New product: Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller

Posted by Ben on 25 September 2019
Tags: new products tic

I am pleased to announce the release of the Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller, the fifth model in our line of Tic Stepper Motor Controllers. The Tic 36v4 features a discrete MOSFET stepper motor driver that can deliver up to approximately 4 A per phase, without a heat sink or forced air flow, over a broad 8 V to 50 V operating range. With the ability to provide more than twice as much current as any of our previous stepper motor controllers, this is our highest-power Tic yet, and the first that can drive the most demanding stepper motors we carry (#1474 and #1478) with their full rated current (2.8 A).

Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller controlling a #1478 stepper motor from USB.

The Tic 36v4 supports microstepping resolutions down 1/256 step, which is 8 times smaller than any previous Tic model. These new, finer microstep resolutions make it increasingly important to be able to take steps at a high speed since with microsteps that small, it takes up to 51,200 of them to complete one revolution on standard stepper motors with 200 full steps per revolution. The Tic firmware takes care of that for you: it is designed to be able to produce up to 50,000 steps per second, meaning that you can get 58 RPM out of most of our stepper motors even when using 1/256 step mode. Every power of two step mode between full stepping and 1/256 is supported, allowing you to choose the right trade-off between speed and resolution.

An oscilloscope capture showing the current through one coil of a stepper motor as the Tic 36v4 takes 25600 microsteps per second in 1/256 step mode.

By default, the Tic 36v4 uses an automatic mixed decay mode for current regulation. In this mode, it dynamically selects between fast or slow decay based on the actual coil current, allowing it to achieve extremely smooth stepping in most applications without a lot of manual tuning—especially at high microstepping resolutions. (Isn’t that a nice sine wave in the picture above?)

However, if you want more control, this Tic also gives you the option to select a fixed decay mode and adjust several timing parameters to fine-tune the current decay behavior. This can be easily done with the Tic’s free graphical configuration software.

The decay mode settings for the Tic 36v4 in the Tic Control Center software.

Like the other members of the Tic family, the Tic 36v4 makes basic speed or position control of a stepper motor easy, with lots of configurable parameters (e.g. max speed and acceleration) and support for six high-level control interfaces:

  • USB for direct connection to a computer
  • TTL serial operating at 5 V for use with a microcontroller
  • I²C for use with a microcontroller
  • RC hobby servo pulses for use in an RC system
  • Analog voltage for use with a potentiometer or analog joystick
  • Quadrature encoder input for use with a rotary encoder dial, allowing full rotation without limits (not for position feedback)

This video gives a brief demonstration of these interfaces in action:


The Tic 36v4 is available with connectors soldered in or without connectors soldered in. If you do not need the high-level interfaces provided by the Tic, we also offer the Pololu High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4.

Here is a handy comparison chart with all five Tic stepper motor controllers:


Tic T500

Tic T834

Tic T825

Tic T249

Tic 36v4
Operating voltage range: 4.5 V to 35 V(1) 2.5 V to 10.8 V 8.5 V to 45 V(1) 10 V to 47 V(1) 8 V to 50 V(1)
Max continuous current per phase
(no additional cooling):
1.5 A 1.5 A 1.5 A 1.8 A 4 A
Peak current per phase
(additional cooling required):
2.5 A 2 A 2.5 A 4.5 A 6 A
Microstep resolutions: full
half
1/4
1/8
full
half
1/4
1/8
1/16
1/32
full
half
1/4
1/8
1/16
1/32
full
half
1/4
1/8
1/16
1/32
full
half
1/4
1/8
1/16
1/32
1/64
1/128
1/256
Automatic decay selection: Yes Yes Yes
Automatic gain control (AGC): Yes
Driver IC: MP6500 DRV8834 DRV8825 TB67S249FTG discrete MOSFETs
Price (connectors not soldered): $29.95 $39.95 $39.95 $49.95 $59.95
Price (connectors soldered): $31.95 $41.95 $41.95 $51.95 $61.95

1 See product pages and user’s guide for operating voltage limitations.

Introductory special

As usual, we are offering an extra introductory special discount on the Tic 36v4, to help share in our celebration of releasing a new product. The first hundred customers to use coupon code TIC36V4INTRO can get up to five units for just $24.95! And we’ll even cover the shipping in the US!

2 comments

Hi,

We just purchased this tic with the stepper motor which is item #1475. The video did a great job with how to set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cAjdT6QN_w&ab_channel=PololuRoboticsandElectronics

However, the motor we got has 6 leads, not 4 like in the video. At 3:47 the video shows that both 6 lead and 4 lead are options but then only shows how to set up the 4 lead motors.

With my 6 lead motor, where do the center common leads go? The yellow and white leads?
Hello, Kevin.

To use a 6-lead stepper motor like product #1475 as a bipolar stepper motor, you can leave the center tap wires (yellow and white) disconnected as they are not used for bipolar operation.

Brandon

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