Servo Driver compatible with RAMPS (STEP/DIR)

Hi all,

I want to drive a servo with encoder and gear (still looking up the specs) using my Ultimaker Ramps board. Therefore I am looking into a servo driver that accepts the STEP/DIR signals as input so I can keep simple drop in replacement with my electronics and firmware.

I was looking at both the Geckodrive 320x or the UHU Servo drive:

[www.geckodrive.com]
This one seems ready out of the box (if my servo is compatible) and the price is decent.

[www.uhu-servo.de]
DIY approach, source chip, board, parts etc. Maybe in the end as expensive as the Geckodrive?

Has anyone any recent experience with using a servo in such a way that it is as much 'drop in' as possible using one of these drivers or similar?

ps. Please no 'Why not use stepper instead of servo", I know all the differences etc. I REALLY need to drive THIS servo

I use three gecko320 on my cnc mill and three Uhu servo drivers on my small gantry router. Both drivers are step/direction input so it should be no problem interfacing either one to a ramps board. We designed our own pcb board for the Uhu driver. It works well but in reality by the time you get all the parts, the avr chip from Uli, solder it all together with no mistakes -- it's cheaper/easier to buy a geckodrive instead. It's really only cost effective if you need more than one or two servo drivers. The Uhu board is harder to tune than a gecko. Just make sure the encoder on your motor is compatible. Geckodrive list recommended encoders that work. There are other lower cost servo drivers such as keling but I haven't used one yet. If you need a specific question answered, I can try to help.

Jim,

Thanks for the response, exactly what I needed. I also feared that sourcing all the UHU gear with all the shipping would end being similar cost wise (but much more time wise).

Another take on the same matter [www.youmagine.com]

Quote
misan
Another take on the same matter [www.youmagine.com]

Excellent, thanks for pointing out. Looks very useful!