BS0710USB

Assembled version of BS0710-USB

This product has been discontinued. Please refer to our BS1010 as the nearest-equivalent product.

The BS0710-USB board is a complete Unipolar/Bipolar dual stepper motor controller system which can be controlled from a computer using a USB connection. It includes the capability of driving one or two stepper motors, each of which being either unipolar (4-pole) or bipolar (2 pole). This unit is a good choice for those designing products using linear actuators, especially since the microstepping features will reduce noise levels and can increase positional accuracy by a large amount.

In August of 2008, we released an updated version of this board (artwork BS0710USBHI) which adds ESD protection to most of the TTL I/O lines, and which isolates the USB system from the rest of the board.

The ESD protection is active once the board has been connected to a properly grounded power system: it operates by redirecting ESD events to the GND power connector on the board, thus the actual protection is only as good as the capabilities of your power supply to absorb the spike. It protects most of the signals on the board "LIM", "SLEW" and "IO" lines (only the 'RST' line remains unprotected by this update).
The USB isolation allows the ground of the computer to be different from the ground used to power the board. The prior approach permitted a "ground loop" to be possible (wherein current could flow through the USB ground) if the computer and board were not connected to the same ground.

The board is specified as allowing up to 1 amp per winding, with 6.5 to 15 volt motors supported when in single power supply mode. It also supports a dual power supply feature, wherein the motors use a separate supply from the logic circuits; in this mode, up to a 34 volt power supply may be used for the motors. You will want to review the calculating motor current faq in order to determine the current requirements for your motor.

Double Current Mode: The GenStepper and PotStepper firmwares for our products now allow you to run one motor (instead of two) at double the rated current of the board! For example, if you purchase a BS0710 board, which can handle two 1-Amp motors (assuming that you cool the board adequately), then that board can now be configured by you to handle one 2-amp motor instead. Please review the motor connections faq for more information.

This board may be optionally configured to act as a serial router for our product line, through use of the SerRoute firmware option. This option replaces the stepper motor control with serial routing of up to five boards, 8 relay, and up to 4 TTL input operations. Please click here for more information about the serial routing firmware.

Similarly, this board may be optionally configured to operate in a NC (numerically controlled) process environment, through use of the NCStepper firmware option. This firmware tightly links the two motors together, providing for easy "exact straight line" and simplified arc/circle drawing. Please click here for more information about the NCStepper firmware.

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Key Benefits

The BS0710 has the following key capabilities when using the GenStepper firmware:

USB communications with a host computer may be used to control the board.
Alternatively, TTL-Serial communications may be used to control the board using some external microprocessor, such as a Parallax Basic Stamp ^TM.
Up to two stepper motors may be independently controlled at one time.
Each motor may be either 4-pole Unipolar or 2-pole Bipolar.

Each motor may draw up to 1.0 amps per winding. Note if more than 0.6 amp motors are used, then the board requires external fan-based cooling (10 CFM is a reasonable amount); otherwise the board can overheat and fail if the motors are left enabled for long periods of time.
If only a single motor is connected to the board, some of our firmwares support configuration of the board and wiring of the motor for double current mode. This allows you to handle a single motor with up to 2 amps/winding. Again, use of a cooling fan is usually required when operating in double current mode.
Limit switches may be used to automatically request motion stop of either motor in either direction.
Rates of 1 to 62,500 microsteps per second are normally supported.
Step rates are changed by linearly ramping the rates; the rate of change is independently programmed for each motor, and can be from 1 to 62,500 microsteps per second per second.
All motor coordinates and rates are expressed in programmable microstep units of 1/2 to 1/64 of a full step. Once the base step size is selected, changing stepping modes between half, full and micro does not change any other value other than which winding pairs may be driven at the same time.
Motor coordinates are maintained as 32 bit signed values, and thus have a range of –2,147,483,647 through +2,147,483,647.
Both GoTo and Slew actions are fully supported.
Four modes of stepping the motor are supported:
- Half steps (alternates 1 winding and two windings enabled at a time),
- Full power full steps (2 windings enabled at a time)
- Half power full steps (1 winding enabled at a time)
- Near-constant-current microsteps (each from 1/64 to 1/2 of a full step)
A TTL "busy" signal is available, which can be used to see if the motors are still moving. Note that this information is also available from the serial communications subsystem.
Simple control of the motors may be done by switch closure: i.e., each motor can be told to slew left or right, or to stop by simply grounding some input lines. Similarly, the rate of motion can be controlled via stepping through a standard set of rates via grounding another input.
Complete control of the motors, including total monitoring of current conditions, is available through the 2400 to 19,200 baud serial connection (by default, this is shipped configured for 9600 baud; other rates may be requested at the time of ordering the product).
An additional mode is available which allows an external computer to directly generate step sequences on the motor control lines. Up to 62,500 microsteps per second may be requested.
The system can be configured to operate in 1/2 power mode, wherein it reduces the power to all windings by 1/2 for all actions. This can be used to "overvoltage" a motor, in order to generate more torque.
Runs off of a single user-provided 6.5 to 15 volt DC power supply. May also be configured using a split supply, wherein the motor runs off of a 5 to 34 volt DC power supply, while the logic circuit runs off of a 6.5 to 15 volt supply.
Theoretically, an unlimited number of boards can be controlled via one serial line, if the SerRoute product is used.

Click Here for the full PDF manual for the BS0710 with the GenStepper firmware.

Common Firmware Options of the SimStep and BiStep series of Motor Controller Boards

The GenStepper Firmware (our most popular firmware) allows you to control two motors independently of each other. It also supports a "double current mode", wherein a single motor may be operated at up to twice the rated current of the board! Please click here for more information about this product.

The NCStepper Firmware permits our stepper boards to operate two motors in a tightly coupled environment, appropriate for Numerical Control machines (such as X-Y tables). Please click here for more information on this feature.

The PotStepper Firmware allows you to control two motors independently of each other. The rate of motion of the motors may be controlled via a user-provided potentiometer. As with the GenStepper firmware, It also supports a "double current mode", wherein a single motor may be operated at up to twice the rated current of the board! Please click here for more information on this feature.

RelayStepper Firmware permits our boards to simultaneously operate one motor and up to 4 relays, as well as providing for up to 9 TTL input signals. Please click here for more information on this product.

The SerRoute Firmware can operate any number of stepper motors via one serial line! This firmware option allows for 3 (default configuration) to 9 (optional) motor controller boards to be operated via one serial port, if it is installed on a SimStep series unit, thus providing for 6 to 18 motors controlled by one 9600 baud connection using just one SerRoute-based board as the serial supervisor. If multiple SerRoute based boards are used as routers, there is no upper limit to the number of motors which can be controlled by one line. Please click here for more information on this product.

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