DESCRIPTION

Hello, I am Istvan. I am a third-year student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. I am passionate about creating electronic devices. I have been used Arduino since the high school. Now I am working on a universal motor driver board based on the ARM STM32 version of Arduino. The 32-bit and 72 MHz microcontroller gives a bigger computing power then the traditional 8-bit 16 MHz ATmega microcontrollers. The aim of my project is to create small motor driver and control board that can be used easily by beginners and advanced users too. This board can be used in the teaching of control algorithms if you choose a hands-on approach. I chose this microcontroller because, the Arduino development environment supports it and in this way I can help the beginners to easier get start to work with it.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

My board will be programable like an Arduino for the beginners, but there will be the opportunity to use the ST-Link programmer, which enables the software debug for the advanced users. This way you can comfortably develop your desired program at your own level of proficiency and there will be the opening for you to get closer to the microcontroller, when your skills get to develop. Whit this board you can control two DC motors or one bipolar stepper motor. You can attach two incremental encoders to the board with indexing or you can configure this pins as GPIO if you want. For the advanced control algorithms, you can measure the currents drawn by the DC motors or the stepper motor. The board requires a 5V input voltage source and if your motors use other voltage bellow 46V than you must connect that too. With a pin header you can choose between 5V supply and the other voltage you connected to the board. It is important your motors can not draw more than 2A of current in DC operation to prevent the overheating. Since it can be connected to a computer with an USB cable you can easily communicate with your board. If the number of required motors is higher than the board can handle, you can connect another board to your PC and your problems are solved. The size of the board is 65x54 (in mm), so it can fit in a tiny place. With these capabilities, this board can be used in the education of control algorithms from the beginners to the advanced students. You can build with the help of this board a plotter or a smaller 2-axis CNC or laser engraver. The other fields of uses are limited just by your imagination.

Words to PCBWay

I need your help to come this project alive. I used lots of SMD components, so I need high quality PCB to make my board work. A friend of mine have showed me a board, that was manufactured by you, that’s why I am writing to you.  Currently I am in the stage of the PCB design so I have only picture about my PCB.