Note

General stage communication concepts are described on the corresponding page

Trinamic TMCM-1110 controller

TMCM-1110 is a universal single-axis stepper motor controller from Trinamic. It provides multiple connection options, but so far has only been tested with USB connection.

The main device class is pylablib.devices.Trinamic.TMCM1110.

Software requirements

USB connection needs drivers, which are supplied with the freely-available TMCL-IDE, or TMCL-LITE. With those drivers installed, the controllers show up as virtual COM ports. Note that when several devices are connected, they sometimes get assigned conflicting (i.e., overlapping) COM ports. In this case, you might need to manually reassign these in the Device Manager.

Connection

Since the devices are identified as virtual COM ports, they use the standard connection method, and all you need to know is their COM-port address (e.g., COM5):

>> from pylablib.devices import Trinamic
>> stage1 = Trinamic.TMCM1110("COM5")
>> stage2 = Trinamic.TMCM1110("COM8")
>> stage1.close()
>> stage2.close()

Operation

This controller has several features and differences compared to most other stages and sliders:

  • The controller allows one to control the number of microsteps per step using TMCM1110.get_microstep_resolution() and TMCM1110.set_microstep_resolution(). Hence, the calibration of the real position to the controller readout position depends on this resolution. Furthermore, changing this resolution does not affect the step counter, meaning that changing it, performing a move, and changing it back will result in a different position. Hence, it is not recommended to change it after homing or referencing the position.
  • Similarly, the controller has variable frequency divisors, which control the ratio between internal and real units for the velocity and the acceleration. They are set up together with the maximal velocity and acceleration using TMCM1110.setup_velocity() and TMCM1110.get_velocity_parameters(), and the conversion factors can be obtained using TMCM1110.get_acceleration_factor() and TMCM1110.get_velocity_factor().
  • The device has an option of controlling maximal output current using TMCM1110.setup_current() and TMCM1110.get_current_parameters(). Change them carefully, since the values which are too large can damage the motor. Also take into account, that the currents are defined relative to the maximal output current, which is controlled using the physical jumper on the board.