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GoTo-Tutorial-Calibrate

Jean-Etienne LAMIAUD
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motor-calibration.png (64637 bytes)
motor-dial.jpg (77151 bytes)

Calibration

At first startup, you need to calibrate the mount.

Use the GUI application, with the controlelr connected. Select the "Parameters" tab and set the following parameters :

  • The maximum motor speed for each motor. Experiment to find the maximum speed at which the motors do not skip steps.
  • The motor intensity ramp (per speed intervals). Try to find the lowest current consumption for each speed, which still avoid skipped steps.
  • The maximum motor acceleration.
  • The "home" position of the mount for each axis : the number of steps between the limit switch and the "zero" position of the mount (Y axis perpendicular to X axis, X axis to whatever home position you like).
  • The angular scale of the motors micro steps. I did measure this by counting the number of steps between two opposite positions separated with a 90° or 180° angle, found with a spirit level (a 19th century artillery level, accurate to one arcminute, which I inherited from my grandfather).

Use the "Motors" tab to set the spread of micro steps into a step.

  • Attach some kind of dial to the motor axis (see figure below),
  • Use the GUI "Motors" tab in "Maintenance mode" (1).
  • The micro-step number is displayed next to the spinbox (2).
  • (micro) step the motor using the spinbox (3)
  • Adjust the values in the µSteps column to have the motor performing even micro-steps for the 8 numbers. The top field shall always remain at 255, the fields below it control the steps 1 to 7.
  • Once the movement is satisfying, save it with the "Save to EEPROM" button.


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