Is Anyone Interested In the L6208N Stepper Driver IC?
idbruce
Posts: 6,197
To Those That May Be Interested
As many of you already know, I have been talking about the L6208N IC for quite some time, and I have been wanting to create my own stepper drivers with these chips, for the same amount of time that I have been talking about them. It was initially my intention to just duplicate the EVAL6208N develoment boards with the addition of four mounting holes, but over the last couple days, I have changed my mind. In reference to changing my mind, several days ago, someone stated that they would like to see a board created with my photoimaging process and that got me thinking about the L6208 once again. Although the EVAL6208N has a lot of nice features to test the IC and for development, it really was not meant to be a stepper driver board. However the EVAL6208N was designed by the manufacturer of the L6208N IC, and I am certain that a lot of important PCB layout can be distilled from the design. So for the last several days, I have been examining datasheets, app notes, and gerber files, just to see how feasible it is to apply some of the basic design of the EVAL6208N to a typical application of the L6208N IC as specified in the datasheet. After several days of study, it appears that by eliminating a lot of the fluff that is present on the EVAL6208N layout, a lot of the board layout can still be used for a typical application. However it is noteworthy to mention that it appears that the EVAL6208N is capable of microstepping, but as specified in the datasheet, the typical application shown only provides for half and full steps, which is fine for my needs and learning process at the moment.
Anyhow, if there is a fairly serious interest by more than a couple individuals, I would be willing to start another thread that would be dedicated to the intertwining of the EVAL6208N with a typical application of the L6208N IC. There would have to be a serious interest, because in addition to a lengthy discussion, there would also be quite a few images and other documents uploaded to aid with the discussion. So it basically boils down to my time and Parallax's server storage.
If you are interested, speak now or forever hold your piece.
Bruce
As many of you already know, I have been talking about the L6208N IC for quite some time, and I have been wanting to create my own stepper drivers with these chips, for the same amount of time that I have been talking about them. It was initially my intention to just duplicate the EVAL6208N develoment boards with the addition of four mounting holes, but over the last couple days, I have changed my mind. In reference to changing my mind, several days ago, someone stated that they would like to see a board created with my photoimaging process and that got me thinking about the L6208 once again. Although the EVAL6208N has a lot of nice features to test the IC and for development, it really was not meant to be a stepper driver board. However the EVAL6208N was designed by the manufacturer of the L6208N IC, and I am certain that a lot of important PCB layout can be distilled from the design. So for the last several days, I have been examining datasheets, app notes, and gerber files, just to see how feasible it is to apply some of the basic design of the EVAL6208N to a typical application of the L6208N IC as specified in the datasheet. After several days of study, it appears that by eliminating a lot of the fluff that is present on the EVAL6208N layout, a lot of the board layout can still be used for a typical application. However it is noteworthy to mention that it appears that the EVAL6208N is capable of microstepping, but as specified in the datasheet, the typical application shown only provides for half and full steps, which is fine for my needs and learning process at the moment.
Anyhow, if there is a fairly serious interest by more than a couple individuals, I would be willing to start another thread that would be dedicated to the intertwining of the EVAL6208N with a typical application of the L6208N IC. There would have to be a serious interest, because in addition to a lengthy discussion, there would also be quite a few images and other documents uploaded to aid with the discussion. So it basically boils down to my time and Parallax's server storage.
If you are interested, speak now or forever hold your piece.
Bruce
Comments
All in Arduino shield format - stack upto 4 of them for multi-axis control...
Not sure layout is problematic other than getting the current there - 2oz would be preferred. Heatsinks and forced-air cooling required, note.
LOL Maybe not for you, but I did an L6208 board design several years ago and I was very unhappy with the general layout, the looks of it, and thermal juncture layout. I think this design will be a lot nicer when I am finished with it, especially concerning overall appearance and heat dissipation. By eliminating all the fluff of the EVAL6208N, there should be plenty of copper for heat dissipation.
So were you happy with the boards and the way they operated?
Bruce