CNC xPRO Driver

Now available for pre-order on Kickstarter!



We have been working on a CNC router for the shop for a little while now. On finishing the hardware design (Routy's fatter sister) we started looking into electronics and found very little that fit our budget and desired capabilities (I personally have never been a huge fan of shield stacks for final products, or wiring two motor to one driver). We wanted a single board capable of driving 4-motor machines (whether that setup is a 3 axis with dual motor on one axis or a true four axis machine). We also wanted to be able to drive Nema 17, 23, and 34's from this board. That is where this project begins...

Taking a look under the hood:

• 100% GRBL compatible
• Product dimensions: 2.35”W x 4.15”L x .65”H
• Capable of powering from ATX PSU (these are dirt cheap and I have tons laying around from recycled desktops)
• Drive 4 motors with DRV8825 Stepper Drivers - 2.5A (peak) with 1.75A (RMS) with up to 1/32 microstepping
• 1 Driver capable of cloning X,Y, or Z or being run independent
• Hardware support for both USB and Wireless (Xbee) Operation
• Emergency Stop to cut all motor power (with optional override )
• 12V and 5V outputs for powering peripherals (fans, pumps, vacuums)
• Easily connect to Stepper Motors and limit switches with 3.5mm screw terminals
• Expansion port for future upgrades (handheld jog controller, integrated spindle speed control, etc)

Here is a look at the schematic for this board (.PDF is available for download in the files section – additionally the.SCH file is coming soon on the Spark Concepts website). NEW SCHEMATIC INCLUDING FORUM SUGGESTIONS!



And the boards back from the fab house


And the hand assembly process for the Beta boards (coming soon: Surface Mount assembly tutorials)


Voila, the Final assembled board



A few quick pictures of what's what...

Source setting for motor A


Microstep jumpers, Screw terminal for motors and limit switch, current limiting pot

Xbee headers (can also use Bluetooth, Wifi, etc)


Emergency stop, 12V and 5V output, pump spindle and spindle direction output. Inputs for abort, reset, stop. Expansion port (white 2x5 header)


WIRING UP WITH AN ATX SUPPLY


WIRING UP WITH A 12V/24V SUPPLY

Testing !
Wired up and fired up


Slap it in some Gladware and its ready to go...(don't forget the Duct tape seal ) As you can probably tell I don't have a vacuum system yet. Works great with GRBL and Universal G. Going to test out GRBL Controller this weekend.

First test piece was a new mount for Routy to replace the zip ties (quick tip - to many zip ties will bend the build plate ). Anywho, this design turned out to be just about as bad as the zip ties, but it cut like butter!


That's all for now... more videos coming soon.