uStepper S-lite

uStepper S-lite is an ultra-compact Arduino compatible board, with integrated stepper driver and 12-bit rotary encoder, enabling the uStepper S-lite to be mounted directly on the back of your NEMA 17 size stepper motor. This makes it possible to develop applications using a stepper motor, without the need for long and messy wiring to an external Arduino/stepper shield. Furthermore the 12-bit rotary encoder ensures that the absolute position of the motor shaft can be tracked, enabling the uStepper S-lite to detect any loss of steps !

Application examples can be found here !

Hardware specs

The uStepper S-lite has the following hardware highlights:

• Compact design, fitting on the back of a NEMA 17 size stepper motor (41.8 mm x 41.8 mm)
• Incorporates the Trinamic TMC2208 with dynamic microstepping for very smooth operation
• Driver delivers 2 A current (peak)
• New upgraded 328PB MCU from microchip 
• 12-bit encoder (0.088 degrees resolution)
• Current is set in software by a simple command 
• 15 I/O 
• 6 Analog
• 7 PWM
• 2 x SPI 
• 2 x UART 
• 1 x I2C  
• Voltage 6.5 - 12 V
• Reverse polarity protection

All together making the uStepper S-lite a powerful standalone Arduino compatible stepper controller.

Stepper driver chip

For this version we have chosen to go with the TMC2208 stepper driver, in order to keep the price of the S Lite down, while not compromising performance ! This little chip might not be the most powerful chip available, but it packs a serious punch in terms of smooth and noiseless operation, while still enabling us to reduce the product price significantly over the original uStepper.

The TMC2208 features a whopping 1/256th microstepping interpolation algorithm, which means that it takes in 1/16th microstepping pulses, as send out by most 3D printer controllers for example, and dividing each of these into 16 substeps ! This means that the rotor inside the motor travels much shorter distances between the steps, and hereby significantly reduces the resonances generated by stepper motors. This in turn ensures that you gets the smoothest possible operation while keeping the noise to an absolute minimum !

Encoder

The uStepper S Lite uses the same type of encoder as the original ustepper. This AS5600 encoder from AMS, delivers 12 bits of resolution and has done the job very well the last three years for uStepper !

We have chosen to keep using this encoder on the S Lite since it delivers great performance for the money, and it enables us to keep using the same code as the current uStepper library.

Software Features

uStepper S-lite uses the code base of the original uStepper. This will give you a lot of functionality, and some of the key ones are:

• Closed loop position control
• Drop-in capability
• Simple move/stop commands
• Stall detection feedback
• Encoder diagnostics
• Multi-turn absolute position feedback (almost infinite revolutions)

How to install the uStepper S-lite on a NEMA 17 stepper motor

How to set up uStepper S-lite with Arduino

What's the difference between the old uStepper, uStepper S and uStepper S-lite?

Requirements for stepper motor:

uStepper S-lite fits standard NEMA 17 size stepper motors, that is stepper motors with a distance of 31 mm between center of holes (along the sides). The mount extends 2 mm down the side of the stepper motor, requiring you stepper to not have any obstacles like a connector conflicting with the mount. The magnet for the encoder is 6 mm in diameter, requiring a hole of at least this size. We have tested a couple of brands/models and not found problems with fitting uStepper S-lite. We can not be held responsible for stepper motor fitting problems - if in any doubt whether uStepper S-lite will fit your motor, contact us or buy the motor from us!