Description

This is the most popular stepper motor driver, compact in size yet pack muscle for driving stepper motor up to 2.5A, designed originally by Pololu. This model is widely used in budget 3D printers, robotic manipulators due to its simplicity to use and cheap.

This breakout board for Allegro?s A4988 microstepping bipolar stepper motor driver features adjustable current limiting, over-current and over-temperature protection, and five different microstep resolutions (down to 1/16-step). It operates from 8 V to 35 V and can deliver up to approximately 1 A per phase without a heat sink or forced air flow (it is rated for 2 A per coil with sufficient additional cooling). This board ships with 0.1? male header pins included but not soldered in.

In the micro-step operation, A4988 chopping control automatically selects the current decay mode (Slow or Mixed). In mixed decay mode, the device is initially set to a fixed downtime in some fast decay, then the rest of the slow decay downtime. Mixed decay current control scheme results in reduced audible motor noise, increased step accuracy, and reduced power consumption. Internal synchronous rectification control circuitry is provided to improve the pulse-width modulation (PWM) operation power consumption. Internal circuit protection includes: thermal shutdown with hysteresis, undervoltage lockout (UVLO), and crossover-current protection.

Features

• Simple step and direction control interface
• Five different micro-step resolutions: full-step, 1/2 step, 1/4 step, 1/8 step, and 1/16 step
• Adjustable current control lets you set the maximum current output with a potentiometer, which lets you use voltages above your stepper motor?s rated voltage to achieve higher step rates
• Intelligent chopping control that automatically selects the correct current decay mode (fast decay or slow decay)
• Over-temperature thermal shutdown, under-voltage lockout, and crossover-current protection
• Short-to-ground and shorted-load protection

Specifications

• Logic voltage : 3 – 5 V
• Motor voltage : 8 – 35 V
• Max. output current : 2 A

Package Includes

• 1 x A4988 stepper motor driver module
• 1 x 9mm heatsink

Attachments

• Datasheet – A4988
• Details about A4988
• Tutorial : How To Control a Stepper Motor with A4988 Driver and Arduino – HowToMechatronics