Stepper Motor Driver TMC2225 V1.0

These BTT TMC2225 V1.0 Stepper Motor Drivers are excellent examples of both newer designs of older TMC21xx drivers, as well as fresh new iterations on designs that are already great to begin with. These drivers are built by BigTreeTech, and are based on TMC2225 Drivers and the Pololu StepStick carrier board, offering UltraQuiet operations with the Trinamic StealthChop2 and SpreadCycle technologies, but also advanced Single Wire UART control. This gives users more control and more precision for hobbyist applications like 3D Printing and CNC, while maintaining an impressively low cost that fits well into a typical hobbyist budget.

The key features of TMC2225 V1.0 Stepper Motor Drivers:

Although these drivers don’t offer quite the plethora of different technologies like the TMC2130 drivers do, these TMC2225 Stepper Drivers feature the TMC22xx architecture, which is a step up from the TMC21xx architecture, offering more stability in the features, overall lower excess power usage, as well as an integrated pulse generator for standalone operations and single axis motion control. Fortunately, this means that if you don’t often use the very advanced features like StallGuard, the MicroStep Table or ChopSync, then these are actually an ideal upgrade, with all of the key features that makes Trinamic great, with all the benefits of the new architecture too.

So let’s take a look at these key Trinamic features, and how they will assist with your hobbyist applications like 3D Printing and CNC:

• StealthChop2: If you already know what the original StealthChop is, and the awesome benefits that it offers, then you will hopefully be just as excited as we are with the new StealthChop2, which is similar to original, but integrates a current pre-regulator to avoid overcompensation of step prediction, while allowing for more torque during acceleration phases. And while this may sound complicated at first, what it translates to is fewer missed steps or overshot steps, as well as a higher level of power even when motors are caught in an odd rotor position. This means more reliability and more predictability for your motors, and of course the awesome near-silent operations that both StealthChop and SpreadCycle are well-known for.
• SpreadCycle: This is a clever mode that is particularly effective in high load situations, as it spreads the current drive into four stages. This helps to smooth out the steps and eliminate skipped steps, but comes at the cost of higher noise levels – although the driver can in fact switch between StealthChop and SpreadCycle as necessary when set up in Hybrid Mode, offering the best of both worlds.
• UART Interfacing: While many of the stepper motor drivers from the past few years have been quite complex to set up, due to the fact that they weren’t originally designed for 3D Printing, one of the more recent improvements to the industry is in the way we interface with stepper drivers. This is why we’re so eager about the UART Interfacing that these TMC2225 drivers offer, as it allows for far more control than the old Step/Dir method, allowing users to control all of the control lines (EN / DIAG / INDEX / MS1 / MS2 / Analog Current / VRef) via a single line of code. Additionally, UART Interfacing also allows for quick and easy configuration without having to rewire pins, with the actual software being able to define motor current, Microsteps, Chopper Modes and more – all while sitting at your computer or laptop. Additionally, as if the above wasn’t enough, UART Interfacing also greatly reduces current consumption when the motors are in standby mode, helping to extend the lifespan of the motors and save electricity at the same time.