Hello everyone!
I have bipolar NEMA 17 stepper with a lead screw (item 2690) controlled with a stepper shield for Arduino. I’m sending 12v to the shield, but I can only get a speed of about 2 in/s from the stepper.
I noticed on the product description that speeds of up to 12 in/s are attainable. I’m thinking that the problem is that the shield isn’t providing enough current to the motor, so I’m considering replacing it with the DRV8825 driver.
Will this solve the problem, or do you think it’s a separate issue?
Thanks a lot!
G9!
What stepper motor shield? If the shield is based on the old L298 or similar chips, you can expect a vast improvement in performance with a modern driver like the DRV8825.
With properly adjusted current limiting, step speed will increase with the motor power supply voltage (up to the maximum allowed by the driver, of course).
There are several things that can have an impact on the maximum speed of a stepper motor. As Jim mentioned, increasing your supply voltage with a properly adjusted current limit could help achieve higher step rates. Ramping the motor speed up from rest also helps reach higher speeds. Additionally, the external load on the stepper motor can cause the maximum speed to vary; the more torque your stepper motor needs to deliver, the lower its maximum step speed will be. This post by Ben has some tips for getting higher step rates that you might find helpful. Please note that although that post is dealing with a different stepper motor and driver, the information in it should still apply.
-Brandon