Hey, we just published a new application note about one of the
features on the upcoming GM215 - Sub-Microstepping. The GM215 has many new features that can get the most out of your stepper motor
and we will be posting about it here and on our website. As always, if
you have any questions please…
This circuit will quickly bring a servo motor to a stop without damaging the motor controls. While the circuit is shown with an unregulated power supply you can use any other kind.
This circuit uses two momentary switches; a momentary SPST normally open "POWER ON" switch and a momentary SPST…
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION NOTE (PDF)
This circuit protects stepmotor and servomotor drives from damage during periods of energy return when operating near maximum rated voltage. Energy return occurs when a large inertial load is rapidly decelerated from a high speed. The energy stored in…
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION NOTE (PDF)
The G320X uses a universal optoisolator interface polarity circuit. The 'COMMON' terminal (term. 10) may be ground-referenced or 5VDC-referenced. The STEP and DIRECTION inputs are pull-down loads when COMMON is connected to controller GND. The STEP and…
The G320X current limit trimpot is opposite that of the original legacy G320, meaning fully CW will be 0A while fully CCW will be 20A. A diagram of this can be seen below, with 8 o'clock representing full current and 4 o'clock representing no current.
The G320X can be tuned with either an oscilloscope or by ear to ensure that it is maintaining position while under load. The guide below is the quickest way to tune the drive without an oscilloscope and will result in a rigid motor shaft that will maintain position under any load.
1) Set the G320X…
If you are going to be powering your drive at 3.5A or above or in a warm environment, be sure to heatsink the drive as below. If you are using G250 drives without the heatsink sold by Geckodrive, then you must use kapton tape or a hard anodized third party heatsink to electrically isolate the IPAK…
All Geckodrive products are manufactured in Orange County,
California and we are still shipping all products. Our company has moved
to a modified work schedule to limit contact amongst employees to
comply with the social distancing order from the governor of California.
As this pandemic has…
Many things affect your motor’s performance in a system. Motor power output, motor positioning resolution and motor heating while it’s stopped. Maximizing motor power output requires full-stepping while maximizing motor resolution requires microstepping. Both require nonrecirculating-mode drive…
OBJECTIVE This test determined the optimal configuration for heatsinking the G540. The test was run using a G540 without a heatsink, a G540 with only a 12V computer case fan blowing on it and a G540 with a CPU heatsink. The objective was to determine if a supplemental heatsink is required on the…
This application note is meant for those with applications requiring a reduction in RF noise from Gecko drives. There are three ways of doing this and they are arranged from the simplest to the most complex. The first one should suffice for most applications; if the level of noise is still…
This wiring diagram applies to all 80VDC 7A rated stepper drives including the G201, G201X, G202, G203V, G210, G210X, G212, G213V, GM215 and G214.
Please note that the G201X, G210X, G214, and GM215 have onboard DIP switches for setting current, and no current set resistor is required.
Consult the…
This file will configure Mach 3 to run with the G540. Put the file in the Mach 3 root directory (generally C:/Mach3), open Mach Loader and choose 540B.xml from the list.
G540B.xml (Right click and "Save Target As..." to download)
In order to run your G203V with a PLC you must use the following formula:
This formula will give you the size of the resistor you must have on both your step and direction input into the drive to scale down your PLC voltage to what the G203V can use. When it is all hooked up, it should resemble the…
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS APPLICATION NOTE (PDF)
This is a quick guide to setting up your G540 for the first time to eliminate any setup headaches you may have.STEP 1: DETERMINE THAT THE ENABLE PIN IS CONNECTED.The first thing you should do is to connect your ENABLE pin (Pin 10) to GND (Pin 12).…
GETTING THE SMOOTHEST LOW-SPEED MOTION POSSIBLE WITH SUB-MICROSTEPPING
A standard stepper drive has a fixed set of resolutions where each full step location of the motor is chopped to a smaller set of steps, known as microsteps. This means that a motor with a step angle of 1.8 degrees will have…
The GM215 is an extraordinarily powerful and complex motion controller but can be plugged in and running in just a few steps. This guide seeks to provide step-by-step instructions to get your GM215 communicating with GeckoMotion and running a motor quickly. For the full command set and manual,…
This is a diagram showing where the test points are on G320s that are REV-6 or later. If your G320 was purchased after January 2008 this will apply to your drive.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION NOTE (PDF)
With the latest iteration in the Geckodrive servo line, the G320X, comes many advanced features. Some of these, however, are not entirely backwards compatible with certain encoders that the G320 and G340 could run (namely those with an HEDS optical…
