PD Stepper is a USB PD powered driver and controller for Nema 17 stepper motors. It combines a Trinamic TMC2209 stepper driver and an ESP32-S3 microcontroller on a single board. This replaces the separate microcontroller, driver, power supply and optional encoder a stepper project usually needs.
The board is compact and made to fit on the back of a common Nema 17 motor. It runs from a USB-C connection, so no 12 V or 24 V power brick is needed. With USB PD and the TMC2209, it can drive a stepper motor with up to about 50 W of power.
An onboard AS5600 magnetic rotary position sensor measures absolute angle for precise positioning and closed loop control. The ESP32-S3 provides built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and works with development tools and libraries such as ESPHome and ESPNow. The project is open-source.
- Driver
- Trinamic TMC2209 with stealthChop, spreadCycle and sensorless homing
- Microcontroller
- ESP32-S3
- Position sensor
- AS5600 magnetic rotary sensor
- Power
- USB PD via USB-C, up to about 50 W to the motor
- Connectivity
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- Motor compatibility
- Nema 17 stepper motors
- Onboard features
- 3.3 V buck converter, motor temperature input, auxiliary connectors and buttons
- Full kit
- PD Stepper PCB, injection-molded polycarbonate cover, black anodized aluminum heat spreader/spacer, 4 x M3x40 mm mounting hardware, 2 x motor wires (one for each possible motor pinout), encoder magnet
- Partial kit
- PD Stepper PCB, 4 x M3x40 mm mounting hardware, 2 x motor wires (one for each possible motor pinout), encoder magnet, small heatsink
- Not included
- Nema 17 stepper motor