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Stepper-Bee |
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Stepper motors are one of the most
useful devices in the world of control, automation and robotics. They form
the most convenient and versatile bridge between a set of motion rules in
a controller (computer) and the motion itself. They can be made to move
slowly, quickly, in reverse, pause, complete revolutions, partial
revolutions and even individual steps of less than a degree of rotation.
With this flexibility of movement coupled with an abundance of torque for
relatively little power applied, the stepper motor finds many suitable
applications. The downside to stepper motors is that they are not as simple to “drive” (electrically speaking) as simple DC motors, which just need the required volts and amps to do their bit. Stepper motors need a precise sequence of pulses delivered to the correct winding at the correct time in order to perform their required task. It would be nice if all you had to do was specify the number of steps to take , in what direction and at what speed and the stepper motor obliged. This is the function of the StepperBee USB adaptor board. |
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From the PC these requirements can be
specified and “sent” to the StepperBee via USB, which then generates the
precise sequence of pulses on the appropriate winding to move the stepper
motor accordingly. The StepperBee can accommodate two stepper motors
operating completely independently using this technique. For example one
stepper motor may be sent off to do 1000 steps clockwise at a rate of 1
step every 100ms followed by 100 steps anti-clockwise at 1 step per
minute, whilst at the same time motor 2 can be executing it’s own task
which might be to do 100 steps clockwise then anticlockwise in a
continuous repeating way at a rate of 1 step/sec. The StepperBee sorts out
the two motors pulse requirements and makes sure both motors are supplied
with the correct “drive” to perform the specified tasks. The ability to control two motors with independent tasks in this way opens up many possible application areas for the StepperBee which are not easily available with other stepper motor drives. Popular applications that take advantage of this are with x-y co-ordinate drive systems where one motor controls the X-position and one controls the Y. Specifying the appropriate sequence of tasks can produce some very elaborate positional oriented control systems. Since the StepperBee also has some digital inputs and outputs available for the users program to make use of, it is then possible for these to be used to control a third or 4th axis (albeit in a more simple way) for applications that could, for example, operate a solenoid on the X-Y positioned device. In this way “pick and place” type applications spring to mind. Similarly the StepperBee has a few digital inputs which are typically used to provide some form of feedback from the controlled device. For example a limit switch may be set at some known point and every so often the device could be made to move there until it “makes” the switch establishing to the computer exactly it’s position (i.e. datum point). |
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StepperBee comes with it’s own control program “AutoStep” which allows
even the complete beginner to quickly get up and running with stepper
motor control. It provides both manual and automatic sequence control of
any attached stepper motors without the need for any programming
knowledge. Click on the screen image to the right for a higher resolution
image. Connecting the stepper motors to StepperBee is very simple requiring just the 4 phase wires from each motor and a GND (0v) connection as shown below. |
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(Note: This is not a "kit of parts" , it is fully assembled and tested) |
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Compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista |
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To download a copy of the user manual for Stepper-Bee right click on the link on the right and choose "save target as". This will allow you to download a PDF copy of the manual . |
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You will need Adobe Reader installed on your PC to read this document. Adobe reader is available for free download from Adobe using the link to the right.. |
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© Copyright pc-control.co.uk 2008 |
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