Achieve smoother and more precise control of stepper motors with TMC2240 and PIC18F2455
Smart high-performance stepper motor driver with serial communication interfaces and extensive diagnosis capabilities
Published Feb 07, 2024
Click board™
Silent Step 4 Click
Dev Board
EasyPIC v8
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
PIC18F2455
Experience absolutely noiseless motor operation, coupled with maximum efficiency and optimal motor torque, thanks to the industry's most advanced stepper motor driver
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Hardware Overview
How does it work?
Silent Step 4 Click is based on the TMC2240, a smart integrated stepper driver from Analog Devices. It is highly integrated and highly efficient with a best-in-class performance stepper driver. The maximum output current per H-Bridge is 3A, which an onboard resistor sets. You can, however, set it to a lower level over the software. The step driver also features abundant diagnostics and protections such as short protection/OCP, thermal shutdown, and under-voltage lockout. It can measure the driver temperature, estimate the motor temperature, and more. One cool feature is the rotary encoder interface integration directly into the step driver. The external incremental encoder can be connected over the ENC connector. The
encoder can be used for consistency checks on the fly between the encoder position and the external ramp generator position. A 32-bit encoder counter is provided. StallGuard2 is a great functionality for detecting a motor stall and is part of the diagnostic system of the stepper driver. Silent Step 4 Click uses a 4-wire SPI serial interface to communicate with the host MCU, supporting a max frequency of up to 10MHz. The motor is controlled using step and direction inputs over the STP and DIR pins. Each step can be a full-step or a micro-step. The additional functionalities are provided over the PCA9538, an 8-bit I/O port from NXP. The PCA9538 uses an I2C interface to communicate with the host MCU. The I2C address can be set
over the ADDR SEL jumpers. It provides monitoring of both DIAG outputs and over-voltage indicators. It also controls the enable and sleep inputs of the stepper driver. The host MCU can reset the PCA9538 over the RST pin and receive interrupts over the INT pin. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.
Features overview
Development board
EasyPIC v8 is a development board specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports many high pin count 8-bit PIC microcontrollers from Microchip, regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer. The development board is well organized and designed so that the end-user has all the necessary elements, such as switches, buttons, indicators, connectors, and others, in one place. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, EasyPIC v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access anywhere and under any
circumstances at any time. Each part of the EasyPIC v8 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. In addition to the advanced integrated CODEGRIP programmer/debugger module, which offers many valuable programming/debugging options and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment, the board also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development board. It can use a wide range of external power sources, including a battery, an external 12V power supply, and a power source via the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector.
Communication options such as USB-UART, USB DEVICE, and CAN are also included, including the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, two display options (graphical and character-based LCD), and several different DIP sockets. These sockets cover a wide range of 8-bit PIC MCUs, from the smallest PIC MCU devices with only eight up to forty pins. EasyPIC v8 is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem for rapid development. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping and development thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.
Microcontroller Overview
MCU Card / MCU
Architecture
PIC
MCU Memory (KB)
24
Silicon Vendor
Microchip
Pin count
28
RAM (Bytes)
2048
You complete me!
Accessories
The 17HD40005-22B stepper motor is a two-phase hybrid motor for high torque, high speed, and low noise performance. It features a 1m wire with optional ports on the connection end and heat shrink tubing to prevent tangling. The motor's D-shaped axle is 22mm in length. This motor operates with a chopping wave constant current drive and has a two-phase 4-wire exciting mode, allowing for both forward and reverse rotation. The power order follows AB-BC-CD-DA, viewed as clockwise from the shaft end. It has a rated current of 1.3A DC, a rated voltage of 2.4V, and a stepping angle of 1.8°, with an insulation grade of B. This stepper motor is ideal for applications requiring precise movement control and reliability.
Used MCU Pins
mikroBUS™ mapper
Take a closer look
Schematic
Step by step
Project assembly
Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the EasyPIC v8 as your development board.
Track your results in real time
Application Output via UART Mode
1. Once the code example is loaded, pressing the "FLASH" button initiates the build process, and programs it on the created setup.
2. After the programming is completed, click on the Tools icon in the upper-right panel, and select the UART Terminal.
3. After opening the UART Terminal tab, first check the baud rate setting in the Options menu (default is 115200). If this parameter is correct, activate the terminal by clicking the "CONNECT" button.
4. Now terminal status changes from Disconnected to Connected in green, and the data is displayed in the Received data field.
Software Support
Library Description
This library contains API for Silent Step 4 Click driver.
Key functions:
silentstep4_set_direction- This function sets the motor direction by setting the DIR pin logic statesilentstep4_set_step_res- This function sets the microstep resolution bits in CHOPCONF registersilentstep4_drive_motor- This function drives the motor for the specific number of steps at the selected speed
Open Source
Code example
This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.
/*!
* @file main.c
* @brief Silent Step 4 Click example
*
* # Description
* This example demonstrates the use of the Silent Step 4 click board by driving the
* motor in both directions for a desired number of steps.
*
* The demo application is composed of two sections :
*
* ## Application Init
* Initializes the driver and performs the click default configuration.
*
* ## Application Task
* Drives the motor clockwise for 200 full steps and then counter-clockiwse for 200 half
* steps and 400 quarter steps with 2 seconds delay on driving mode change. All data is
* being logged on the USB UART where you can track the program flow.
*
* @author Stefan Filipovic
*
*/
#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "silentstep4.h"
static silentstep4_t silentstep4;
static log_t logger;
void application_init ( void )
{
log_cfg_t log_cfg; /**< Logger config object. */
silentstep4_cfg_t silentstep4_cfg; /**< Click config object. */
/**
* Logger initialization.
* Default baud rate: 115200
* Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
* @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX
* are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will
* need to define them manually for log to work.
* See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
*/
LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
log_info( &logger, " Application Init " );
// Click initialization.
silentstep4_cfg_setup( &silentstep4_cfg );
SILENTSTEP4_MAP_MIKROBUS( silentstep4_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
err_t init_flag = silentstep4_init( &silentstep4, &silentstep4_cfg );
if ( ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == init_flag ) || ( SPI_MASTER_ERROR == init_flag ) )
{
log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
for ( ; ; );
}
if ( SILENTSTEP4_ERROR == silentstep4_default_cfg ( &silentstep4 ) )
{
log_error( &logger, " Default configuration." );
for ( ; ; );
}
log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}
void application_task ( void )
{
log_printf ( &logger, " Move 200 full steps clockwise, speed: slow\r\n\n" );
silentstep4_set_direction ( &silentstep4, SILENTSTEP4_DIR_CW );
silentstep4_set_step_res ( &silentstep4, SILENTSTEP4_MRES_FULLSTEP );
silentstep4_drive_motor ( &silentstep4, 200, SILENTSTEP4_SPEED_SLOW );
Delay_ms ( 2000 );
log_printf ( &logger, " Move 200 half steps counter-clockwise, speed: medium\r\n\n" );
silentstep4_set_direction ( &silentstep4, SILENTSTEP4_DIR_CCW );
silentstep4_set_step_res ( &silentstep4, SILENTSTEP4_MRES_2 );
silentstep4_drive_motor ( &silentstep4, 200, SILENTSTEP4_SPEED_MEDIUM );
Delay_ms ( 2000 );
log_printf ( &logger, " Move 400 quarter steps counter-clockwise, speed: fast\r\n\n" );
silentstep4_set_direction ( &silentstep4, SILENTSTEP4_DIR_CCW );
silentstep4_set_step_res ( &silentstep4, SILENTSTEP4_MRES_4 );
silentstep4_drive_motor ( &silentstep4, 400, SILENTSTEP4_SPEED_FAST );
Delay_ms ( 2000 );
}
void main ( void )
{
application_init( );
for ( ; ; )
{
application_task( );
}
}
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END
