Re: Timers and Stepper Motor Control
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:07 am
Hi Peter,
Yes, if it was just for my pleasure I would go straight to a dedicated stepper driver. However I am working on a prototype that will be manufactured in reasonably large numbers, so what might be a small cost difference for hobby purposes can become significant. Still, when you look at the loss of I/O opportunities in using so many pins for that purpose, the decision is not so straight forward.
A single 8-bit shift register and a single ULN2803 Darlington array will drive two stepper motors, and require only two GPIOs. I think that would be hard to beat cost-wise, but the decision is not made yet.
All good clean fun.
Murray
Yes, if it was just for my pleasure I would go straight to a dedicated stepper driver. However I am working on a prototype that will be manufactured in reasonably large numbers, so what might be a small cost difference for hobby purposes can become significant. Still, when you look at the loss of I/O opportunities in using so many pins for that purpose, the decision is not so straight forward.
A single 8-bit shift register and a single ULN2803 Darlington array will drive two stepper motors, and require only two GPIOs. I think that would be hard to beat cost-wise, but the decision is not made yet.
All good clean fun.
Murray