Stepper Motor + Labview Novice

[Paul Murphy]

I'm working on a project that requires running two stepper motors to rotate parallel rings.  I'm a second year engineering student, so my experience with both stepper motors and LabVIEW are both pretty limited.

I'd like to know if it will be possible to run the motors with my current equipment before buying anything new.  Here is what is readily available:

2 Stepper Motors:  4v, .95A, 4.2 ohms

1 NI USB-6009

2 Stepper Motor Controller & Driver Boards, online description: http://nbglin.com/motor.htm

LabVIEW 8.5, NI Motion license, pretty much the full suite I believe.

Are these components adequate for my needs?  Also, I appreciate any and all feedback that might help me to understand any part of LabVIEW or motor control.  As I said, I'm totally new to this.

[Paul Murphy]

I just read through this post http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=250&thread.id=16658&view=by_date_ascending&page=2

I guess this should be possible.  Should I wire the motors directly to the DAQ board or to the controllers?

[DjDaveNI]

Hello Paul Murphy,

The USB-6009 is a USB-bus powered multifunctionDAQ device. The maximum current the device can source is only 200mA (from the +5V Power Source line, see User Guide page 15). I could not find the amplification specifications for the motor controller / driver boards at http://nbglin.com/motor.htm. Assuming that the motor requires the 0.95A you describe, the USB-600x devices are not suitable for your motion control application. In addition, the USB-600x series are not ideal for motion control since they are not capable of hardware timed single loop.

Since you have NI-Motion software, you should really consider purchasing an NI-Motion control card. These cards are ideal for motion control, since they were designed to handle feedback loops and are capable of hardware timed single loop.

I hope this helps 🙂

Message Edited by DjDaveNI on 08-28-2008 10:41 AM

[Paul Murphy]

I guess that we will be putting these controllers in a box and wiring up a separate power supply.  I'm told that this will work.

I relayed your message about motion to my superviser.  I think we are going to try this method for now and if things fail miserably we'll think about purchasing motion boards.  I should mention that a scientist that was here a few years ago used the same motors and DAQ card to control his test apparatus, but unfortunatly the software he used is not available and the controller boxes are no longer working.

[DjDaveNI]

Hello Paul Murphy,

While it may be possible to use a USB-600x device for motion control, it is definitely not simple or recommended. Hopefully the program written a few years ago is still operational so that you avoid reinventing the wheel. Post back if you face any issues, or if your code is successful please post that for the community to see and use.