What is the best stepper motor driver?

Question

Do it yourself

I plan to use a CNC router and a manipulator (a robot in the form of a hand). Stepper motor Nema 17 17HS4401
about this one it is written that it supports 256 microsteps but I did not understand how to enable them, if you can explain https://aliexpress.ru/item/4000478920551.html?mp=1...
or this one
https:// aliexpress.ru/item/32881945086.html?algo_p...

Answer 1

If you have already decided to do something, first draw the kinematics and estimate what torques should be there.
The driver is selected by the motor current, the motor current directly affects the motor torque.
It is also worth immediately thinking about a power supply unit for a normal voltage of at least 36 volts and the corresponding current, if there are 2 amperes in each motor, then 5 motors are already 10 amperes, and a power supply is needed for 15 amperes.
Microstepping affects the sound of the performance mainly because the accuracy after 1/16 does not change in any way, and any driver can do 1/16. 1/512 microstep sounds very quiet, but for a router it doesn't matter.
Watch the uncle's channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Citiq6Zfdu4to roughly imagine how a manipulator can be arranged in general. There he puts nema23 with a reducer on the first segment and also with a reducer on the other segments.
There, by the way, according to the videos, it is clear that he gradually left the steppers, they are slow and weak, and if you want to mill, you will have to use metal and the power is needed even higher.
ZY
Completely forgot
You need to decide on the strength of the structure, for example, you want to get an accuracy of 0.1 mm on the nozzle or on the cutter.
It is necessary to calculate what thickness the body of your hand should be at least so that it does not bend more than 0.1 mm under its own weight.
This is a bit of strength, for simplicity, you can take an aluminum pipe and calculate what the deflection of the pipe will be with a weight of about a kilogram at its end.
I repeat myself as the owner of both a router and a printer, with experience in building home-made printers and routers, what you want is impossible, it will turn out either a shitty printer or a shitty router, this is a fundamentally different approach to design.

Answer 2

TMC2209 has 256 microsteps, this is pop, but 2A is seriously
I don’t know who LV8729 is, but if it is related to A4988, DRV8825, then this is no more than 1.5A
In short, if you are satisfied with 1.5A, why pay more, but if you want to squeeze out 17HS4401 to the maximum (1.8A) then that's another story. Also, do not forget that at maximum current the stepper must be cooled at least with a radiator.
Threat The LV8729 has 128 microsteps, which its ancestors do not have, but it is not necessary in principle
. Or take a few in reserve, all one will come out cheaper