Understanding Microstepping
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:16 am
Hey Folks,
I finally started with my build and while everything seems to come together as planned so far, I still kind of struggle with the electronics.
I'm using an Arduino Mega with Ramps 1.4 and A4988 drivers. After some trial and error and a good amount of cursing I got my z-stage to work. When I hit the "move 10mm" button in CW it moves exactly 10mm, so I guess that's fine for now.
After throwing my numbers at the reprap calculator ( http://www.prusaprinters.org/calculator/#stepspermmlead ) I set 320 steps per mm in my configuration file which leaves me with a resolution of 50 micron...
Now, what I don't get (and I wouldn't be suprised if I just have a thinking error here as I absolutely suck at maths); my Nema23 does 200 steps per full revolution (1.8°), my leadscrew has a pitch of 10mm. According to my brain 10mm/200 steps equals 50 micron, but where's the microstepping in that equation? I have it fully jumpered (which should be 1/16th if I'm not mistaken) so shouldn't it be a 16th of 50micron? My guts tell me that I'm probably an idiot, but it'd be great if someone could confirm that.
In case I'm all wrong and 50 micron is the lowest I can get with this setup. Would there be any way to further increase the resolution (to let's say 25 micron)? Other drivers, or something like that? A different leadscrew with a different pitch is not an option.
Thanks for the help!
Daniel
I finally started with my build and while everything seems to come together as planned so far, I still kind of struggle with the electronics.
I'm using an Arduino Mega with Ramps 1.4 and A4988 drivers. After some trial and error and a good amount of cursing I got my z-stage to work. When I hit the "move 10mm" button in CW it moves exactly 10mm, so I guess that's fine for now.
After throwing my numbers at the reprap calculator ( http://www.prusaprinters.org/calculator/#stepspermmlead ) I set 320 steps per mm in my configuration file which leaves me with a resolution of 50 micron...
Now, what I don't get (and I wouldn't be suprised if I just have a thinking error here as I absolutely suck at maths); my Nema23 does 200 steps per full revolution (1.8°), my leadscrew has a pitch of 10mm. According to my brain 10mm/200 steps equals 50 micron, but where's the microstepping in that equation? I have it fully jumpered (which should be 1/16th if I'm not mistaken) so shouldn't it be a 16th of 50micron? My guts tell me that I'm probably an idiot, but it'd be great if someone could confirm that.
In case I'm all wrong and 50 micron is the lowest I can get with this setup. Would there be any way to further increase the resolution (to let's say 25 micron)? Other drivers, or something like that? A different leadscrew with a different pitch is not an option.
Thanks for the help!
Daniel