Stepper motor controller

[heepofajeep]

I am looking for options for a stand-alone stepper motor controller [not the driver, but something to generate signals to the Xylotex driver I am using]. I was looking at the Si-100 applied motion controller: http://applied-motion.com/products/c...xis/si-100.php, and would like to be able to review a few other options. More details below, but if you don't want to read, the jest of what I want is to just be able to look through a variety of different stepper motor controllers.







This is a bit off-topic when compared with your standard CNC tasks, but I am looking for a stand-alone [pc can only be used for initial programming] stepper motor controller to generate step & direction signals to a xylotex 269 oz motor & driver combination. This will be for only one axis.

The motor I am using will need to output via an LCD, and offer some basic user controls. The motor will be cycled back & forth at an adjustable frequency (10Hz max, and not complete revolutions)

The motor:

Must offer >4 inputs for sampling a 5 volt electric signal in less than 5ms intervals. The status of the inputs must be able to be 'saved' so that if one goes high, something says it WENT high, even if it is currently low.

Must be able to terminate movement when a combination of the above inputs is received.

The LCD must display current cycle count, and when the movement stops, tell me if any of the inputs went hi during the course of the movement.

Must offer additional inputs to allow me to change cycle speed, and angle of rotation

I think this would be a very simple task for a pic, but unfortunately, I am very limited on time (although I have ordered a couple pics for future projects), and am not confident enough that I could develop & debug a custom controller in a short enough time to accomplish my time-constraints.
FWIW, the si-100 controller from Automation direct is right around $900 with the LCD/operator interface included. This is a decent option, except that it does not interact with the inputs sufficiently.

Your thoughts are very much appreciated!

[Clyde Crashkop]

You might look into the 4051 bilateral switch chip. It has 8 inputs each selectable by a 3 bit address and one output. If you send it a 011 it will output whatever analog voltage is on input #3. A counter chip like the 4017 can generate the address and increment with every pulse it receives from maybe an LM555 timer.
Easier than a stepper and mechanical switches??