What the eight photographs actually cover
A five-axis motion control system, sold as three parts: an SMC5-5-N-N controller, 2DM860H stepper drivers and NEMA34 motors. Of those three, only the controller appears in a photograph.
| Image | What it actually shows |
|---|---|
| 1 | Controller front, three views, blank screen |
| 2 | Controller front, keypad close-up, blank screen |
| 3 | Rear panel, terminal legend and wiring sketch |
| 4 | Front with dimensions, 297 x 176 mm |
| 5 | Rear with dimensions, 284 x 164 x 58 mm |
| 6 | Front, four feature ticks including 5-axis linkage |
| 7 | A D-sub plug on a coiled cable |
| 8 | Handwheel port pinout, fifteen rows |
There is no photograph of a driver. There is no photograph of a motor. Nothing states how many of either is in the box, what torque the motors carry, what current they draw, or whether a power supply is included at all.
The controller is documented in unusual detail, down to a fifteen-pin handwheel pinout. The rest of the kit exists only as words in the title.
The controller is the part you can actually check
Credit where it is due, because this half is solid. The rear panel carries a printed legend, the panel and body are dimensioned, and the handwheel pinout is published as a table rather than implied.
| Interface | Count or type | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Digital inputs | IN1 to IN22 | 22 in total, opto isolated |
| Digital outputs | OUT1 to OUT8 | 8 in total |
| Spindle analogue | 0-10 V, one channel | One spindle, not two |
| Spindle pulse | PWM, one channel | For a servo style spindle drive |
| Handwheel | MPG, 15 pin D-sub | A and B quadrature, differential |
| Serial | COM port | Present on the rear panel |
| Program transfer | USB socket on the front | Offline controller, so files load from a stick |
| Auxiliary supply | +5 V out, 300 mA maximum | Printed on the rear panel |
| Axis signal pairs | Letter pairs running X, Y, Z, A, B and beyond B | The tail of the strip is not readable at this resolution |
Twenty-two inputs and eight outputs is a sensible allocation for a five-axis machine. The single 0-10 V channel is worth pausing on: there is one, so the machine gets one analogue spindle. A second spindle, or a spindle plus a fourth analogue device, has nowhere to connect.
The front panel carries a USB socket, which is what makes this an offline controller: programs arrive on a stick rather than over a network. That is a deliberate design for a workshop with no PC at the machine, and it is a limitation if you expect to drip feed large files.
Five hundred kilohertz against two hundred
Here is the integration number that neither the listing nor the photographs will tell you, because it lives in two different documents.
The SMC5-5-N-N family is advertised at 500 kHz. The 2DM860H driver, in the manufacturer's own manual, accepts a maximum external pulse frequency of 200 kHz with its SW3 switch off, and 100 kHz with it on.
So the driver is the ceiling, at forty percent of the controller's headline figure. That is not a fault, it is simply which component runs out first. But it means the headline describes the controller in isolation rather than the machine you would build.
And neither number is what the machine needs. A stepper cannot run at the speeds these figures imply:
| Microstep setting | Revision ceiling at 200 kHz |
|---|---|
| 400 | 30,000 rpm |
| 800 | 15,000 rpm |
| 1600 | 7,500 rpm |
| 3200 | 3,750 rpm |
| 6400 | 1,875 rpm |
| 12800 | 938 rpm |
| 25600 | 469 rpm |
Those are the arithmetic ceilings at 200 kHz. A NEMA34 produces useful torque up to a few hundred revolutions per minute and then falls away, and one distributor of these motors states plainly that torque drops above 200 rpm. At 600 rpm and 3,200 microsteps the real requirement is 32 kHz, and at 1,600 microsteps it is 16 kHz.
So a five-axis stepper machine needs somewhere between ten and thirty-five kilohertz, and both the 500 kHz controller and the 200 kHz driver are comfortably above that. The kilohertz headline becomes relevant the day you replace the steppers with servos, and not before.
Microstepping buys smoothness, not accuracy
The driver offers sixteen DIP positions from 400 to 51,200 microsteps, plus a user defined value through its serial port. On a 5 mm lead screw the numbers look impressive:
A full step is 1.8 degrees, which on a 5 mm lead moves the slide 25 micrometres. At 1,600 microsteps that becomes 3.125 micrometres per pulse, and at 25,600 it becomes 0.195 micrometres.
None of that is accuracy. A stepper is typically accurate to about five percent of one full step, which is 0.09 degrees, and on a 5 mm lead that is 1.25 micrometres of position error. Microstepping finer than that buys smoother motion and less resonance, which are real benefits, and does not buy a more accurate machine.
If a supplier quotes a resolution of 0.195 micrometres as though it were precision, the number is a pulse size rather than a tolerance. The ball screw and the machine structure will decide the rest.
The current ladder, and where a NEMA34 lands
The driver sets output current with three DIP switches, giving eight positions. The manual lists both the peak figure and the RMS equivalent, which is the one that matters when matching a motor:
| DIP position, peak | Equivalent RMS | Motor that fits |
|---|---|---|
| 2.10 A | 1.50 A | small, NEMA23 territory |
| 3.15 A | 2.25 A | |
| 4.03 A | 2.88 A | |
| 4.78 A | 3.42 A | a small NEMA34 |
| 5.69 A | 4.06 A | the common middle |
| 6.44 A | 4.60 A | |
| 7.35 A | 5.25 A | |
| 8.40 A | 6.00 A | the top of the ladder |
A NEMA34 with a rated current of 6.0 A per phase wants the top setting, 8.4 A peak for 6.0 A RMS. That is the end of the ladder. A motor rated above 6.0 A RMS cannot be driven correctly by this driver, and NEMA34 motors up to 12 N m are commonly specified at 5 to 6 A, with some larger ones above it.
So the torque of the motors in the box decides whether the drivers in the box are adequate, and neither figure is published. This is the single most practical question in the enquiry.
One manufacturer detail is worth knowing before commissioning: with SW1 on, the driver runs the motor at 60 rpm on its own, with no controller attached. That is the correct way to test wiring and phase order before you involve the controller at all.
The power supply nobody mentions
The driver accepts 24 to 80 VAC or 30 to 110 VDC directly, so it needs no separate rectifier. The voltage you want follows from the motor inductance, by the usual rule of thirty-two times the square root of inductance in millihenries: a 5.1 mH motor wants about 72 V.
Current is where kits quietly fall short:
| Five motors at | Peak sum | Derated supply | Watts at 70 V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 A per phase | 20 A | 12 to 14 A | 840 to 980 W |
| 6.0 A per phase | 30 A | 18 to 21 A | 1,260 to 1,470 W |
Five axes at 6 A per phase sum to 30 A of peak current, and with the usual derating of 60 to 70 percent for non-simultaneous motion that is 18 to 21 A. At 70 V that is between 1,260 and 1,470 W of supply.
Nothing on the page says whether a supply is included, and nothing states its rating. A buyer who assumes the kit is complete will discover this at the point of wiring, which is the worst possible moment.
Torque at the screw, and why the figure is generous
Holding torque converts to linear thrust through the lead, and the arithmetic is flattering:
| Motor holding torque | Thrust on a 5 mm lead | In kilograms force |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5 N m | 5,089 N | 519 |
| 6.0 N m | 6,786 N | 692 |
| 8.2 N m | 9,274 N | 946 |
| 12.0 N m | 13,572 N | 1,384 |
Those are standstill figures at 90 percent efficiency, and they are the numbers that get quoted. They apply at zero speed. As soon as the motor turns, torque falls with speed, and above a few hundred rpm the available thrust is a fraction of the table. Size the motor on the torque at your cutting feed rate, not on the holding torque in the datasheet.
The five volt budget and a two hundred milliamp fuse
The rear panel states the auxiliary output plainly: +5 V, maximum 300 mA. The handwheel pinout table shows that the MPG port carries a 200 mA fuse on its own supply pin.
That leaves 100 mA for everything else, while twenty-two opto-isolated inputs at seven to ten milliamps each would want 154 to 220 mA if they were all fed from the internal supply.
The answer is to feed the inputs from an external 24 V supply, which the inputs are designed for, and to leave the 5 V rail for the handwheel. Kits that omit the 24 V supply push the buyer towards the wrong wiring by default.
The handwheel reaches four axes, not five
The pinout table is the most useful document in the gallery, and it contains a specific limitation. The axis select pins are labelled X-IN, Y-IN, Z-IN and A-IN. There is no B select pin.
So the handwheel can jog X, Y, Z and A. On a five-axis machine the fifth axis cannot be moved from the wheel, which matters most during setup, when a wheel is the tool you reach for.
The same table gives three multiplier positions, X1, X10 and X100, and no finer or coarser step. It also defines an ESTOP pin for the wheel, active when connected to ground. And it notes that the supply pin and the common pin can restore the fuse connection, which tells you the fuse is resettable rather than a glass cartridge you would have to find in a drawer.
Three different axis counts in one family
The feature list in this gallery says five-axis linkage, which is the interpolation capability and the figure that matters for simultaneous motion.
But the front panel carries jog keys for X, Y, Z, A, B and D. The rear terminal strip carries differential pairs running past B. And a sibling listing for the same controller model is titled six-axis.
None of those statements necessarily contradicts the others: a controller can interpolate five axes while offering additional independent axis outputs. But a buyer cannot tell from the page whether the sixth and seventh outputs are usable, indexable, or simply the way the terminal block is laid out, and the answer changes what the machine can be built to do.
Ask which axes interpolate, which are independent, and what the D keys move.
The cutout, in numbers
The bezel measures 297 by 176 mm and the body behind it 284 by 164 mm, with 58 mm of depth. So the panel opening falls between those two rectangles, and something around 290 by 170 mm gives about three millimetres of bezel overlap on each side.
The 58 mm depth is the figure that catches people, because it is the body alone. Add the cable bend radius behind the terminal strip and the cabinet needs closer to 100 mm of clear space, plus room for the D-sub plugs, which stick out further than the terminals.
Twenty-two inputs against a real machine
Adding up what a five-axis machine actually needs: five home switches, limits at both ends of each axis, an emergency stop, a probe or tool setter, a spindle alarm, a guard switch, an air pressure switch and a couple of spares comes to about seventeen inputs. Twenty-two is comfortable.
Eight outputs is the tighter number. Spindle enable, coolant, dust extraction and a vacuum leave four, and a machine with a tool changer, a clamp and a second coolant wants more than that. Count your outputs before you commit, because outputs are the interface that runs out first.
If you are comparing controllers rather than kits, the RichAuto DSP is the other family in this catalogue and takes a different approach to the same job.
What is not published
| What a kit needs to state | What is on the page |
|---|---|
| How many drivers | nothing |
| How many motors, and their torque | nothing |
| Motor current per phase | nothing |
| Shaft diameter and flat | nothing |
| Cable length and whether shielded | nothing |
| Power supply, voltage and current | nothing, and it is not obvious one is included |
| Whether the handwheel is in the box | its port is documented, the wheel is not shown |
| Software and post processor | nothing |
| Photo of a driver | none of the eight images |
| Photo of a motor | none of the eight images |
The driver model in the title is a real, well documented part made by Just Motion Control, with a published manual covering current settings, microsteps, signal timing, protection thresholds and physical dimensions. That is a genuine quality signal: you can read the specification before you buy, and you can buy a spare anywhere.
The problem is that the listing never says the drivers are that part in the quantities you need, or which motors they drive, or whether anything else in the title is in the crate.
What to put in the enquiry
| Question | Why it decides something |
|---|---|
| Exactly what ships, itemised with quantities | Eight images show the controller and nothing else |
| Motor model, holding torque and current per phase | Decides the driver current setting and whether the driver can supply it at all |
| Is a power supply included, and at what voltage and current | Five axes can want 1,000 W or more |
| Is the handwheel included | The port is documented in detail and the wheel is never pictured |
| How many axes interpolate, and which | Five-axis linkage is claimed, the panel carries six jog axes, and a sibling listing says six-axis |
| Does the handwheel select the B axis | The published pinout has select pins for X, Y, Z and A only |
| Driver firmware version and whether the HISU hand unit is supplied | Every driver parameter above the DIP switches is set through that unit |
| Pulse output type, differential or single ended | Decides the cable and whether noise will be a problem |
Before you order
The controller is the easy half of this decision and it is well documented: a seven-inch panel unit with 22 inputs, 8 outputs, one analogue spindle channel, a documented handwheel port that reaches four axes, and a cutout you can plan around. If that is what you need, it is a reasonable piece of kit.
The other half is a title. Drivers, motors, cables, power supply and handwheel are named or implied and never shown, and the two numbers that decide whether the parts work together are the motor current per phase, which sets the driver's DIP position, and the total current, which sets the supply.
Ask for an itemised packing list with motor torque and current on it. A supplier who can send that in one message is telling you something useful about the rest of the relationship.
Frequently asked questions
What is actually in this kit?
The title names a controller, 2DM860H stepper drivers and NEMA34 motors. All eight photographs show only the SMC5-5-N-N controller, so the driver count, motor count, torque, current, cable length and whether a power supply is included are all unstated. Ask for an itemised list.
How fast can the controller actually drive the machine?
The controller family is advertised at 500 kHz, but the 2DM860H driver accepts at most 200 kHz externally, or 100 kHz with its SW3 switch on. The driver is the ceiling. A NEMA34 needs only 16 to 32 kHz to reach 600 rpm at 1,600 to 3,200 microsteps, so neither figure limits a stepper machine.
Does more microstepping make the machine more accurate?
Not beyond about a full step's worth of error. A stepper is accurate to roughly five percent of one full step, which is 0.09 degrees, or 1.25 micrometres on a 5 mm lead screw. Finer microstepping gives smoother motion and less resonance rather than tighter tolerance.
Can this driver run any NEMA34 motor?
No. The eight DIP positions run from 2.1 to 8.4 A peak, which is 1.5 to 6.0 A RMS on the top setting. A motor rated above 6.0 A RMS per phase cannot be driven correctly. Match the motor's rated current to the RMS column, which for a 6 A motor means the top position.
What power supply do I need?
Voltage follows from motor inductance: about 72 V for a 5.1 mH motor by the rule of 32 times the square root of inductance. Current is the sum of the motor currents derated by 60 to 70 percent, so five 6 A motors want 18 to 21 A, which is 1,260 to 1,470 W at 70 V. Check whether a supply is included at all.
Why can the handwheel not reach all five axes?
The published pinout gives axis select pins for X, Y, Z and A only. There is no B select pin, so the fifth axis cannot be jogged from the wheel. The same table shows three multiplier positions, X1, X10 and X100, and an ESTOP pin.
How many inputs and outputs does the controller have?
Twenty-two digital inputs and eight digital outputs, one 0-10 V analogue channel, one PWM channel, a 15-pin handwheel port, a serial port and a front USB socket for program transfer. A five-axis machine typically uses about seventeen inputs, so inputs are comfortable and outputs are the tighter budget.
What panel cutout does it need?
The bezel is 297 by 176 mm and the body is 284 by 164 mm with 58 mm of depth, so the opening falls between those rectangles, around 290 by 170 mm for about three millimetres of overlap. Allow closer to 100 mm of clear depth once cable bend and the D-sub plugs are included.
Key specifications
Frequently asked questions
- What is actually in this kit?
- The title names a controller, 2DM860H stepper drivers and NEMA34 motors. All eight photographs show only the SMC5-5-N-N controller, so the driver count, motor count, torque, current, cable length and whether a power supply is included are all unstated. Ask for an itemised list.
- How fast can the controller actually drive the machine?
- The controller family is advertised at 500 kHz, but the 2DM860H driver accepts at most 200 kHz externally, or 100 kHz with its SW3 switch on. The driver is the ceiling. A NEMA34 needs only 16 to 32 kHz to reach 600 rpm at 1,600 to 3,200 microsteps, so neither figure limits a stepper machine.
- Does more microstepping make the machine more accurate?
- Not beyond about a full step's worth of error. A stepper is accurate to roughly five percent of one full step, which is 0.09 degrees, or 1.25 micrometres on a 5 mm lead screw. Finer microstepping gives smoother motion and less resonance rather than tighter tolerance.
- Can this driver run any NEMA34 motor?
- No. The eight DIP positions run from 2.1 to 8.4 A peak, which is 1.5 to 6.0 A RMS on the top setting. A motor rated above 6.0 A RMS per phase cannot be driven correctly. Match the motor's rated current to the RMS column, which for a 6 A motor means the top position.
- What power supply do I need?
- Voltage follows from motor inductance: about 72 V for a 5.1 mH motor by the rule of 32 times the square root of inductance. Current is the sum of the motor currents derated by 60 to 70 percent, so five 6 A motors want 18 to 21 A, which is 1,260 to 1,470 W at 70 V. Check whether a supply is included at all.
- Why can the handwheel not reach all five axes?
- The published pinout gives axis select pins for X, Y, Z and A only. There is no B select pin, so the fifth axis cannot be jogged from the wheel. The same table shows three multiplier positions, X1, X10 and X100, and an ESTOP pin.
- How many inputs and outputs does the controller have?
- Twenty-two digital inputs and eight digital outputs, one 0-10 V analogue channel, one PWM channel, a 15-pin handwheel port, a serial port and a front USB socket for program transfer. A five-axis machine typically uses about seventeen inputs, so inputs are comfortable and outputs are the tighter budget.
- What panel cutout does it need?
- The bezel is 297 by 176 mm and the body is 284 by 164 mm with 58 mm of depth, so the opening falls between those rectangles, around 290 by 170 mm for about three millimetres of overlap. Allow closer to 100 mm of clear depth once cable bend and the D-sub plugs are included.