Extremely silent stepper driver IC for desktop solutions - TMC2209 - Trinamic

June 17, 2019

TRINAMIC Motion Control announces the extremely silent TMC2209 stepper driver IC, also available as SilentStepStick. The motor driver for 2-phase stepper motors up to 2A RMS and 29V enables the use of StallGuard4™ and StealthChop2™ in parallel, ensuring noiseless operation without the need for limit switches.

When implemented in an application, these features allow for the intertwining of physical and software components. Besides offering a solid hardware base needed for software-defined machines, it also permits next-level integration of user and device by recognizing hard stops automatically and being as silent as mechanically possible, while optimizing motor performance.

“Since the widespread adoption of the TMC2208 in 3D printers, we’ve received lots of useful feedback from the community,” says Michael Randt, Trinamic’s Founder and CEO. “This resulted in the TMC2209, pushing the envelope on 3D printers while enabling new use cases for other software-defined, smart desktop applications as well, driving the 4^th Industrial Revolution further.”

The TMC2209 pin compatibility makes it the perfect candidate for existing design upgrades and bringing improved applications to the market. With the new feature set, the chip is ideal for POS devices, 3D printers and conventional printers, office and home automation, textile, security cameras and ATM machines, as well as battery operated equipment.

Trinamic makes sure manufacturers can drive these applications into the future with the TMC2209’s fast current regulation. Optionally combined with SpreadCycle™, it allows highly dynamic motion control without running hot. And when activated, StallGuard adds sensorless homing and extra safety to applications, allowing them to recognize hard stops without the need for end switches. Together with the protection and diagnostic features, this makes the driver IC ready for robust and reliable operation.

A simple to use UART interface allows for adjustments which can be stored on the OTP memory embedded in the TMC2209. It furthermore has a step/dir interface with microstep pin setting. The TMC2209 SilentStepStick will be released simultaneously for quick testing and design-in, offering an open-source design with all components needed.