New products: A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carriers

We are excited to introduce our new series of stepper motor drivers based on the Allegro A5984 that offer an easy way to control bipolar stepper motors from supply voltages between 8 V and 40 V (absolute max). It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since we introduced the original A4983 stepper motor driver carrier in the small 16-pin form factor that would become ubiquitous for stepper motor drivers. We updated the product in 2011 when Allegro released the newer A4988, but since then we have released boards for stepper motor drivers from other semiconductor manufacturers, including Texas Instruments (most notably the DRV8825, and DRV8834, and more recently the DRV8434 series), Monolithic Power Systems (MP6500), STMicroelectronics (STSPIN820 and STSPIN220), and Toshiba (TB67S249FTG and TB67S279FTG). The new Allegro A5984 carriers, which can be used as drop-in replacements for the A4983/A4988 in many applications, bring us full circle with those original drivers, and with support from Allegro, we are able to offer them at extra low prices.

Minimal wiring diagram for connecting a microcontroller to an A4988 stepper motor driver carrier (full-step mode).

Minimal wiring diagram for connecting a microcontroller to an A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Adjustable Current, Blue Edition.

As with our other stepper driver products, we are offering the A5984 carriers with small trimmer potentiometers for setting the current limit. However, these can be a little fiddly to work with, so we are also offering several fixed-current versions for cases where you just want a particular set point without having to tune each board (for volume applications, we can do custom production runs with whatever set point you need). We also have two PCB options—a standard 2-layer version that is most economical for lower-current applications, and a 4-layer “Blue Edition” for maximum performance that can deliver up to 1.2 A continuous per phase (heat sinks and active air flow can bump that higher). The following table shows all the options:

	Adjustable Current, Blue Edition	Adjustable Current	Fixed 1.5A@5V / 1A@3.3V, Blue Edition	Fixed 1A@5V / 660mA@3.3V, Blue Edition	Fixed 750mA@5V / 500mA@3.3V	Fixed 500A@5V / 330mA@3.3V
Current limit (VDD = 5 V):	adjustable (potentiometer) 1.2 A max continuous 2 A peak*	adjustable (potentiometer) 1 A max continuous 2 A peak*	1.5 A*	1 A	750 mA	500 mA
Current limit (VDD = 3.3 V):			1 A	660 mA	500 mA	330 mA
Available versions:	no header pins headers soldered	no header pins headers soldered	no header pins headers soldered	no header pins headers soldered	no header pins headers soldered	no header pins headers soldered
PCB layers:	4	2	4	4	2	2
Price without header pins:	$3.97	$3.75	$3.75	$3.75	$3.49	$3.49
Price w/headers soldered:	$4.97	$4.75	$4.75	$4.75	$4.49	$4.49
* This current exceeds what the module can deliver continuously and is only achievable for short durations or with sufficient additional cooling (e.g. adding heat sinks or active air flow).

Compared to those original A4988s, the A5984 carriers offer a number of improvements, including a higher maximum operating voltage, more microstep options and higher-resistance current sense resistors for improved microstepping performance, a fault output for reporting over-current faults, and an adaptive decay current control algorithm that automatically adjust the amount of fast decay to optimize the motor current waveform.

Introductory special discount! To celebrate the release of the A5984 carriers, the first hundred customers to use coupon code A5984INTRO can 15% off up to five units of each!

The following tables show our full selection of 16-pin stepper motor drivers:

	STSPIN­220	DRV8834	A4988 (original)	A4988, Black Ed.	MP6500, Pot. CC	MP6500, Digital CC	A5984	A5984, Blue Ed.
Driver chip:	STMicro STSPIN­220	TI DRV8834	Allegro A4988		MPS MP6500		Allegro A5984
Min operating voltage:	1.8 V	2.5 V	8 V		4.5 V		8 V
Max operating voltage:	10 V	10.8 V	35 V		35 V		40 V
Max continuous current per phase:(1)	1.1 A	1.5 A	1 A	1.2 A	1.5 A		1 A	1.2 A
Peak current per phase:(2)	1.3 A	2 A	2 A		2.5 A	2 A	2 A
Microstepping down to:	1/256	1/32	1/16		1/8		1/32
Board layer count:	4	4	2	4	4		2	4
Special features:	low input voltage	low input voltage				digital current control	versions also available with fixed current limits
Available with headers soldered?:	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1-piece price:	$7.95	$7.95	$4.49	$4.95	$6.95	$6.95	$3.75	$3.97
1 On Pololu carrier board, at room temperature, and without additional cooling. 2 Maximum theoretical current based on components on the board (additional cooling required).

	STSPIN­820	DRV8825	TB67S279­FTG	TB67S249­FTG	DRV8434	DRV8434A	DRV8434S, Pot. Max.	DRV8434S, 2A Max.
Driver chip:	STMicro STSPIN­820	TI DRV8825	Toshiba TB67S279­FTG	Toshiba TB67S249­FTG	TI DRV8434	TI DRV8434A	TI DRV8434S
Min operating voltage:	7 V	8.2 V	10 V	10 V	4.5 V	4.5 V	4.5 V
Max operating voltage:	45 V	45 V	47 V	47 V	48 V(3)	48 V(3)	48 V(3)
Max continuous current per phase:(1)	0.9 A	1.5 A	1.1 A	1.6 A	1.2 A	1.2 A	1.2 A
Peak current per phase:(2)	1.5 A	2.2 A	2 A	4.5 A	2 A	2 A	2 A
Microstepping down to:	1/256	1/32	1/32	1/32	1/256	1/256	1/256
Board layer count:	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Special features:			Auto Gain Control, ADMD	Auto Gain Control, ADMD	6 decay modes with 2 smart tune options	Stall detect, smart tune ripple control decay	SPI control, stall detect, 8 decay mode options
Available with headers soldered?:	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1-piece price:	$14.95	$15.95	$10.75	$12.95	$9.95	$12.95	$12.95	$12.95
1 On Pololu carrier board, at room temperature, and without additional cooling. 2 Maximum theoretical current based on components on the board (additional cooling required). 3 Not recommended for use with 48V batteries, which can be well above nominal when fully charged.

Related products

	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Adjustable Current, Blue Edition
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Adjustable Current, Blue Edition (Soldered Header Pins)
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Adjustable Current
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Adjustable Current (Soldered Header Pins)
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 1.5A@5V / 1A@3.3V, Blue Edition
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 1.5A@5V / 1A@3.3V, Blue Edition (Soldered Header Pins)
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 1A@5V / 660mA@3.3V, Blue Edition
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 1A@5V / 660mA@3.3V, Blue Edition (Soldered Header Pins)
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 750mA@5V / 500mA@3.3V
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 750mA@5V / 500mA@3.3V (Soldered Header Pins)
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 500mA@5V / 330mA@3.3V
	A5984 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, Fixed 500mA@5V / 330mA@3.3V (Soldered Header Pins)