Long story short is I'm still developing the algorithms/concepts to do such. Some progress has been made as many different stepper motor drivers/controllers have been evaluated and I've narrowed the research & testing to the Pololu & Trinamic controller/drivers. I'm still struggling with the Trinamic devices but have the Pololu Tic-500 working well. The control algorithms allow separate acceleration and deceleration profiles and when stepping a different "slow approach" deceleration profile is utilized. The Trinamic devices have potential for better vibration & resonance control, but are more difficult to handle code wise, and I'm not a good programmer.

Over the course of this development I've moved the Tic-500 to the XY & Z motors in an effort to reduce complexity and wiring clutter. X & Y are based upon the THK KR-15 and the Tic-500 are mounted on the top of the NEMA 11 motors, the Z axis is based on a THK KR-20 or HIWIN KK50 (KR-26 env.) with the Tic-500 mounted on the NEMA 17 motor backside. I've also included start-homing sensors (Panasonic GX-F12A) and control for the Z axis.
The 3 controllers are interfaced to a Raspberry Pi 3B via USB and a custom interface board developed for optical isolated triggering the camera and strobes. All the camera & strobe parameters are controllable including a delay for the strobes to allow use with EFCS.
The motor/rail parameters are also controllable, things like Motor Max Current, Holding Current, Steps per Rev, Micro-Steps, Rail Thread Pitch, Rail Range and so on.
On potential issue with 1~2 steps is can the strobes keep up? I'm using multiple strobes and have confirmed the ability to recycle within ~1 second and over long periods without overheating.
I've attached images of the 2 systems, one is based upon the Wemacro Vertical stand with KR-15 for X and Y and KR-20 for Z, and this is a somewhat portable completely automated S&S System. The other is centered upon a Thor Labs base with 95mm precision components, and utilizes KR-15 for X and Y and HIWIN KK50 for Z. This is also completely automated.
I've had a request to shoot a video of the system in operation, I'll try an accommodate this soon if I have some available time.
Here's some previous posts on the development of these S&S Systems
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=38511
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=38548
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=38604
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=38512
Best,
Wemacro Based Setup:




Thor Labs Based Setup:




