The SMDS4 is a 3U high track mounting motor drive system capable of housing a variety of different stepper motor drive cards including four-phase bipolar or unipolar (L/R) cards and also five-phase normal or microstepping drive cards. The following versions are available:

SMDS4-B 
Four channels of bipolar (PWM Chopper) drive for four-phase hybrid stepper motors at up to four amps per phase. Internal 300 watt 24-volt power supply.

SMDS4-L/R
Four channels of unipolar (L/R) drive for four-phase hybrid stepper motors at up to five amps per phase. External 1000 watt 24-volt power supply with hot-standby capability. External power series resistors.

SMDS4-5P
Four channels of bipolar (PWM Chopper) drive for five-phase hybrid stepper motors at up to 2.8 amps per phase. Internal 300 watt 24-volt power supply. A wide range of drive cards from the Oriental Motor company are housed on carriers including microstepping types.

Common Features

The electronics are housed on five internal 220 mm deep eurocards.

A common Logic Card houses interfacing electronics and status display LED’s at the front panel. This logic card rejects step pulses if a limit is hit and can (by jumper selection) switch on the drive output of each channel only when the step pulses are being received, to reduce power used.

Four drive cards of the chosen type also plug into the rear mounted motherboard.

At the rear of the chassis is a metal hood housing the power input connector (see detailed description below); four motor connectors (circular Trim Trio type) and the interface connections to the external controller (SCSI-2 cable to controller 8601 in VME64x chassis) and auxiliary signals (DB15 Cannon connector to encoder inputs and auxiliary circuits for extra limit switch inputs and control signals).

Bipolar drive cards have over-current fault detection with corresponding status output and output shut-off.

Two auxiliary outputs from the controller are routed to the auxiliary connector at the rear and one can be used on the drive card to control step angle (full/half step) or drive on/off, for example.

Detailed Descriptions

SMDS4-B

The SMDS4-B is a highly efficient and powerful bipolar chopped stepper motor drive system for use with the 8601 Industry Pack controller on an Industry Pack Carrier, normally in a VME64x chassis. It can be used with a wide variety of 2 or 4-phase bipolar or unipolar motors, up to frame size 34, double stack. Output drive is switch selectable for each motor up to 4 amps, equivalent to 6 amps unipolar drive from its 24 volt supply. The unit is self–contained and is housed in a 3U high rack mounting enclosure, with all connections at the rear. The power input connector is a fused and filtered IEC inlet for the auto-ranging 95-264 VAC 50-60Hz PSU.

Download the Users Manual for the SMDS4-B

SMDS4-L/R

The SMDS4-L/R is a unipolar (L/R) stepper motor drive system for use with the 8601 Industry Pack controller on an Industry Pack Carrier, normally in a VME64x chassis. It can be used with a wide variety of 4-phase unipolar motors, up to frame size 34, double stack. Output drive is fixed by externally mounted power series resistors. The unit is self–contained and is housed in a 3U high rack mounting enclosure, with all connections at the rear. The power input connector is a circular multipole Trim Trio 19-way connector cabled to the external switching power supply housed in a 1U shelf capable of current sharing with other modules in the 3-unit system.

Download the Users Manual for the SMDS4-L/R

SMDS4-5P

The SMDS4-5P is a highly efficient and powerful bipolar chopped stepper motor drive system for use with the 8601 Industry Pack controller on an Industry Pack Carrier normally in a VME64x chassis. It can be used with a wide variety of 5-phase motors. The drive card is a carrier for drive modules from the Oriental Motor company; a variety of types can be accommodated, ranging from simple 0.3 amp full/half step types, up to 2.8 amp microstepping versions. Output drive is set by potentiometer on the drive card and is controlled automatically by the drive module; reducing to a lower set value when the motor is not being moved. The unit is self–contained and is housed in a 3U high rack mounting enclosure, with all connections at the rear.

For more information Stepper Motor Control and Drive Overview