How to Connect the Stepper Driver Enable Signal (ENA) and What Is Its Application?

The enable signal (ENA) of the stepper driver is usually used to control the working status of the stepper driver. When the ENA signal is low (or in the enabled state), the stepper driver can receive and respond to the pulse signal to drive the stepper motors to rotate. When the ENA signal is high (or in a disabled state), the stepper driver will not respond to the pulse signal, and the stepper motor will not rotate.

The main functions of the enable signal (ENA) are as follows:

Protect the stepper motor: When the motor needs to work, disabling the enable can protect the safe operation of the motor and reduce the wear and tear of the motor;

Energy saving and consumption reduction: By disabling enable, the power consumption of the motor itself can be effectively reduced.

The ENA signal usually has two lines, ENA+ and ENA-. ENA+ is usually connected to the 5V (or other appropriate voltage) output of the controller, and ENA- is connected to the enable signal output of the controller. When the controller's enable signal output is low level, the stepper driver is enabled and can respond to pulse signals; when the enable signal output is high level, the stepper driver is disabled and will not respond to pulse signals.

It should be noted here that our DM320T and DM332T drivers do not have an ENA- terminal. The controller's enable signal output needs to be connected to the OPTO public port when connected. At this time, OPTO is equivalent to ENA-.

ENA signals are very important in many applications. For example, ENA signals are used in situations such as robots, CNC machine tools, and automation equipment that require precise control of motor rotation. By controlling the ENA signal, the start and stop of the stepper motor can be accurately controlled, thereby achieving precise control of the device movement.

For example, add a manual alarm elimination function to the drive control: connect the ENA+ and ENA- interfaces to a 5/24v power supply and a switch to form a closed loop. Only the position following error can be cleared, and other alarms cannot be cleared (as shown in the figure). ). (Note: This connection method is only applicable to closed-loop stepper)