TRINAMIC TMC2226-EVAL Evaluation Board for Stepper User Manual

TRINAMIC TMC2226-EVAL Evaluation Board for Stepper

The TMC2226-EVAL allows evaluation of the TMC2226 in combination with the TRINAMIC evaluation board system, or as stand-alone-board. It uses the standard schematic and offers several options in order to test different modes of operation

Features

• 2-phase stepper motor up to 2A RMS coil current
• Supply Voltage 5. . .28V DC
• UART
• 1…256 microsteps
• Step/Dir interface
• StealthChop2™ silent PWM mode
• SpreadCycle™ smart mixed decay
• StallGuard4™smart current control
• CoolStep™ smart current control

Applications

• Compatible Design Upgrade
• 3D Printers
• Printers, POS
• Office and home automation
• Textile, Sewing Machines
• CCTV, Security
• ATM, Cash Recycler
• Lab Automation
• HVAC

Simplified Block Diagram

Getting Started

You need

• TMC2226-EVAL
• Landungsbruecke with latest firmware. (The Startrampe does not support the UART interface.)
• Eselsbruecke bridge board
• Stepper motor (e.g. QMot line)
• USB interface
• Power Supply
• Latest TMCL-IDE V3.0 and PC
• Cables for interface, motors and power

Precautions

• Do not mix up connections or short-circuit pins.
• Avoid bundling I/O wires with motor wires.
• Do not exceed the maximum rated supply supply voltage!
• Do not connect or disconnect the motor while powered!
• START WITH POWER SUPPLY OFF!

First Start-Up

1. Make sure that the latest version of the TMCL-IDE 3.0 is installed. The TMCL-IDE can be downloaded from www.trinamic.com/support/software/tmcl-ide/.
2. Open the TMCL-IDE and connect the Landungsbruecke via USB to the computer. For Windows 8 and higher is no driver needed, on Windows 7 machines the TMCL-IDE is installing the driver automatically.
3. Verify that the Landungsbruecke is using the latest firmware version. The firmware version is shown in the connected device tree
4. The TMCL-IDE 3.0 needs room to show all important information and to provide a good overview. Therefore, arrange the main window related to your needs. We recommend using full screen. For evaluation boards it is essential to have access to the registers. Therefore open up the Register Browser (left side). For a better view click top right on the normal icon to get a maximized register browser window.
   5. The TMCL-IDE includes a dialogue for diagnostic tasks. Further, the dialogue provides an overview of the connected motion controller and driver chips. A window pops up immediately after connecting the evaluation kit the first time. The window shows the actual status of the connections. The second tab of the dialogue offers the possibility to choose basic settings or to reset the module to factory defaults.

Hardware Information

All design files for our evaluation boards are available for free. We offer the original ECAD files, Gerber data, the BOM, and PDF copies. Typically, the ECAD files are in KiCAD format. Some (older) evaluation boards may only be available in Eagle, Altium, or PADS format. Please check schematics for Jumper settings and input/output connector description. The files can be downloaded from the evaluation boards’ website directly at out homepage: TRINAMIC Eval Kit homepage.

Note If files are missing on the website or something is wrong please send us a note.

Onboard Jumpers
The TMC2226-Eval board has two jumpers to select between Step/Direction source between MCU and external pin header (lower right corner)

Evaluation Features in the TMCL-IDE

This chapter gives some hints and tips on using the functionality of the TMCL- IDE, e.g., how to use the velocity mode or some feature-based tools.

Note In order to achieve good settings please refer to descriptions and flowcharts in the TMC2226-SA data sheet. The register browser of the TMCL-IDE provides helpful information about any currently selected parameter. Beyond that, the data sheet explains concepts and ideas which are essential for understanding how the registers are linked together and which setting will fit for which kind of application. For getting more familiar with the evaluation kit in the beginning of your examinations, drive the motor using velocity mode and/or positioning mode first. Beyond this, the direct mode function can be used. This way, TMCL commands can be sent to the evaluation board system

Velocity Mode
To move the motor in velocity mode, open the velocity mode tool by clicking the appropriate entry in the tool tree. In the velocity mode tool you can enter the desired velocity and acceleration and then move the motor using the arrow buttons. The motor can be stopped at any time by clicking the stop button. Open the velocity graph tool to get a graphical view of the actual velocity.

Note In order to get a more accurate graphical velocity view, close the register browser window when using the velocity graph.

Position Mode
To move the motor in position mode, open the position mode tool by clicking the appropriate entry in the tool tree. In the position mode tool you can enter a target position and then start positioning by clicking the Absolute or Relative Move button. The speed and acceleration used for positioning can also be adjusted here. Open the position graph tool to get a graphical view of the actual position.

Note In order to get a more accurate graphical position view, close the register browser window when using the position graph.

ChipClick
To configure the control pins for the TMC2226-EVAL, open the ChipClick tool by clicking the appropriate entry in the tool tree. To view a description of a pins possible configurations, hover the mouse over the pin in the graphical view. To change the pins state, click on it.

StallGuard4™ Tuning
To tune StallGuard4™ properly you need to set the current for the motor first, e.g. 1A RMS. After that you specify the velocity to run the motor with. This could be 75 rpm as in this example. You can use the TMCL IDE to calculate the velocity with the “Parameter calculator” tool shown in the list on the left when connecting the board.

In the TMCL IDE you can use the CoolStep™ & StallGuard4™ graph where the StallGuard4™ value is shown in blue. There are two parameters that need tuning for proper StallGuard4™ use. StallGuard4™ Threshold (SGT), will need to be tuned by raising or lowering the SGT value. The goal of SGT it so have it hit 0 before a stall occurs. If the SGT is too high, a step loss will occur and you need to lower it. In the picture you see two regions. In the first region the SGT value was too high. It was set to 10 and with loading the motor you can see the value does not reach 0. In the second region the SGT value was set to 4 which results in hitting the 0 axis just short before the motor stalls.

With optimal StallGuard4™ settings you can optionally activate CoolStep™

CoolStep™ Tuning
With the TMCL IDE and the EVAL-KIT you have a powerful tool to find your CoolStep™ to run your motor most energy efficient and cool. To tune it, please open the CoolStep™ & StallGuard2™ or StallGuard4™ window you’ll find on the left of the IDE when you have connected the EVAL board. On the CoolStep™ tab you will see below picture by default.

CoolStep™ will get activated as soon as you change the “Hysteresis start” value higher than 0 and enter a “Threshold speed” value higher than 0.

The above values activate CoolStep™ but the values can be fine tuned to make CoolStep™ work reliable and in a way as you need it in your application. For that it is important to understand what each setting is doing.

• Current minimum : The current minimum setting will be the lowest current when CoolStep™ is activated. With 1A RMS the current will either be reduced to a quarter or to the half of this current when no or less force is applied to the motor shaft.
• Current down step : Current down steps defines the speed of the current to drop down after load gets released from the motor shaft.
• Current up step: This setting defines the step height when hitting the lower StallGuard2™ or Stall- Guard4™ threshold (Hysteresis start).
• Hysteresis width : This setting defines the area of the StallGuard2™ or StallGuard4™ threshold (Hysteresis end).
• Hysteresis start : This setting defines the switching point, related to the StallGuard2™or StallGuard4™ value, to boost up the current by one step.

Revision History

Document Revision

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