It’s fair to say that building electronic gadgets is easier now than it ever has been in the past. With low-cost modular components, there’s often just a couple dozen lines of code and a few jumper ...

Adjust the phase current, crank up the microstepping, and forget about it — that’s what most people want out of a stepper motor driver IC. Although they power most of our CNC machines and 3D printers, ...

• The inductance in a stepper-motor phase winding limits how fast current rises when power is applied. • Series-resistor current limiting needs higher voltages for faster step rates, but higher ...

It is an engineering truism that there is no such thing as a perfect solution—just the best solution for the problem at hand. That holds particularly true for servo motors and stepper motors. Both are ...