Greetings!
Stupid question. I'm using a stepper motor to drive a teeter-totter for a Halloween decoration. My wife wants it to start up on motion. The driver I have returns to "off" on re-energization, so I'm planning on leaving the driver on and set to speed and using a motion detector to drive a relay to open the 4 wire stepper leads. Would this cause damage to the driver (all pulsed up and no where to go)?

The motor and controller in question:
Stepper Motor Driver Control Board and 8mm 6.3mm 57 Stepper motor Reversal/Pulse/Speed Regulation/Module/Speed Display
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256801492807703.html

Thanks!

 

Normally this will not cause damage to the drive. just open circuit the motor leads.
I assume you mean open the leads even when a move is commanded, there could be an easier way.
Some other way of detecting the motion, or initiation cycle with the existing motion detector??

 

According to the site, the Board has an EN ( Enable-Pin ).
Just put a switch on the EN Pin and leave the whole setup turned-on.
It draws almost no Power when in Disable-Mode.
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Thanks for the hints!

I assume you mean open the leads even when a move is commanded

I was planning on opening the motor leads when there was no one present and closing them when motion was detected.

Some other way of detecting the motion, or initiation cycle with the existing motion detector??

This is my first time playing with steppers and driver boards. If anyone has any ideas, I'm glad to hear them!!

Just put a switch on the EN Pin

That would be perfect! I see EN on the display and driver board plugs but it did nothing when jumpered to either DC+ or DC-. Any ideas?

Display board
Driver Board-Front

Driver Board - Rear

 

Was it actually running the See-Saw when You tried disabling it ?

Quite often a manufacturer will semi-permanently connect the Enable-Pin,
which means that You may have to move a Jumper, or
change a "Solder-Bridge" connection to make the Pin work.
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You may even need to consult the data sheet to know how to utilize the enable function.

 

You may even need to consult the data sheet to know how to utilize the enable function.

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True ........
Sometimes various Pins will have Multiple-Functions which are
dependent on specific-Voltage-Levels being present on the Pin.