5
Chapter 2
Overview and Setup
2.1
Introduction
The K-Cube Stepper Motor Controller (KST101) is a compact single channel
controller for easy manual and automated control of small 2-phase bi-polar stepper
motors. This driver has been designed to operate with a variety of lower powered
motors (up to 15V at 12W operation) equipped with or without encoder feedback.
Although targeted at lower power operations this product is fully featured with a highly
flexible and powerful DSP controller that provides a unique high resolution
microstepping capability for such a compact unit. The KST101 is optimised for 'out of
the box' operation with the Thorlabs range of ZST stepper motor actuators, however
its highly flexible parameter set also supports operation a wide range of stepper
motors and associated stages/actuators.
For convenience the footprint of this unit has been kept to a minimum, measuring only
60 mm x 60 mm x 47 mm (2.36" x 2.36" x 1.85") and with the facility to directly mount
to the optical table close to the motorised device - convenient when manually
adjusting motor positions using the top panel controls (jog buttons and velocity
control slider). Table top operation also allows minimal drive cable lengths for easier
cable management.
Fig. 2.1 K-Cube Stepper Motor Driver
USB connectivity provides easy 'Plug and Play' PC controlled operation - multiple
units can be connected to a single PC via standard USB hub technology or by using
the new K-Cube Controller Hub (see over) for multi-axis motion control applications.
Coupling this with the very user friendly apt™ software (supplied) allows the user to