Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System

Folks,

 

I am looking for some advice on driving some large stepper motors.  The motors are:

 

Slo-Syn MH172-FD-8030.  Size: 17 cm diameter, 30 cm long. Ratings: 2.3 VDC, 15.0 amps.

Slo-Syn MH112-FJ-4201. Size: 10 cm diameter, 26 cm long.  Ratings: 3.2 VDC, 4.0 amps.

 

We are currently driving these motors with Industrial Devices Next Step driver modules, using step and direction inputs from an OMS-58 VME motor controller.  The Next Steps run directly from 120 VAC, so they are capable of drive voltages well in excess of 100V.  They are all set to 6 Amps/phase.  The motors move fine. 

 

The problem is that the Next Step drive modules use PWM and are electrically very noisy.  Under certain conditions they can cause noise pickup on other motor step lines from the same VME crate, causing motors to move when they should not.  The noise also makes it impossible to conduct some experiments with low-level RF signals (like ultrasonics) near the motors, unless the Next Step drivers are turned off.

 

We tried to drive these motors in the past with the ACS SPD-6B driver.  This is a linear driver capable of 6 Amps/phase, but runs from a 48V supply.  We were unable to get it to drive the large motors at a reasonable speed.

 

I am looking for recommendations for a stepper motor driver that can drive these motors, but is much less electrically noisy than the Next Step. I would like a module that accepts step and direction inputs, rather than being a stand-along controller, so we don’t need to change software.

 

Thanks,

Mark