Getting motion from a stepper motor?

[Clive S]

Dave You could use something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stepper-mo...-/191228844298


How about a simple timer relay for the delay bit.

[magicniner]

A stepper with a PSU, driver and frequency generator will give you instant start at the set speed, to get ramp up and ramp down you'll need a little more complexity in your control system.
This one is crying out for a PLC, with PIC chips, Arduino etc. the world is the molusc of your choice where it comes to small control systems.
An Arduino with a few switches plus a stepper, stepper driver and PSU would give you what you need, with a little programming, you could even have a 3rd party write the software for you,
Regards,
Nick

[Davek0974]

Thanks CliveS that looks great but with the scant info listed does not look like it does acceleration. Yes a timer relay would work here.

Magicniner - thanks thats the second suggestion for the Arduino :( trouble is i have never seen one let alone programmed or used one.

Would there be any off-the-shelf products?

PLC would be my choice but going on past experience will likely blow the budget. I will pursue this option though to find out.

[magicniner]

Thanks CliveS that looks great but with the scant info listed does not look like it does acceleration.

Magicniner - thanks thats the second suggestion for the Arduino :( trouble is i have never seen one let alone programmed or used one.

Would there be any off-the-shelf products?

PLC would be my choice but going on past experience will likely blow the budget. I will pursue this option though to find out.

Dave,
An Arduino is to all intents and purposes a little PLC, it's worth a Google and have a look at what they can do and how easy the programming package is to learn, I've only dabbled to the morse code message from the on board LED stage,
Regards,
Nick

[cropwell]

If it were my task, I would go for an arduino base solution as you could have more precise control of the variables. As I have 4 Parker Digiplan drivers (integrated power supply type) I would use one to step the motor. The question was 'How simple' though and this would be another solution http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adjustable...3D191228844298

[Davek0974]

I will stick the Arduino on the list for looking at, i have been looking at those simple drivers but none have any ramp control and this will certainly need that.

[Clive S]

I will stick the Arduino on the list for looking at, i have been looking at those simple drivers but none have any ramp control and this will certainly need that.

You might be able to use it with the speed pot connected to the arduino to ramp the speed up and down

[cropwell]

The Arduino is well supported at www.arduino.cc There is a library of prebuilt code for stepper motor applications. If I get the time and enthusiasm I need to get down and do a stepper controller for various jobs. John S, some time ago, indicated to me the desirability of a rotary divider with programmable angles. The application in this thread is another good idea that could be programmed in a day (if I were up to speed, which I am not at the moment). I have got a raft of other projects on the list and probably not enough lifespan left to do them (based on current list !).

Cheers,

Rob

[Davek0974]

Thanks, looking now.

It seems what i want is not a stepper controller but a ramp pulse generator - the stepper controllers seem to want to run the motor themselves but i have a bigger drive to do that, this just needs to generate the step pulses in a trapezoidal ramp form.