Arcsin

3-Axis Bipolar Micro-Stepping Motor Driver

With Integrated Joystick Control
Setup and Operating Manual
Verson 2.5 12-19-2005

1
 Index
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Technical Description and Specifications 3

• Disclaimer and Safety Concerns 4

• Unpacking and setting up the Arcsin 5

• Additional items needed to get the Arcsin running 6

• Arcsin Start-Up Guide 7

• Arcsin Configuration and Operation

o Hardware Configuration 9
o Configuring your CNC software to run Arcsin 14
o Joystick Setup and Control 15
o Motor Power supply 18
o Optical Isolation and Optoisolator Power Supply 20
o Stepper Motor Discussion 22

• Parts Layout/Location and interconnection drawings 25-26

• Troubleshooting and debugging flowcharts 27-28

2
Technical Description and Specifications
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for purchasing the Arcsin! This board was designed by two hobby-level CNC guys with a
broad range of experience in electronic engineering, software engineering, CNC, and garage tinkering!
Our passion to build a product that addresses specific hobby-level CNC needs resulted in a unique
product with a unique name: Arcsin!

The Arcsin is a full-featured 3-axis Bipolar Micro-stepping stepper motor driver with Integrated Joystick
control. Arcsin is designed around the LMD18245 dual H-Bridge IC by National Semiconductor and
takes full advantage of this component. The core logic is handled by a dedicated PIC micro-controller on
each axis running custom firmware written in both C and assembly language. The Integrated Joystick
functionality on the Arcsin board is a first in hobby-level stepper-motor drivers. This feature is
especially useful for reducing CNC setup time by giving the operator the ability to position the cutting
head exactly where needed before running a CNC program. The Arcsin can also be used without a PC
for manual machining or motor spinning!

Arcsin features:

• 3 axis bipolar microstepping motor driver.

• PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) technology.
• 20Mhz onboard microcontrollers for precise digital control.
• Fixed off-time current chopping. No bulky series resistors needed between the controller and
the motors.
• Full, half, quarter, and eighth microsteps switchable with onboard dipswitches.
• Simple, accurate current setting by means of standard 1/4w resistors. Resistors plug in (easy
to change, no soldering).
• Fully integrated digital joystick control for accurate positioning of the cutting head. All three
axes of the Arcsin can be run without a PC for testing and/or motor spinning.
• Parabolic ramping algorithm on joystick control for higher motor speed and silky smooth
acceleration. Can be enabled/disabled via onboard dipswitch.
• Joystick speed potentiometers for each axis, or you can jumper them together so a single pot
controls the speed for all three.
• All DMOS H-bridge power section delivering 3A per phase continuous (6A peak) at up to
48V max.
• Idle current reduction configurable to any percentage by means of standard 1/4w resistors
which plug in.
• Thermal shutdown @ 155 degrees Celsius.
• High speed Optoisolators on step/dir signals to reduce signal noise and protect PC.
• Separate power planes for logic and opto supplies that can be jumpered together or split for
ultimate noise suppression.
• Onboard 5v regulator for Logic-supply.
• Ribbon cable connector for additional slave driver when 2 motors are needed for a single
axis.
• Direct parallel port connection.
• 30 KHz max step rate.
• Expansion connector header for connection of additional interface circuitry if desired.
3
Disclaimers and Safety Concerns
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Buildyouridea.com has made every effort to provide you with a top-quality stepper motor driver
board that is simple to set up and safe to use. Close attention should be paid to warnings and safety
advisories to avoid damage to the Arcsin board and damage to yourself! Look for the STOP signs in
the documentation and make sure you read the associated text!

• Hazardous voltages and current levels exist on the Arcsin board. Disconnect all power to the
Arcsin board before touching the board! Disconnect all power before configuring jumpers, DIP
switches or resistor values!

• The voltages applied to Arcsin power connections must not exceed ratings or Arcsin may be
damaged.

• Motor power must be turned off when connecting or disconnecting stepper motors or Arcsin
may be damaged

• Pay attention to the Polarity Matters Icon! When you see this, double check to make sure that
you are using the correct polarity on the connection! The polarity of power connections must
be observed or Arcsin will be damaged.

• The owners and designers of the Arcsin controller do not accept any responsibility regarding
content, errors, omissions or the correctness of the information contained in this manual. Use the
information contained herein at your own risk. The owners and designers are not responsible for any
loss or accident to you or to third-parties including loss of business, loss of sale, equipment or
property damage, injury or death resulting from or to you or other third-parties using the information
contained herein.

• CNC machines are dangerous and can cause injury or even death. The owners and designers of
the Arcsin controller cannot be held responsible for any injuries or damage (to people or property)
caused through the use or misuse of the Arcsin controller.

4
Unpacking and Setting up the Arcsin
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unpack your Arcsin board and briefly familiarize yourself with it. (Refer to the Arcsin Parts Layout
drawing on page 25 to help you do this.) Don’t try to understand everything on the drawing at this
point; just give yourself an overview. Note that there were some extra resistors included with your
Arcsin. These are for setting different current and/or current-reduction settings. See pages 9 and 10 for
information on configuring these settings.

Package Contents

1. Qty (1) Arcsin 3 axis stepper motor driver board in sealed ESD bag. Note: The Arcsin drive
current is factory set to 3 amps with the 6.8k resistors (blue/grey/red). The Arcsin idle current
reduction is factory set to ~40% of full current with the 680 ohm (blue/grey/brown) resistors.
2. Qty (3) 3.9k resistors for setting an idle current reduction to ~20% (~80% of full current)
3. Qty (6) 20k resistors for setting drive current to 1 amp.
4. Qty (6) 10k resistors for setting drive current to 2 amps.
5. Qty (1) Arcsin setup and operators manual.

5
Additional Items needed to get the Arcsin Running
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Refer to the Arcsin Interconnection Diagram on page 26 as you read this.)

• Logic Power Supply: A 9 to 20 volt at 100 milliamp or more DC power supply. A plug-in
supply (wallwort) will work fine here. For this power supply a 9 volt supply is preferable to a 20
volt one. NOTE: If you connect a 12 volt fan to the Fan Power connector on Arcsin, the Logic
Power Supply voltage should not exceed 15 volts. If a fan is installed, the current rating of the
power supply must be increased to include the current requirement of the fan.

• Motor Power Supply: A 12 to 48 volt DC power supply with adequate current capacity to
power the motors you intend to use. For this power supply a 48 volt supply is preferable to a 12
volt one. See the Motor Power supply discussion on page 18 for further information.

• Optoisolator Power Supply (optional): A 5.0 volt at 50 milliamp power supply. This power
supply must be isolated (have a separate ground) from the Logic and Motor power supplies. See
the Optoisolator Power supply discussion on page 20 for further information.

• Cooling Fan (optional): A small 12 volt cooling fan. Virtually any P.C. type cooling fan will do
the trick. NOTE: If you connect the fan to the Fan Power connector on Arcsin, the Logic Power
Supply voltage should not exceed 15 volts.

• P.C. Parallel Port Cable: A DB25 Male to DB25 Female straight-through cable with a
maximum length of 25 feet (shorter is better.)

• Joystick (optional): A joystick or switch arrangement that provides individual contact closures
(switches) for X+,X-,Y+,Y-,Z+,Z- movement. See the Joystick discussion on page 15 for further
information.

• Joystick Speed Control Potentiometer(s) (optional): 1 to 3 potentiometers (pots) with a

resistance rating of anywhere from 1K to 10K (1000 to 10000) ohms. Any value in this range
will work identically. See the Joystick on page 15 for further information.

• Stepper Motor(s): Up to 3 each 4, 6, or 8 wire stepper motors (5 wire steppers will not work)
suited to your application. See the Stepper Motor discussion on page 23 for further information.

• Computer and Software: A computer with a P.C. compatible parallel (printer) port and CNC
software that is capable of using the parallel port to drive Step/Direction motor drives. See page
14 for more information on configuring your CNC software to run the Arcsin.

6
Arcsin Start-Up Guide
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Refer to Arcsin Parts Layout and Interconnection drawings on pages 25 and 26 as you proceed.)
1. Position or mount the Arcsin p.c. board so the back of the board cannot short out to anything. A
piece of plastic or any non-conductive material will work for this.

2. (Factory Default Setting) Plug in the appropriate current setting resistors for each axis (2 per
axis). If you don’t know what value to use, just leave the factory default setting of 6.8K ohm
resistors (blue/grey/red) (full 3 amps per phase) for now.

3. (Factory Default Setting) Plug in the appropriate idle-current setting resistor for each axis. If
you don’t know what value to use, just leave the factory default setting of 680 ohm
(blue/grey/brown) resistors for now.

4. Connect one of the outside leads of the joystick potentiometer to the +5v screw terminal on the
joystick terminal block. Connect the other outside lead of the potentiometer to the GND terminal
block. Connect the center lead of the potentiometer to the Xpot screw terminal.

5. (Factory Default Setting) Place a shorting block over terminals a and b of jumpers J1 and J2
to connect Opto Power Supply to Logic Power Supply for now.

6. (Factory Default Setting) Place shorting blocks horizontally across the Y and Z portions of the
J3 jumper field to gang the joystick speed control for the Y and Z axes to the X axis for now.

7. Set the microstep-resolution DIP Switches to the appropriate settings. If you don’t know what
settings to use, leave the switches in the default full step position.

8. Connect your stepper motors to the motor terminal blocks. Be sure to connect one winding of a
motor to the first two terminals on a block, and the other winding to the second two terminals. If
you are not sure about the wiring of your motors, refer to the Stepper Motor discussion on page
23 of this manual.

9. Connect your Logic Power Supply to its terminal block. Remember: Polarity Matters!

10. Connect your Motor Power Supply to its terminal block. Be sure to observe polarity. NOTE: If
you are using a 12 volt supply for the motors (this can be done, but is only recommended for
testing), you can use the same power source for your logic supply. Just wire the motor supply
and logic supply terminals together.

11. Connect a cooling fan to the Fan Power header. Be sure to observe polarity. Orient the fan so it
blows toward the heat sink. (The fan is optional, but recommended.)

7
12. Connect one end of a 6 inch piece of jumper wire to one of the GND terminals on the Joystick
terminal block. Strip 1/8” of insulation off the other end of the jumper. This will be used to test
operation from joystick input.

13. Recheck all the connections and settings made thus far.

Before powering on the Logic and Motor Power Supplies, double check your
power connections to make sure that the correct polarity is being used!

14. Power on the Logic Power Supply only (unless you are using a single supply). The Logic
Power LED should light and the fan should start running.

15. Power on the Motor Power Supply. At this point the stepper motor rotors should lock. This is
absolutely normal and is a requirement for stepper motor drivers. If the motors did not lock when
idle, the axes on the CNC machine would not remain fixed.

16. Tap the joystick jumper wire on the X+,X-,Y+,Y-,Z+,Z- terminals of the joystick terminal
block. The appropriate stepper motor should respond by jogging one direction for a tap on the
(+) terminal for that axis, and the other direction for a tap on the (–) terminal.

17. Power off the Motor and Logic Power Supplies.

18. Configure your CNC software to work with Arcsin. See the Arcsin Configuration on page 14
for the required settings.

19. Connect Arcsin to the parallel (printer) port of your P.C. Use a DB25Male-DB25Female
interconnecting cable.

Before powering on the Logic and Motor Power Supplies, double check your
power connections to make sure that the correct polarity is being used!

20. Power on the Logic and Motor Power Supplies.

21. Start your CNC software on the computer and test stepper operation with the software. (The
means of testing will depend on your software, but it is likely that there will be some type of
‘Jog’ functionality that will allow you to rotate the steppers for each axis.)

8
Arcsin Configuration and Operation
Arcsin Hardware Configuration:
(Configuration of the items in this section will be done on the Arcsin board.)
• Setting motor drive current setting – plug-in resistors R3, R5, R8, R10; R13, R15. (Several
example values are listed on the layout drawing. See below for calculation formula.)

Figure 1

Motor Current-Setting Resistor Calculation Formula

Resistor values for any motor drive current from .5 amp to 3 amps can be calculated using
the formula (Resistor value in ohms) = 20000/(Current setting in amps). Do not use a
resistance value of less than 6200 Ohms (6.2Kohms).
Example: For a current setting of 1.5 amps the resistor values would be 20000/1.5 or 13333
ohms. Use the nearest standard resistor value, which is 13k ohms.

9
• Stepper motor Idle-Current-Reduction setting – plug-in resistors R17, R18, R19. (See below
for an example of how to calculate the resistor values for idle-current reduction). Idle current
reduction occurs after approximately 3 seconds of inactivity on the parallel port step/dir input
pins. On the following step or direction input from the parallel port, the Arcsin will return to full
current drive mode with no missed steps.

Figure 2

Motor Idle-Current-Reduction-Percentage Resistor Calculation Formula

Resistor values for any idle-current-reduction percentage can be calculated using the
formula (Resistor value in ohms) = (1000-(1000*Current reduction percentage as a
decimal))/(Current reduction percentage as a decimal)
Example: For an idle-current-reduction percentage setting of 30 percent (i.e. idle current will
be 70% of full current) the resistor value would be (1000-1000*.3)/.3 which equals 700/.3
which equals 2333 ohms. Use the nearest standard resistor value, which is 2400 ohms.

10
• Micro-step-resolution setting – DIP switches X, Y, and Z. Refer to Arcsin board or Figure
below for DIP Switch Settings.

Figure 3

11
• Optoisolator power supply source selection – jumper blocks at J1 and J2

Figure 4

• There are plans to have the Opto Supply power come from an Arcsin expansion card that is
currently under development. Leaving both jumpers off will enable this feature when the
expansion card is installed.

12
• Joystick Speed Control pot ganging selection – jumper blocks at J3

Figure 5

13
Configuring your CNC software to run Arcsin

Arcsin connects to your computer’s parallel (printer or LPT) port and accepts step and direction
pulses from your computer. CNC software running on your computer sends these step and direction
signals to the Arcsin board. (Configuration of the items in this section will be done in your CNC
software.)

Arcsin has been thoroughly tested with TurboCNC, a popular CNC software package available from
http://www.dakeng.com and is a recommended CNC software package for use with the Arcsin.
Configuration related discussion of TurboCNC is outside of the scope of this manual and will not be
included. Please see TurboCNC documentation for details on how to set-up TurboCNC with your
Arcsin. Arcsin will work with many popular CNC software packages using step and direction signals
through the parallel port. Your CNC software must be able to configure the parallel port pins as
follows:

Parallel Port Pin Assignments:

• X Axis Step: Pin 2; Direction: Pin 3
• Y Axis Step: Pin 4; Direction: Pin 5
• Z Axis Step: Pin 6; Direction: Pin 7

Parallel Port Logic Polarity and Timing:

• Step and Direction Pulse Logic(polarity): Negative (-)
• Step and Direction Pulse Width: 5uSec(microseconds) nominal (2 to 20uSec are acceptable)

14
Joystick Setup and Control

Joystick Potentiometers
Begin by selecting appropriate pots to control the jog-speed of the motors. You may use any
resistance value from 1K to 10K ohms. The pots do not need to have a high power rating since
only a few milliamps of current flows through them. You should, however, use pots that are
fairly sturdy and knobs that are easy to grip i.e. ‘trimpots’ are not desirable. I use surplus 10k
pots with nice heavy-duty leads so I can easily solder wires to them.

Now you must determine whether you want a single pot to control the speed of each axis, individual
pots controlling each axis, or if you want some combination of the two. Jumper J3 is used to gang
two or more axes together to support different configurations. I find that using one pot to control the
X and Y axes and a separate pot for the Z axis works great. If you decide to follow this
recommendation, connect your pots to the Arcsin as shown below:

Remember: you must set the J3 jumpers as shown below for this configuration to work
correctly:

Figure 6

The jog-speed of each axis can be changed while the stepper motor is moving i.e. jog speed
dynamically follows the setting of the associated speed control pot.

15
Ramping
Another important Arcsin feature that allows for higher maximum stepper motor speed is ramping.
Without motor ramping, the motor would essentially be trying to go from a standstill to a maximum
speed instantaneously, resulting in a motor stall. Ramping works by taking the motor from a
standstill to a maximum speed along a ramped profile. The motor starts off slow and then gradually
increases in speed until it reaches some maximum.

It turns out that a parabolic ramping profile is the ideal shape for obtaining high step rates with a
stepper motor. This parabolic profile is implemented in the Arcsin firmware and is tuned to provide
optimal performance over a variety of different stepper motor types. Since ramping is only useful at
the higher step rates, the Arcsin is designed so that ramping does not take effect until the joystick pot
is within 30% of its maximum. Ramping may also be disabled by setting DIPSW position 1 to off
(Figure 8).

Figure 7

16
Joystick Switches
Almost any type of normally open, momentary switch will work. The current through the
switch contacts is only a few milliamps so there is no need for switches with a high current
rating. For the X and Y axes, a standard arcade-type micro-switch joystick works well.
Joysticks can be purchased separately from Buildyouridea.com if you do not have one. If you
do opt to use a joystick, remember that the micro-switches on some joysticks have both
normally open and normally closed contacts. Be sure to use the normally open contacts.

For the Z axis, a pair of momentary pushbutton switches works well. I’ve found that two
pushbutton switches enable me to accurately set the Z height of the cutter or bit before I start
the cut. Momentary single-pole-double-throw-center-off (SPDT spring-return center-off)
toggle switches will also work well. If you don’t have (or don’t want to use) a joystick, 6
pushbutton switches or 3 toggle switches (or even a mix of the two) will do the job.

A generic switch level view of the joystick wiring is shown below:

Figure 8
Joystick Operation/Functionality
The joystick inputs of Arcsin are used to jog (move) the X, Y, and Z axes under the control of
external switches such as a joystick. This movement is independent of any computer commands.
The joystick can be used without a computer being connected to the Arcsin. If a computer is
connected, the joystick commands override any commands being sent by the computer. This is
especially handy if you have to adjust the Z depth of a cut while the CNC machine is in motion.

17
Motor Power Supply Discussion
The bottom line:
The higher the voltage output of the motor power supply, (up to the absolute maximum rating of 48
volts for the Arcsin) the better.
The simplest and most reliable power supply is a linear, unregulated supply i.e. a transformer,
rectifier, and filter capacitor.
Calculating Motor Power Supply Current Requirements:
• The wattage requirement for the motor power supply will be approximately the total motor
wattage divided by 70% (system efficiency).
• The current rating requirement for the motor power supply will be the (Wattage
Requirement)/(Power Supply Voltage Under Load).
• Here are calculations for a hypothetical system using the following motors:
• X axis stepper rating per winding: 5 volts at 3 amps.
• Y axis stepper rating per winding: 5 volts at 3 amps.
• Z axis stepper rating per winding: 2 volts at 2 amps.
• Motor wattages:
• X = 5 volts x 3 amps x 2 windings = 30 watts
• Y= 5 volts x 3 amps x 2 windings = 30 watts
• Z= 2 volts x 2 amps x 2 windings = 8 watts
• Total motor wattage = 68 watts
• System wattage requirement:
• Motor Wattage / System Efficiency = 68 watts / 70% = 97 watts
• Motor Power Supply Current Requirement:
• For a 40 volt (under load) power supply: 97 watts / 40 volts = 2.4 amps.
• For a 12 volt (under load) power supply: 97 watts / 12 volts = 8.1 amps.

The Whys and Wherefores:

You might be thinking “My motor says 4 volts at 3 amps on its nameplate. If I hook 48 volts or even 12
volts to my system won’t it burn up my motor? And besides, since my motor only requires 4 volts, why
should I even bother with a higher voltage power supply? Won’t that just make the system bigger and
less efficient? I also saw in the calculations that if you use a higher voltage you need less current and
that doesn’t make sense to me” and you should be wondering about this stuff!
First it is necessary to know a little about how a PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) drive the like Arcsin
works. In a PWM drive the current out of the drive to a motor winding is not simply turned on and left
on until the next step (or microstep) occurs. The current output is instead continuously monitored and
turned on only long enough for the current to reach the correct level and then turned off until the current
drops a bit below that level. This monitoring/switching sequence occurs at a high rate of speed –
generally around 20000 times a second – so the average current in the winding is correct for the current
step or microstep, even though the winding is connected to the power supply only a portion of the time.
Two things work together to determine the percentage of the time the winding is connected to power at
any point in time: the average current requested by the stepper drive for the current microstep, and the
output voltage of the power supply. The lower the current, the lower the duty cycle. The higher the
power supply voltage, the lower the duty cycle.
If you think about the previous paragraph, several of the questions answer themselves. Your motor
doesn’t burn up because Arcsin is continuously monitoring the current in each winding and
18
maintaining the proper average current at any time regardless of power supply voltage. It also makes
sense that power supply current drain goes down as power supply voltage goes up. If the voltage
going to the winding is higher it’s going to take less time for the current to reach the requested level.
That means that the percentage of the time the power supply will actually be connected to the motor will
go down as the power supply voltage goes up. If the duty cycle goes down, then the average current
drain on the power supply goes down as well.
So what kind of power supply is best? There’s no simple answer. It has to put out at least 12 volts. It
can’t put out more than 48 volts, even when unloaded. It has to have enough current capacity to power
your motors as calculated above. If you’re step rate is going to be low (up to a rotor speed of 60rpm or
so) the 12 volt output of an old P.C. power supply will probably get you by if it has sufficient current
capacity. If you have a regulated power supply with the output voltage you want and adequate current
capacity you need, that should work fine. If your regulated power supply is a switching supply (as
opposed to a linear supply), you
Power
should consider adding Transformer
Bridge
Rectifier Filter Capacitor(s)

additional filter capacitance Switch 2000-5000uF

per Amp of Bleeder

across the supply output (1000 or output current Resistor

2000 uF per amp of expected 115VAC

Input
Fuse Motor
Power
current drain should probably be Output
Secondary _
OK). Or you can throw together Voltage =
34V max R ohms <= 20 x output voltage
a very simple unregulated supply R watts >= (output voltage)^2 / R ohms

similar to the one to the right.

Figure 9
We’re still left wondering why to bother with a higher voltage power supply when it appears a 12 volt
supply will do just fine if it has the current capacity. Another good question. The short answer is that
your steppers will give you useful output torque at higher speeds if you use a higher power supply
voltage. A system that might start weakening at 120rpm with a 12 volt supply might be just as strong at
600rpm with a 40 volt supply.
Here’s why: Besides resistance, a stepper motor winding has another characteristic called inductance.
Resistance determines how much steady-state current will flow in the winding for a given applied
voltage. Inductance, on the other hand, determines how long it will take the current to reach a steady-
state value after voltage is applied. A stepper motor creates torque proportional to the current flowing in
its windings which produce magnetic flux in the motor’s stator. When the stepper is at rest, or is being
stepped at a low rate of speed, there is plenty of time for the current in the windings to reach its proper
level and thereby provide torque. As the step rate is increased, however, the rate of change of the
voltages across the windings increases and the current lags further and further behind because of the
winding inductance. This means that the current no longer has time to reach the full value requested and
therefore motor output torque decreases. Not a good thing. The way we get around this is by increasing
the power supply voltage. If you double the voltage impressed across an inductor, you halve the time it
takes for the current in that inductor to reach a given value (i.e. you halve the current rise time). It
follows that if you increased the voltage by a factor of ten, the current rise time to a given value would
be decreased by a factor of 10. That’s the phenomenon we’re taking advantage of by increasing the
power supply voltage. We’re making the system force current into the windings more quickly so that
we can step the motors more rapidly before the current falls behind to the point that output torque
suffers.
There’s another technical reason that higher supply voltages are desirable: The switching transistors in
Arcsin (as in any PWM drive) are not perfect switches. This causes them to produce heat during the
time they are turned on. The higher the supply voltage, the lower the duty cycle of the transistor
switches will be, thus reducing heating in the driver and increasing system efficiency to a degree.
19
Optical Isolation and Optoisolator Power Supply Discussion
The bottom line:
For the most stable operation of your system, set the Opto Supply Source Jumpers on Arcsin for
External and connect a separate, isolated, regulated 5.0 volt power supply rated at 50 milliamps or
more to the Optoisolator Power Supply Input terminal block. Refer to Arcsin Parts Layout drawing on
page 25 for parts locations and jumper settings. Or…
Set the Opto Supply Source Jumpers to Internal and omit the opto power supply for now. Set up and
test the system. If it is stable, you may not need separate opto power. If you have noise (glitch)
problems, you can add the opto supply later. Or…
Look at the notes below, and consider picking up opto power from your computer by one of the
‘unapproved’ methods. Any of these connection methods should result in the same stability as what
would be obtained by using a separate opto supply.
So what is Optical Isolation anyway? If you answer, “Well, it’s optical so it must have something to do
with lenses or light. And it’s isolation, so it must separate something from something else.” You are
absolutely correct! In the case of Arcsin, the opto part is the infrared LED and the photodiode inside a
chip called an optoisolator. The computer and the Arcsin electronics are isolated from each other
electrically. (By extension, all the stuff that connects to Arcsin (power supplies, motors, and joystick)
are also electrically isolated from the computer). You say, “But you show a cable from the computer to
Arcsin. Isn’t that an electrical connection? And you are correct. The actual isolation takes place right
at the input section of Arcsin, so actually the input section of Arcsin is electrically connected to the
computer. But all the rest of the circuitry is electrically isolated from the computer.
So why have it? The answer you impress your friends with is “To improve system noise immunity, of
course.” The real answer is that when you have motors that are turning on and off, and switches that
might spark a little, and maybe a router or other type of motor that might have some arcing in the
brushes, you have all kinds electrical glitches and spikes and bumps floating around your system. And,
believe it or not, many if not most of these glitches and bumps find their way around on the ground or
neutral wiring in the system (strange, huh?). Well, the motors and the big power supplies and the
switches and Arcsin, for that matter, are designed to handle these glitches pretty well as long as they are
wired up correctly. But the computer tends to get confused between glitches and data, and this causes
problems. So if we can break the ‘glitch path’ from the system to the computer, it’s a really good thing.
Since we know that the glitches travel along the ground wire as well as the other wires, we know we
ought to isolate all the wires coming out of the computer from the rest of the system. The easiest and
cheapest way to do this is with optoisolation. This is a vastly simplified explanation and there things like
‘ground loops’ and ‘single-point grounds’ and whoknowswhatelse that come into play here. But they all
come under the topic of improving noise immunity, so the answer you gave your friends is still accurate.
There is one (small) fly in the ointment, however: The optoisolator input circuitry on Arcsin (or any
other optically isolated drive that I know of, for that matter) requires a tiny bit of power for the circuitry
that connects to the computer. And since we know that we need to keep the grounds separate between
the computer and Arcsin, we also know that we can’t use the same power supply for this power as the
one we use for the rest of the power for Arcsin. It’s just a little bit of juice we need: 5 volts at a
twentieth of an amp or so. But it’s still a hassle. If there was a way to get power from the computer’s
power supply, that would be ideal. We actually can, but they haven’t made it easy: You can open the
computer and connect to one of the 5 volt power leads and bring the wire out the back of the case. Or
you can pick it up from the game port on the computer if you know how. Or you can get it from a USB
port if you know how. None of these methods is ‘approved’ by the P.C. folks, so you’re on your own if
you use any of them. The other way is to get a small 5 volt power supply (a 5 volt regulated wallwort
would work just fine) and use it. This small extra power supply is the Optoisolator Power Supply.
20
 ‘Unapproved’ Methods for Obtaining Optoisolator Power from the P.C.
Read this first!!!:
If you choose to use any of the following connection (Obligatory) Disclaimer
methods, you’re on your own. We have used them Buildyouridea.com and its
ourselves in the past, but we understood that we ourselves affiliates will not be responsible
were solely responsible. for direct or incidental damage
The primary risk in using any of these connections is that you to hardware, software, or data
might accidentally short out the 5 volt supply of the P.C. by that occur as a result of the user
shorting together the wires you have connected. This attempting to make any of these
probably will not burn up the P.C., but it could certainly modifications to his computer.
scramble the P.C.’s data if it happened at the wrong time.
There is a simple way to remove most of the risk outlined above: Install a current-limiting resistor:
At the computer end of your wiring connection, connect a 10 ohm (brown/black/black) ¼ watt
resistor directly to the +5V connection point or port terminal you choose to use in the computer.
Then connect the positive wire going out to ARCSIN to the other end of that resistor. This will limit
the short-circuit current in the positive wire to about ½ amp, which should not affect the computer’s
operation, should the wire become shorted to ground. If the wire does become shorted to ground for
any longer than a few seconds, the 10 ohm resistor will overheat and eventually burn itself out. If
this happens, just replace the resistor. It is strongly recommended that a current limiting resistor
be installed. And be sure to power off the computer while you are doing any of this work. Also
power the computer off before you plug your external cabling the first time.

Places You Can Get 5V Power from A P.C.

USB Port (A or B connector) Computer Power Wiring Harness

Pin 1: +5V. Pin 4: Ground Inside a P.C. there will be a number of 4
Pins 1 and 4 are the outside pins conductor connectors with black, red, and
of the row of four. yellow wires going to them. Some or all of
Use a meter to verify voltage the connectors may already be plugged
polarity before connecting to onto floppy, CDROM, or hard disk drives.
ARCSIN. Both of the black wires to each of these
connectors is ground. The red wire is +5V.
The yellow wire is +12V.

Game Port (DB15 connector) Otoisolator supply voltage can be obtained

Pins 4,5: Ground. Pins 8,9: +5V. by connecting to any of the Red (+5V) and
Use a meter to verify voltage the adjacent Black (Gnd) wires. Use a
polarity before connecting to meter to verify both voltage and polarity
ARCSIN. before connecting to ARCSIN.

21
Stepper Motor Discussion
The bottom line:
Unfortunately, there is no simple bottom line on the subject of stepper motors unless it might be that
new is better than used, bigger is better than smaller(but not always), and try to get the best price on
them that you can. Not much help. Let’s just start with a bunch of things we know, and work from
there.
Stepper Motor Facts
(Arcsin is a Bipolar PWM stepper drive system. The facts below apply to a system incorporating
Arcsin or essentially any system utilizing modern Bipolar PWM drives.)
• Arcsin works with 4, 6, or 8 wire stepper motors (see the figure below).
• Arcsin works with 2 phase (and not with 5 phase) stepper motors.
• Stepper motors with low voltage ratings (i.e. low winding resistances) will generally perform
better at higher speeds than motors with higher voltage ratings, assuming equal torque ratings for
the motors.
• You can use a stepper motor with practically any voltage rating. The motor voltage rating does
not dictate the motor power supply voltage. You can use a 2 volt stepper and a 24 volt power
supply (and the motor will actually perform very well). You can use a 24 volt stepper and a 12
volt power supply and nothing will be damaged (the torque/speed performance of the motor will
be awful, however).
• It is fine to use a stepper motor with a higher current rating than the drive (3 amps for Arcsin).
You just won’t get the full rated torque from the motor. You may, however, get a considerably
higher percentage of full torque than the current percentage would indicate, depending on the
motor. For example, running a 5 amp motor at 3 amps (60% of rating) might deliver 80% of
rated torque in some cases.
• It is usually fine to use a slightly higher drive current (say 20 or 30 percent) than the rating of the
stepper motor in order to try to get a bit of extra torque from the motor. This may or may not
help. If you do this you must set the idle current well below the motor’s current rating to
reduce heating.
• Two phase stepper motors come in many different sizes and shapes and in many different step
increments (degrees per step, or steps per revolution). For CNC applications where Arcsin (or
other similar drive systems for that matter) is used it is generally recommended to use 1.8 degree
per step (200 steps per revolution) motors in either NEMA 23 or NEMA 34 frame sizes. For a
given general motor design, voltage and torque rating, a NEMA 23 size motor will generally
perform better at high step rates than a NEMA 34 motor.

1a 1b 2a 2b 1a 1b 2a 2b All Two-Phase Steppers have two field

2
1
(or phase) windings. These windings
2 Phase Stepper may have an additional connection in
4 Wire 6 Wire Motor Wiring the center (5,6 wire), may be
Motor Motor Conventions connected together inside the motor (5
wire), or each may be split into two
1a 1b 2a 1,2 1a 1d 2a 2d 1a 1b 2a 2b
halves (8 wire). The number of wires
2b
1b 1c 2b 2c 1c 1d 2c 2d a motor has does not affect the motor’s
basic electromechanical
5 Wire 8 Wire 8 Wire characteristics. There just have to be
Motor
This wiring configuration
Motor Motor enough wires to provide external
Series Parallel
will not work with ARCSIN
or any other bipolar drive.
Wired Wired
access to all the winding terminals.
22
Note that there are two different connection methods for an 8 wire motor. How would you know which
one is best? The short answer is that for 8 wire motors with relatively low voltage ratings and high
current ratings, the series wiring scheme is generally best; for high voltage ratings and low current
ratings, the parallel scheme is best. (It’s important to realize that with the parallel scheme only half of
the drive current flows in each half of the phase winding, while in the series scheme, each half of the
winding receives full current.) Here are some hypothetical examples:
• Winding current rating: 1 amp; voltage rating: 12 volts total or 6 volts per winding half: For best
speed/torque performance wire the motor parallel and set the drive current for 2 amps.
• Winding current rating: 3 amps; voltage rating: 5 volts total or 2.5 volts per winding half: For
best speed/torque performance within Arcsin’s ratings wire the motor series and set the drive
current for 3 amps.
• Winding current rating: 2 amps; voltage rating: 12 volts total or 6 volts per winding half: For
best speed/torque performance within Arcsin’s ratings you will have to experiment: Wire the
motor series and set the drive current for 2 amps. Wire the motor parallel and set drive current
for 3 amps. Select the scheme that gives the best speed/torque performance in your application.
Notice that with the parallel scheme you are driving the motor with only 1.5 amps per winding.
Your low speed and holding torque will be less here than with the series scheme. BUT your high
speed torque may be better with this scheme because you are driving the windings with twice the
voltage per winding, thereby halving the current rise time (discussed in the motor power supply
section of the manual) thereby improving high-speed performance.
Deciphering ratings from stepper nameplates can be confusing. Sometimes a voltage and a current
rating are given, sometimes a resistance and a current rating, sometimes a resistance and a voltage
rating, and sometimes all three. If you are given two of the three ratings you can derive the third using
Ohm’s law. Ohms Law states that E = IR where E=Volts, I=Amps, R=Ohms. Here are the formulae:
Volts=Amps*Ohms Amps=Volts/Ohms Ohms=Volts/Amps.
Another confusion factor arises from the question as to whether the nameplate ratings are stated for
unipolar or bipolar drives. So what does it matter, you say? If you have a motor that is spec’ed (i.e. a
given torque for a given current) for unipolar operation, you only need about 2/3 that much drive
current from a bipolar drive like Arcsin. For example, if you use a bipolar motor with a current rating of
3 amps, this would only require 2 amps of drive current if you are driving the motor with a bipolar
drive. The problem is that oftentimes there is no indication on the motor nameplate whether the current
rating is for unipolar or bipolar operation. You can make an educated guess, however: If it’s a 4 wire
motor, you can bet that the current rating is for bipolar operation. If it’s a 5 or 6 wire motor, the rating
is probably for unipolar operation. If it’s an 8 wire motor, it’s anybody’s guess but there’s a somewhat
better chance that the rating is for bipolar operation.
As stated previously, the user has some latitude with drive currents – it’s always OK to under-drive a
motor; all that suffers is torque performance. It’s generally OK to over-drive a motor as much as 20 or
30 percent, understanding that more motor heating will occur. As long as the motor is not allowed to
overheat, things should be OK. Stepper motors are commonly rated to work up to 85 degrees centigrade
or more, so a motor may become very hot to the touch and still not be overheated. (As stated
previously, be certain to take advantage of the idle-current reduction feature of the drive to reduce
heating.) And, of course, good operating practice dictates that you either stay within the ratings of your
motors, or else use the minimum amount of drive current that will move your system reliably.

23
Stepping motors and drive systems can exhibit any number of weird behaviors that are difficult to
neatly categorize. We have discussed some of the more easily identifiable behavior and performance
issues, but many more questions may come up.
• If a stepping motor is wired or connected to the drive incorrectly, it may fail to do anything;
the rotor of the motor may just turn freely by hand. The rotor may only stutter in one place when
steps are applied. It may seem to want to turn one direction for awhile and then the other, even
when the direction signal to the drive remains constant. It may turn in only one direction
regardless of the direction signal sent to the drive. It may rotate only when stepped at a certain
rate and not at higher or lower rates. It may rotate correctly, but have very poor torque
performance.
• All stepping motors have electromechanical resonances. These resonances may cause the
motor to vibrate excessively at certain step rates. Motor output torque may drop to zero at
resonance, causing motor lockup to occur. Increasing microstep resolution (e.g. going from half-
step to quarter or eighth step) will reduce (but not eliminate) resonance effects. System step
rates for cutting and rapid traverse must not be near resonances. System step rate ramping must
be rapid enough to avoid resonance rates for any sustained period of time. Resonance rates are
different for an unloaded motor (i.e. on the bench) than for one integrated into a mechanical
system.
• A stepping motor in a system may randomly step, seemingly of its own accord. This probably
has nothing at all to do with the motor itself, but rather is caused by electrical noise getting
into the control system (generally between the computer and the drive) and being interpreted as
step pulses. (To check for this, be sure to turn on all your noise-producing machinery such as
spindle motor/router, air compressor, etc.) This has been discussed to some degree previously in
the Optical Isolation discussion.
• Repeatability of the system motor is poor (i.e. when a series of moves is sent to the system, the
resultant move is a slightly different distance from one time to the next.) Mechanical issues can
come into play here: There may be ‘give’ or ‘play’ in the mechanics of the system. If accuracy
is good when the system is run at slow speeds, but moves seem to shorten or become less
repeatable as speed increases, then you may be expecting too much speed/torque performance
from your motor, or you may have mechanical binding in the system that is not evident at lower
speeds (check lead screws especially). (Make certain that you have drive current set properly for
the motor in use.) If the system locks up immediately when a relatively high rate of speed is
attempted, check the step-rate ramping rate in your software: it may be ramping too rapidly. If
repeatability is poor at low step rates and moves tend to be longer than they should be, check the
system for electrical noise (see above). If repeatability is poor and moves tend to be short, check
for mechanical binding and check computer configuration for proper pulse polarity and timing.

24
 X Axis Stepper Motor Y Axis Stepper Motor Power Z Axis Stepper
Motor Output Power Motor Output Supply Input Motor Output
Indicator 12 - 48 VDC
LED

Motor Current Setting Resistors

+ X Axis Drive-
(R3, R5, R8, R10, R13, R15) Slaving Header
Example values: (future)
3 Amps: 6.8KOhms (blue/gray/red)
2 Amps: 10KOhms (brown/black/orange) Y Axis Drive-
1 Amp: 20KOhms (red/black/orange) Slaving Header
(These are installed in pairs of equal value. (future)
Currents are approximate. See manual for
calculation formula.)
Joystick Speed
Motor Idle-Current-Reduction Control Pot
Setting Resistor (R17. R18, R19) Ganging Jumpers
Example values: none Z-X
No reduction: Open
20% reduction: 3.9KOhms (orange/white/red) X-Y-Z Y-X
60% reduction: 680Ohms (blue/gray/brown)
(Reduction percentages are approximate. See Y-Z
manual for calculation formula.)

Microstep-Resolution Setting
DIP Switch (See setting
chart printed on board.)
Fan Power Connector
(voltage follows Logic _
Power input voltage)
Logic Power Supply Input + Joystick
Input
9 - 20 VDC @ ~100 mA+
fan current.
Logic Power Indicator LED

Optoisolator Power Supply

Input. 5.0 V @ ~50mA
+
Optoisolator Power-Source
Optioning Jumpers I/O and A Axis
P.C. Parallel Port Expansion
I/O Connector Header (future)
Internal (from External (from From Expansion
logic supply) terminal block) Header (future)
 Motor
Power
Supply
12 to 48vdc
neg pos
X axis Y axis Z axis
Stepper Stepper Stepper
Motor Motor Motor
1a 1b 2a 2b 1a 1b 2a 2b 1a 1b 2a 2b

Joystick
Assembly
switch common
XYZ pot bottoms
Z pot center
Y pot center
Logic
pos neg

X pot center
Power Z+ switch
Z- switch
Supply Y+ switch
9 to 20vdc Y- switch
X+ switch
@100mA+ X- switch
Fan current XYZ pot tops

neg pos
Optical Isolator
Power Supply
(Printer)
Parallel

5.0vdc@50mA DB25M/F Cable Computer

Port

(Optional -
see manual)
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