EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller

EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller info

EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller is a general purpose open source PIC18F46J50-based motor controller board designed for the Egg-Bot by Brian Schmalz. It is a USB interface motor controller board useful for many general purpose robotics applications. Standard features include two Allegro A4983 16X microstepping motor drivers for bipolar steppers. It also has a separate onboard regulator to power up to two servo motors. Its dimensions are 5.6 x 5.6 cm.

The development purpose of EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller is to control two stepper motors from a PC over USB. The developers achieve this task by using two microstepping chopper stepper motor drivers and a small Microchip PIC microcontroller that has USB support. The board can also control RC servo motors.

When you plug the EBB into a PC, it will show up as a serial port device. You can send commands to the board using any serial port terminal emulator you like or write your own application to send commands for moving the stepper motors. The Eggbot project has also developed a fantastic Inkscape extension that allows to output directly to the EBB.

EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller hardware consists of a PIC18F46J50 microcontroller and two Allegro A4983 stepper drivers, along with some voltage regulators and USB connection hardware. It takes 6-24V DC power input via the barrel jack connector. This directly powers the motor driver chips, and is then regulated down to 5V to supply power to the RC servos, and down to 3.3V to power the microcontroller. A current adjustment potentiometer allows you to set the maximum current allowed to the motors anywhere from 46mA to 1.25A per phase. Two push buttons allow for resetting the board and entering into bootloader mode (to update the firmware over USB). The EggBot kit also uses the PRG button to allow the user to pause plotting.

EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller Servo - General Specifications

• Eibotboard motor controller v2.0
• Control motors from PC over USB
• Two A4983 microstepping chopper stepper drivers
• PIC18F46J50 microcontroller with USB support
• 5V and 3,3V voltage regulators

EiBotBoard v.2.0 Motor Controller - Technical Specifications

• Microcontroller: PIC18F46J50
• Stepper Drivers: A4983 microstepping chopper stepper drivers
• Supply Voltage: 6-24V
• Max Current: Adjustable 46mA to 1,25A per phase

Videos

Documents

Technical Documentation: http://www.schmalzhaus.com/EBB/index.html

References

Evil Mad Scientists Product Page: http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/188-ebb#