stepper motor control

[mudithadias]

Hello,

Im very new to labview. As a part of a project I'm trying to control a stepper motor using labview to run a syringe pump (basically to control the speed and direction of the motor). I do not have much of an idea what hardware I require to run the stepper motor. I would really appreciate if someone could give me any help with any specifications on a stepper motor type I should choose and other compatible hardware (like any DAQ system) I would need to run the motor. I haven't had any experience with stepper motors or labview before.So any information would be most helpful.

Thank you !!!

[_kb]

Hi mudithadias,

Are you starting from scratch, with absolutely no hardware?  Do you have any specific requirements that the motor will need to meet?  The more you can tell us about your application, the better we will be able to help you decide what equipment would be appropriate for your application.

To get you started with something to look at, we offer a few stepper motors, as well as drives and controllers, which you will also need.  Let us know a little more about what you need, and we'll go from there.

[mudithadias]

Hi Kyle,

Thank you. Yes I'm statring from scratch. We are trying to control a stepper motor (using labview) so that we could make it drive a syringe pump. So basically we want to be able to change the speed and direction of the stepper motor, so that we can control the volume of the solutions we pull or dispense.

I looked at some hardware offered by NI. I'm not sure if I picked up the suitable ones. I chose a NEMA 17 (CTP10ELF10MAA or CTP12ELF10MMA00) motor, NI P70530 stepper drive. I was not sure how to decide on the rest. My first thought was that I could use a NI USB-6009 as a DAQ device. But a friend told me using an Arduino micro-controller interfaced with labVIEW would be a better and a cheaper option.

Could you please tell me if the motor and driver I selected would be suitable and I'm not sure how the Arduino works. Can I directly wire it to the P70530 or do I still need a motion control? I have no idea what it is.

Thank you so much !!

[dstrandb]

Hi Mudithadias,

If you're looking to control the motor in LabVIEW, I'd recommend using a motion controller card rather than trying to send signals to the drive with a regular DAQ device. This will allow you to use the NI-Motion driver, which does all the trajectory and set-point calculations for you. 

There are a couple of motion controller cards, but if you're only looking to control one stepper motor, I'd go with the PCI-7332, which is the most basic motion controller NI sells. You would also need a Universal Motion Interface to communicate between the motion controller and the drive. Either the UMI 7772, which uses DSUB connectors between the UMI and the drive, or the UMI 7764, which is a break out box that has screw terminals. 

So just as a summary, you'll need a motion controller, a UMI, a drive, and a motor. I hope this helps!

[mudithadias]

Hey thank you David.

I looked at the links you gave. Do you know if there is any cheaper options. because those devices are too expensive for our project Any ideas on using Arduino micro-controller? would it not be compatible with a NI motor driver?

Really appreciate your help

Muditha

[Buechsenschuetz]

Probably Arduino controlled stepper motor drives will work. There are also drivers available which are controlled via a serial interface, and very probably also drivers which can be operated via USB. We use most of our stepper drivers with NI boards and use just one very old serial interface controlled driver, so I am not quite up-to-date with today's market situation. 

[dstrandb]

Hi Mudithadias,

I was able to find this example that uses an Arduino to control a stepper motor. I think this should help moving the motor without using one of the NI motion controllers. I hope this helps!

[mudithadias]

Thank you Buechsenschuetz

[mudithadias]

THank you David, the example is really helpful !