Smooth Continuous Motion w/ Stepper Motor Shield v2

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fablabep
 
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Smooth Continuous Motion w/ Stepper Motor Shield v2

Post by fablabep »

I'm unable to get continuous motion using the Stepper Motor Shield. No matter what speed I run the motor at it is start/stop movement. How can I get smooth continuous movement? Same stepper running on either the grblShield or the EiBoard works fine and turns continuously.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Smooth Continuous Motion w/ Stepper Motor Shield v2

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

What motor and power supply are you using?

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fablabep
 
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Re: Smooth Continuous Motion w/ Stepper Motor Shield v2

Post by fablabep »

Using this stepper from Evil Mad Scientist (http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/produc ... 87-stepper) and a 12V regulated switching power supply for the shield. Arduino is powered via USB.

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Re: Smooth Continuous Motion w/ Stepper Motor Shield v2

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The electrical specifications for this motor are:
Coil voltage 3.1 V
Current 1 A per phase
Winding resistance 3.1 ohms per phase
If you are powering it at 12v, it will be trying to pull 4A per phase. This is 4 times the rating of the motor and more than 3 times the rating of the shield. You did not specify the current capacity of your power supply, but the jerky motion is likely due to an overload condition in either the shield or the power supply. You are lucky that nothing went up in smoke.

From the specs of the motor, it appears best suited to a current limiting driver like the grblShield.
https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about-st ... he-stepper

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