Stepper driver circuit design questions...
Posted by
Charles Knight
on 2003-06-01 17:57:05 UTC
Stepper Driver circuit design
I have gotten my samples from Allegro, and they're the 3967 single chip
bipolar stepper translator/driver. Nice chip...inconvenient package for
a homebuilder (24 pin SOIC), but a nice chip nontheless. That's what
PCB CAD libraries are for.
So...I have a chip, a power supply, and a stepper motor. Now what? ;-)
No...I'm not starting out quite that basic -- the circuitry is not going
to be a big problem, but a motor is an inductive load, which sometimes
complicates things. I assume there will be backcurrents to deal with,
possibly interference from traces laid parallel to each other at certain
frequencies, etc. I understand the parallel port can operate at 50KHz?
So...any tips on stepper driver board design, from those who have done
it? Do I need to isolate the grounds for the various parts of the
circuit? Diodes to prevent backcurrent from reaching the chips? That
sort of thing. I have only the white sheets from Allegro, at this
point, on which to base my design.
Has anyone ever designed a circuit based on this chip? I understand
it's new...single chip translator and microstepper for bipolar drives.
If I can get it to work, I think it'll be nice.
THANKS!
-- Chuck Knight
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I have gotten my samples from Allegro, and they're the 3967 single chip
bipolar stepper translator/driver. Nice chip...inconvenient package for
a homebuilder (24 pin SOIC), but a nice chip nontheless. That's what
PCB CAD libraries are for.
So...I have a chip, a power supply, and a stepper motor. Now what? ;-)
No...I'm not starting out quite that basic -- the circuitry is not going
to be a big problem, but a motor is an inductive load, which sometimes
complicates things. I assume there will be backcurrents to deal with,
possibly interference from traces laid parallel to each other at certain
frequencies, etc. I understand the parallel port can operate at 50KHz?
So...any tips on stepper driver board design, from those who have done
it? Do I need to isolate the grounds for the various parts of the
circuit? Diodes to prevent backcurrent from reaching the chips? That
sort of thing. I have only the white sheets from Allegro, at this
point, on which to base my design.
Has anyone ever designed a circuit based on this chip? I understand
it's new...single chip translator and microstepper for bipolar drives.
If I can get it to work, I think it'll be nice.
THANKS!
-- Chuck Knight
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]