MP6500 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier (Potentiometer Current Control)

• Adjustable current, step and direction control for one bipolar stepper motor
• Operating voltage: 4.5 – 35 V
• Continuous current per phase: 1.5 A
• Logic voltage: 2.1 – 6 V
• Microstep resolutions: full, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8
• Uses an on-board trimmer potentiometer for setting the current limit

This MP6500 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier (Potentiometer Current Control) is a carrier board or breakout board for the MP6500 stepper motor driver from Monolithic Power Systems (MPS). It offers up to 1/8-step microstepping, operates from 4.5 V to 35 V, and can deliver up to approximately 1.5 A per phase continuously without a heat sink or forced airflow (up to 2.5 A peak).

This version of the board uses an on-board trimmer potentiometer for setting the current limit, and the board ships with 0.1″ male header pins included but not soldered in. It has a pinout and an interface that are very similar to A4988 carriers, so it can be used as a drop-in replacement for those boards in many applications.

Features

• Simple step and direction control interface
• Four different step resolutions: full-step, half-step, 1/4-step, and 1/8-step
• Adjustable current control lets you set the maximum current output, which lets you use voltages above your stepper motor’s rated voltage to achieve higher step rates
• Two current limit control options available: Potentiometer Current Control & Digital Current Control
• Internal current sensing allows the driver to automatically adjust the decay mode as necessary to provide the smoothest current waveform
• Built-in regulator (no external logic voltage supply needed)
• Can interface directly with 3.3 V and 5 V systems
• Over-temperature thermal shutdown, over-current shutdown, short circuit protection, and under-voltage lockout
• 4-layer, 2 oz copper PCB for improved heat dissipation