Anybody wants a stepper motor analyzer?

zapta

TL;DR, If you a regular here and would like to purchase a stepper motor analyzer please let me know. I can do a small at-cost run of up to 10 units.

The Raspberry Pico made headlines a few months ago so I decided to try porting the Simple Stepper Motor analyzer to it, and am happy with the results, so decided to have a small at-cost run of up to 10 units for regulars here that are interested.

This is a more compact design than the previous one, with a single PCB and components on one side and LCD screen on the other. Capabilities are the same but with possibly smoother display due to the larger RAM and faster CPU.

The cost per unit is $30 + actual post office fee to ship to your location from the US (It's expensive, can be $30+ to Europe), payment via Amazon gift card (can purchased online) at the time of shipping.

Note that I don't make any profit, give my time for free, and just hope to be reimbursed for the out of pocket expenses so please adjust your expectations regarding warranty and such

BTW, if you want do built it yourself, including commercially, this design is in the public domain and I hope to release the files and documentation in 2-3 weeks. (electronics, firmware, 3D models and user guide)

The 3D printed enclosure is not included and you will have to print it yourself. I will try to include the M2.5 threaded inserts.

Tinken

@zapta interested

jay_s_uk

@zapta me too

martin7404

@zapta interested

bricor

@zapta interested

fcwilt

Sign me up for 4 units, please.

Frederick

alankilian

@zapta I would love to have one.
Thank you for doing this.

Nuramori

@zapta I’m in.

paralepsis

@zapta Interested!

3DPMicro

@zapta I would like one also please. I inquired about 3 months ago via chat

Luke'sLaboratory

I'd like one too

zapta

Thanks everybody for the interest. I order parts for 10 units. Will allocate them according to the order in this thread (one per person unless they will be spares).

If there will be more demand, I can do one or two small runs later. This is the first time I order PCBs with SMD service so prefer to keep it small.

The out of pocket expense for the parts (including shipping, taxes, etc) is indeed ~$30 and the pie chart shows the breakdown. As you see the 3.5" display with capacitive touch dominates the cost and prices went up recently due to the global shortage.

All parts were ordered from China, including the Pico which is currently hard to find at its nominal $4 price (Digikey has only 2 left, Amazon sell for $8 and up).

alankilian

@zapta If your out-of-pocket costs are $30 I'd like to send you $60 plus shipping for the unit.

Thank you again for designing, documenting and publishing the design of this unit.

zapta

Thanks @alankilian, I really appreciate it.

This falls into my hobby part of my life so my time if free and I enjoy it, not to mention giving back for all the help I have got here.

BTW, here is the Kidcad render of the PCB. The non populated components are not needed and were added to assist with the software development. The most difficult to solder are the two 0.5mm pitch flex cable connectors. I did solder them on the prototype but it was a pain (they bridge easily), so in this batch they will be soldered by the PCB vendor (JLCPCB), together with other components they stock. They don't have the Pico and the current sensor so I will solder them (easy) and so are the two connectors which need to be assembled in a certain way so they don't get shorted by the LCD on the other side.

Sotidii

I'd like one too

CCS86

It sounds like the first run might be sold out, but I am interested too.

What other features does it provide, besides the steps/s shown?

akstrfn

Count me in when you go for the second run

zapta

JLCPCB rejected the PCB order since one of the footprints was incorrect. I fixed it and increased the order to 20 PCBs. This run will still be of only 10 units (only 10 LCDs and Picos on order) but it will be easier to make the next 10.

This is the first order with this PCB layout so I don't want to commit to too many before validating it.

rtuinila

I would like one too!

droftarts

@zapta great work, well done. I’m waiting for @T3P3Tony to put my one of the old version together! I think we’re still waiting for the screen. A more commonly-available one would be good; maybe a PanelDue with different firmware?!

Ian

dc42

@zapta I would like one too.

fma

I think the first batch is already gone, but if you go for a second batch, I would like to order one analyser.

Thanks!

zapta

If everything will go as expected (JLCPCB assembling most of the components), it shouldn't be too difficult for me to assembled them and I should be able to make larger batches. Let's see how the first batch of 10 will go and if they will work well.

BTW, it's a bank holiday here today so I updated and released all the files https://github.com/zapta/simple_stepper_motor_analyzer . The enclosure was designed on Onshape and it makes it very easy to share an interactive 3D model with export capabilities. https://cad.onshape.com/documents/58d3fc7e6c256c4f6a684caf/v/194a8feb7fe55d4b68b92318/e/96371cb25b019416be0a198b

Egon.Net

@zapta could it be used to tune spreadcycle parameters?

Dudek23

@zapta I would like one too