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HOME / PRODUCT CATEGORIES / STEPPER MOTOR DRIVER / SPARKFUN AUTODRIVER - STEPPER MOTOR DRIVER (V13)
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SparkFun AutoDriver - Stepper Motor Driver
(v13)
BOB-13752 ROHS
6
DESCRIPTION FEATURES DOCUMENTS
Supports up to 128 Microsteps per Full Step
Daisy-Chain Capable
Over-Temperature Detect
Over-Current Detect
Under-Voltage Detect
PWM Drive-Voltage Limiting
SPI Controlled
Onboard Oscillator and Speed/Location Registers
Stall Detection
5-bit ADC
Tags
AUTODRIVER DAISY-CHAIN DRIVER L6470 ROBOTICS STEPPER MOTOR
SparkFun AutoDriver - Stepper Motor Driver (v13) Product Help and Resources
TUTORIALS SKILLS NEEDED
Getting Started with the
AutoDriver - v13
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
SparkFun's AutoDriver is a
powerful tool for controlling
stepper motors. Here's how to
use it.
COMMENTS 17 REVIEWS 6
3.3 out of 5
Based on 6 ratings:
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Challenging for a novice, but works perfectly
about 9 months ago by CBD verified purchaser
I was prompted to write this review because I feel the poor ratings are not deserved. This product works exactly
as it should – but it’s not a toy for beginners!
You need to have a lot of things just so to get this chip (ST L6470) to work correctly, but once you have that
right, it can boost the quality of your project tremendously – it is a hugely capable small stepper driver!
Some things to look out for:
The 3-5V input MUST be powered unless you modify the board jumper to use the 3V internal.
The SPI interface will not work unless BOTH the 8-45V power input is powered AND 3-5V input is
powered.
The RESET# pin must be connected, otherwise the chip will hold itself in reset
If the chip is communicating but the motor does not move, make sure the coil wires are not mixed up.
The two coils are electrically independent, so mixing them up will make it seem like nothing works.
If the motor is vibrating but not moving, reverse one of the coil’s wires.
There are MANY settings that control motor power (KVAL) and overcurrent limits that can affect how your
motor will perform. If you have never used this chip before, you will probably want to write a function that
checks the STATUS register a few times a second and decodes and prints out those statuses. This will help
keep you informed as you go about tuning the configuration parameters for your application.
Oh and don’t do like I did and forget to buy connectors and screw terminals to make things more convenient!
1 of 2 found this helpful:
Doesn't Work As Described
about a year ago by Member #891015 verified purchaser
I purchased this as a cheaper alternative to the Gecko Driver. While i do understand it’s a item, when i try
running a stepper motor with it, once the voltage is above 22V, it stops working. Note I am not exceeding the
rated 3A. I have tested the same motor setup with a different (industrial grade) driver and it works up to the
motor’s rated 48V driver input.
0 of 3 found this helpful:
Don't waste your time
about a year ago by Member #858029 verified purchaser
The provided library zip file won’t install properly. All I get is errors stating that the intended folders do not
contain any valid library files. I’ve messed with this thing for days and can not get any of the example sketches
to work. None of the sketches provided by others work either. I bought this for a project I needed to finish
quickly, and now that project is way behind due to trying to get this thing to work.
ROB-24601 replied on November 3, 2016:
Sorry you’re having problems with the library. If you’re going to the above Github link, and downloading
that ZIP file, the Arduino IDE won’t be able to add it as a ZIP library. You need to follow the AutoDriver
Library link, and download that one. I just tested it on two different machines running two different
versions of the IDE, and both worked fine. If you’re still having issues getting the library to load, I would
recommend contacting our tech support team. They should be able to help you get up and running.
Nice Stepper Driver
last year by Member #191965 verified purchaser
The L6470 is a very nice driver, allowing the microcontroller to send it motion commands instead of step
pulses. The board seems to break out everything necessary to get up and running. I haven’t stacked boards
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yet, so I can’t attest to how well that works. I also didn’t bother with the Arduino library.
Re: "Doesn't Work As Described"
about 11 months ago by Member #871774 verified purchaser
I purchased the AutoDriver several months ago and just now got around to working with them. I also ran into
the behavior described by member 891015. After some experimenting with the example programs, I discovered
higher voltage power supplies can be used by setting up KVAL and OverCurrentThreshold parameters. These
need to be tailored to the voltage and resistance specs of the motors. For example, given a 42v supply and
3V, 1.8 ohm motor, set OCThreshold to 3000mA or higher and all KVAL values at or below 19 or 20. If
OCThreshold is set higher than 3000mA, I imagine the driver chip will get hot and possibly shut down after a
time. I’m still puzzling that out.
Best stepper driver
about 3 weeks ago by Member #1265417 verified purchaser
The dSpin driver offloads acceleration / deceleration profiles, step counting, limit switch homing, and power
management, so you don’t have to worry about a thing from your code. Library interface is fairly
straightforward.
Adjustable Parameters: Max / Min Speed, Accel / Decel Rates Microstepping (1 through 128) K-Vals (seperate
settings for Accel, Decel, Run, Hold) Overcurrent threshold Edge slew rate Homing / limit switch setup
The sparkfun hookup guide is great in it’s explanation of the software setup and parameters. The wiring
portion, however, lacks a simple straightforward diagram. The two fritzing diagrams are pretty ~nasty~ as far as
they go. Especially considering that connections are meant to be made with the ribbon cables, it’s pretty un-
intuitive that the tutorial shows diagrams with a ton of cris-crossing and inconsistently routed wires.
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