC software packages when used with a PC parallel port. Two onboard jumpers allow you to select between half-step, quarter-step, eighth-step or sixteenth-step resolution.



This is a high performance microstepping drive for use with high torque stepper motors.



FEATURES:

* Dimensions - L: 4" W: 3" H: 2".

* Requires 10-40 Volt DC power supply.

* Selectable: half-step, quarter-steo, eighth-step or sixteenth-step.

* Idle current reduction: reduces motor current by 50% when idle.

* Internal 5V regulator onboard (No separate 5-volt supply required).

* Maximum step rate is over 200 kHz.

* Motor types: Works with all 6-wire unipolar. NEMA 17, 23 or 34 sizes.



SLA7062M data sheet: download