Valar Systems’ WiFi Stepper Motor Board with StallGuard Technology

Controlling stepper motors over a WiFI network opens up the possibilities for the integration of wireless and automation functions to your motor applications. We saw a WiFi Stepper board by Good Robotics in January 2019, it featured control over Wifi and enabled an IoT interface for any stepper motor all the way up to 85V and 10A RMS. Additionally, we saw a 3.5A Unipolar Stepper Motor Driver with PWM current control and Micro-stepping.

Recently, Valar Systems launched their VAL-1000 WiFi Stepper Motor Board which comes with a Trinamic TMC2209 motor driver featuring StallGuard and StealthChop functionalities. The board supports WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, which makes it less complicated to control and allows the mobility of the application hardware. Additionally, the company also provides a mobile application for controlling the motors, thus it becomes, even more, user-friendly. You can also customize the functioning by uploading your own Arduino Code on the device as well.

Technical Specifications of WiFi Stepper Motor Board

• Espressif Systems’ ESP32-WROOM-32D dual-core WiFi Controller with 16MB memory.
• Trinamic TMC2209 motor driver with StallGuard and StealthChop technology.
• Texas Instrument’s synchronous 12V to 3.3V DC/DC flexible converter
• Silicon Labs USB/TTL bridge for data communication
• Two-button inputs for opening and closing the device

Talking more about the Trinamic TMC2209 motor driver. It comes with the StallGuard technology with a provision of fall back mechanism. If the force on the motor exceeds a certain value, then the device automatically stops. This also decreases the potential threats and ensures the safety of heavy mechanical applications. The PTC thermistor on the board ensures additional safety in case of an overcurrent supply in the circuit. According to Valar Systems, the driver is comparatively silent and affordable than the competing motor drivers.

“ESP32-WROOM-32D dual-core sits at the heart of the board. Its low-cost to high-performance ratio is unlike any other. It provides stepper motor control as well as maintains the wireless connection for WiFi and MQTT access.”

The micro USB port allows the flashing of firmware on with a less complicated process and can be used as USB-to-UART Bridge. The Wifi Stepper Motor Board also has the provision of an automatic flashing circuit so there is no need to physically open the device to press G0 and Reset.

You can check out the GitHub repository by Daniel Frenkel for exploring the software support of the device. The WiFi Stepper Motor Board is available on Tindie for $29 USD. For information, you can visit the official product page on Tindie’s website. Technical specifications and images have also been taken from the product page.

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