Limited items in stock
View Purchasing OptionsAfter an unexpectedly long wait at the warehouse, STEP400 has finally started shipping from the warehouse to our supporters. Thank you for your patience! In this update, I’d like to share some resources for getting started with STEP400.
For the first steps, please follow the "Tutorial" in the documentation. The documentation is now fully translated to English, thanks to a great contribution from Yuske Goto.
We have example files for several programming environments:
The Max sample file is the most comprehensive so far, but we will be updating the TouchDesigner sample project soon.
We’re going to use the discussions in this Github repository as a forum, so if you have any questions or ideas, feel free to post them there.
The repo also contains a slide presentation that follows the tutorial above and includes basic knowledge and a selection guide of stepper motors. This slide was used in a hands-on workshop of STEP400 and stepper motors in Tokyo, so only a Japanese version available at the moment. We hope to have similar events soon that will generate an English language version.
Unfortunately, we found a bug in the firmware after shipping was completed: the "current mode" is selected in the configuration tool, but the setting is not implemented properly when the STEP400 is started. In most cases, this won’t be an issue, but please update the firmware if necessary. The update also corrects some typos in the diagnostic tool. We have online instructions for updating the firmware.
If you have done any experiments or projects using STEP400, we’d love to hear from you! Please send them to Crowd Supply Field Reports. If you are selected, you will be featured in our newsletter, on our website, with SNS, and on the Crowd Supply campaign page. You’ll also receive a $25 credit at Crowd Supply!
For example, here’s one use case from FANCY FUTURE INSTRUMENTS ltd.: an automated-scratch vinyl record player named "chrono=phonograph". You can see behind scenes of this project from his Twitter feed.
Since vinyl records are heavy and have high inertia, high torque is required for rapid acceleration and deceleration, while accurate rotating speed is important to maintain pitch stability. STEP400 can drive the motor with high current and uses an accurate crystal oscillator as the master clock, making it perfect for this kind of application.
This project is currently undergoing a crowdfunding campaign in Japan Check it out!
STEP400 is part of Microchip Get Launched