Control Stepper Motor Using NI Motion

[cdolan25]

Hi all,

I need to do a real simple application of a stepper motor rotating at steps 60 degrees apart, and after 360 degrees, it comes back to where it started (home/0 point). I have a PXI with a NI 7342 motor controller card, UMI 7772 connector block, 70360 stepper drive, and NI NEMA 34 motor with an NI encoder. I know this hardware is a bit overkill for the current application, but the system might be expanded to more complex applications in the future.

I looked on the forums and it seems as if everyone uses DAQmx to control their stepper motors and I can't seem to find any examples using the NI-Motion driver. I assume I have to use the NI-Motion driver since I am using the 7342 motor controller card. Does anyone know the correct VI's to use or have any examples?

Thank you

[ben64]

I don't have NI-Motion installed on this computer but if you have it installed you should check the Example Finder: Help...  Find Examples... Browse according to Directory Structure and you should find a Motion directory there.

You can also have a look at the Most Active Hardware Boards -> Motion Control and Motor Drive board.

Ben64

[cdolan25]

I already looked through a bunch of examples and they all looked like 1D, 2D, or 3D motion rather than any sort of stepper motion. However, I searched through the directory like you said and I found one that said "One-Axis Move with Position Monitor" which is the closes to my application but it only monitors the current position. I want a closed loop system utilizing the encoder to ensure accuracy which I don't believe this VI does.

[cdolan25]

Thank you for the help, I posted it on the Motion Control boards