TinyG external stepper drivers

Yes

I use logic shifters to shit 3.3 volts to 5 vs.

I used the ones from adafruit although there are plenty of alternatives from amazon.

I soldered headers into he TinyG board and created another board which i connected using a ribbon cable. using vero board.

I did begin design a better board in Eagle CAD but haven’t got back to that project for some time.

Let me see if I can print a diagram of how i did it…

I needed to pass, pulse and direction plus enable.. which works great. one element you do want to becareful of is that you match the pulse frequency does not execute the maximum pulse frequency of the stepper driver.

Hope this helps.

Grant

I agree with @kiwigrant’s approach, also use care connecting grounds between your logic sifter implementation. Use the input power GND terminal.

Most stepper driver I/Os are in fact Opto-Isolators, the inputs simply anode and cathode of an led. As mush as possible, isolate driver ground noise from tinyG when possible. Check out the Schematics.

Looking at the diagram I just posted – HLFB is the High Level Feedback signal coming from the Clearpath motors.

I my intention is to use this signal during a homing routine to sense the gantry hitting the end stops without the need of having to wire in limit switches.

Its been more hassle than what it worth to be frank – but Im weird that way.

I also had an exclusive AND gate chip laying around, and if you send the same signal to the inputs of XAND you end up with a NOT. You can omit those if you can configure your “Enable” function on the steppingstones drivers to true high to true low.

Remember the joy of this hobby is going down the rabbit hole and learning…