stepper motor drivers for a NI cDAQ9172

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I am just wondering is there any stepper motor drive modules for a NI cDAQ9172. I have used the 9172 with a digital output 9472 module to control steppers by using relays and transistors but if I need to control more that one motor my circuit gets big and messy. The types of stepper motor I usually test are 12v bipolar steppers. I am just wondering is there any types of modules that can drive the stepper directly or will I have to use my 9472 module to control a driver circuit? Thanks for you help 

[Jochen]

In general it is recommended to use a driver circuit that accepts step and direction signals instead of driving the current patterns directly with a DO board. Depending on your application needs a DO board is also not the best solution to generate the step and direction signals. A much better choice is a dedicated motion control board like the PCI-7332. These devices run the step generation onboard in real-time and support acceleration ramps, limit switches and so on.

Here you can find more information.

Regards,

Jochen Klier

National Instruments

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Hi Jochen

That's perfect. I was just wondering if i could eliminate my driver circuit. Thanks for your help. I will look into that control board.