the motors:
SNAP SM-062: completely integrated motor, gearhead, encoder, amplifier and servo controller
(info website) [
snapmotors.com]
(sales website) [
www.saelig.com]
After waaaay more learning than i was prepared for (i know
nothing about electronics of any sort), and constant communication with the man who designed these motors, I have finally gotten these things running via step/direction commands, dirrectly from my RAMPS 1.4 board (where the drivers plug in). As you will note, they have an excellent resolution! I originally bought these and build a FAb@Home Model 2, but that turned out to be a software catastrophe, and the gantry is a bit of a joke anyway. So, i am building a CoreXY based printer, using these motors, since i have them.
why is this a big deal? well, first of all, now i'm not out ~$960 for the 5 motors and 1 control hub! so there's that..Also, the control chip uses a proprietary language, MotionBasic, which is not pleasant to deal with, if you, like myself, are unfamiliar with both programming and electronics. plus, show me a stepper motor that can get this resolution!
As an added bonus, i can now run a seperate program, which tells me the encoder count, in user-specified increments (essentially stepsp/mm or inch) These motors, once configured to run in step/direction, still use the internal controller chip, with a PID algorythm to ensure proper placement, everytime. Poor PID tuning would of course result in overshooting, but still the correct end position. If anyone is interested in this, i will keep an eye on this thread, and i would be happy to answeer your questions, within the limited scope of my knowledge.
