Adafruit Motor Shield V2.3 - Stepper Motor Compatability

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GorillaDetective
 
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Adafruit Motor Shield V2.3 - Stepper Motor Compatability

Post by GorillaDetective »

Hi!

I am hopping to make use of my Adafruit Motor Shield V2.3 in a project where I need to drive 2 stepper motors and 2 servos. In testing, with just one stepper motor hooked up I notice it gets uncomfortably hot. Are you able to tell me whether the motor is compatible with the shield? Motor details below:

Stepper Motor Details
4 wire
DC 3 V
0.35 A/phase
8.5 Ohm
200S/R

I am powering the shield with a 12v 10000mA power supply.

Can I run this stepper motor with this shield? If the answer is yes, what settings can I adjust so it does not get so hot?

Thanks!

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Adafruit Motor Shield V2.3 - Stepper Motor Compatability

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The shield uses simple H-bridge drivers. It does not have active current limiting. Your motor has a phase resistance of 8.5 ohms. So at 12v, it will be trying to pull 1.4A/Phase. (Ohm'sLaw: 12v / 8.5 Ohms = 1.41 Amps) That exceeds the current rating of both the motor and the shield. To safely drive the motor without active current limiting, you would need to follow the motor's voltage rating of 3v.

Unfortunately, the minimum voltage for the shield is 4.5v. And your motor performance would be rather poor at that voltage also. The motor was most likely intended for use with a current limiting 'chopper' type driver like the DRV8833.

See this guide for more details:
https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about-st ... he-stepper

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GorillaDetective
 
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Re: Adafruit Motor Shield V2.3 - Stepper Motor Compatability

Post by GorillaDetective »

Thanks for the reply Bill!

I figured that was the problem. I have another stepper I can use here:

Stepper Motor Details
4 wire
DC 12 V
0.4 A/phase
30 Ohm
200S/R

If I am doing the math right, this should be drawing 0.4 amp which should be within spec of the motor and the board (12V / 30 Ohm = 0.4 Amps) correct?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Adafruit Motor Shield V2.3 - Stepper Motor Compatability

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

That motor should work well with the shield.

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