Arduino Powered Stepper Motor Board (Open Source Hardware)
This board has an Arduino 328 built in that is compatible with other Arduino shields. USB is used to communicate, not the old parallel ports. It has 3 drivers built in but you can add more. There’s an output for a fan to cool it.
The EAGLE schematics will be released as open source hardware after Kickstarter is funded (which is July 16).
I started this project so robotics developers can get up and going with their project whether it is a CNC mill, laser engraver, 3d printer, or a world dominating robot.
I’ve had my share of disappointments with other drivers. Yes, I bought a China made driver from ebay lol. 2 out of 3 axes worked, not good for the price of $60. It only “works” on ancient computers with a parallel port and Ubuntu installed or some costly Windows software. Had fun with EasyDrivers after soldering all the many wires. I don’t mind doing the extra work if it functions but they do get extremely hot even with a cooling system. Also, I thought about how many people could be overwhelmed with not knowing how to solder and/or wire them together.
Check out the specs at kickstarter.
