Stepper Motor Control

[Mani-Tech]

Hi,

I have taken a project to control a stepper motor using LabVIEW.

Problem Statement:

• Lead Screw mechanism connected to motor shaft.
• Input given as feed in mm
• Motor should rotate at an angle theta so that the linear feed value is achieved
• Feedback device used. If the lead screw nut doesn't reach the given feed, motor has to rotate to some angle to correct the movement based on feedback input.

Kindly suggest some ways to achieve this sequnce. Thanks in advance.

[Nate.H]

Hi Mani-Tech,

NI (and many motion control providers) have off-the-shelf solutions for stepper control that accomplish exactly what you are describing. 

For your project, are you trying to implement custom control? Are you building your own motor drive (power electronics)? Are you just trying to achieve the functionaity with the quickest and easiest way possible?

Stepper motor drives usually consist of a couple H-bridges and current sensors. The take in step and direction digital signals (generated by a stepper controller, in your case, NI SoftMotion could provide a very easy way to do this without defining your own signals) and output current to the phases of the stepper motor.

For instance, you can use the NI 9512 drive interface module and the NI SoftMotion module for LabVIEW to generate the step and direction signals (based on trajectory generation from your specified move profiles) and the P7000 stepper drive to drive the motor. 

OR you could use the NI 9501 stepper drive module to directly power the stepper motor from a C series module. With this module you have lower level control over the step and direction signal generation, as well as the motion control loops through LabVIEW RT and LabVIEW FPGA.

[Mani-Tech]

Hi Nate,

Thank you for the valuable suggestions.

I have taken this as a Lab Project. I don't have a Stepper controller or Motion Controller from NI here. I was only taught to control a stepper motor using arrays in LabVIEW.

What I have with me is a NI 6009 DAQ and a Stepper coil actuation unit. So, from that point of view, can you provide me with some ideas?

[Nate.H]

Hi Mani-Tech,

Please see the thread: Using USB-6008 for closed loop motor control

Thanks,

Nate

[Rammah]

Hi,

 I am aware that these postings ended nearly one year ago - but this was the most related forum I would find (bar starting a new post), furthermore, I am a complete novice at motor control so thank you for your patience in advance.

I have a system similar to that described by Mani-tech, a lead screw connected to a motor but driving a linear slide. I would like control the motor in the simpliest way - instructions to complete a set number of steps, stop, then repeat etc. I am finding it hard to understand the connection between having the motor to automated control. :mansad:

Is it: (Stages)   (1) Motor  -->  (2) Driver  -->  (3) DAQ  -->  (4) Software/Computer   ?

If so, how do I judge which driver I require? Do motors which have in-built drivers remove the need to have a driver?

Finally, what is the difference between the DAQ units? USB 6211, NI 9505? If all I want is simple (and cheap) step control, how do I really go about doing this from stage (1)?

Sorry if this is otherwise obvious, I want to be clear that my understanding is sound.

Best,

Rammah

[AliT]

Hi, I'm not sure whether this is the right place for asking this question or not and if not, then please guide me to the right place for asking such question. Thanks.

I have a stepper motor with the Vector Network Analyzer Anritsu MS4623B. I got it up and running with the LabWindows/CVI. I need to sync the motion of the stepper motor with my data acquisition. Basically, I have to acquire the data in a way that in the start the motor will come back to home position wherever it was and then I want to move it to the specific position to do the measurements (For Example, I want to measure the 40 GHz channel between 1m to 3m movement of a stepper motor on a linear positioning system (ball-screw)). I've interfaced the VNA with the PC using LabWindows/CVI and I've controlled the clockwise and anti-clockwise movements of the stepper motor using LabWindows/CVI but I'm unable to sync the system in a way that whenever I run the code, the motor will run back to the home position and then move to a specific measurement start position and move till the end position and in between do the increment and stop and acquire the data. Is there any one to help me please? It's really urgent please and I'm doing this thing first time so please guide me in a proper way. I shall really apprecaite that and will be highly obliged with you. Thanks for your time and concern.

Thanks and Regards.