2 layers108 × 57.5 mm
4 layers120 × 104 mm
Step400 r1
ponoor/STEP40054 axis stepper motor driver with Ethernet interface.
- Size
- 120 × 104 mm
- Copper layers
- 4
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 245
- Nets
- 175
- Pads
- 1,200
- Tracks, vias
- 3,327, 476
- Pours
- 88
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 10.0 (file 20260206)
- Created
- 8 Apr 2020
- Updated
- 10 Oct 2026
Overview
Step400 r1 is an open-source printed circuit board by ponoor, from the ponoor/STEP400 repository on GitHub, published under the MIT licence. It is a 4-layer board of 120 × 104 mm with 245 parts on 175 nets, routed with 3,327 tracks and 476 vias.
It is built around the BD9G341AEFJ-E2 and BAR43. Its parts include 98 capacitors, 36 resistors, 17 connectors, 7 ICs and 6 diodes. It belongs with the robots and motor control and interfaces and adapters boards and the SAM D and SAM boards of this library.
Main components
2README
README.mdSTEP400
STEP400 is a 4-axis stepper motor driver board with an Ethernet interface, designed for art installations, stage productions and exhibition machinery. It puts everything a typical motion setup needs onto one board:
- An Arduino Zero–compatible MCU (Microchip ATSAMD21G18A)
- Ethernet (WIZnet W5500)
- Four STMicroelectronics powerSTEP01 stepper drivers, supporting both voltage mode and current mode
- HOME and LIMIT sensor inputs for each axis
- A microSD card slot for loading the configuration file
The board is controlled with Open Sound Control (OSC) over Ethernet, which works natively in Max, TouchDesigner, Processing, openFrameworks, Unity and other creative coding environments.
| Motor type | Bipolar stepper |
| Supply voltage | 12–72 V (absolute max. 80 V) |
| Max. phase current | 5 A |
| Microstepping | Up to 1/128 |
| PCB size | 120 × 84 mm |
STEP400 is part of the STEP series. Its sibling, STEP800, drives eight smaller motors with L6470 drivers and shares the same firmware and OSC commands.
Friend of STEP400 : STEP800
Store
Documentation
https://ponoor.com/en/docs/step-series/
Forum: https://github.com/ponoor/step-series-support/discussions
- STEP400/STEP800 documentation (日本語)
- Electromagnetic brake board for STEP400
- Questions and support: STEP series support forum
Firmware
The firmware is maintained in a separate repository, shared with STEP800:
ponoor/step-series-universal-firmware
This repository used to contain the STEP400 firmware as well. Those directories have been removed, and the old releases here are no longer maintained. See Firmware update in the documentation for how to update a board.
Repository contents
hardware/
Design files for the current hardware revision (r1).
| File | Description |
|---|---|
step400_r1.sch, step400_r1.brd | STEP400 r1 schematic and board (Autodesk EAGLE). These are the reference design files for r1. |
step400_r1_schematics.pdf | STEP400 r1 schematic |
step400_r1_dimension.pdf | Board dimensions and mounting holes |
step400_r1.0.1_BOM.csv | Bill of materials for r1.0.1 (current) |
step400_r1.0.0_BOM.csv | Bill of materials for r1.0.0 |
brakeBoard.sch, brakeBoard.brd | Electromagnetic brake board (Autodesk EAGLE) |
brakeBoard_schematic.pdf, brakeBoard_BOM.csv | Brake board schematic and bill of materials |
step400_r1/ | KiCad project imported from the EAGLE r1 files (see below) |
KiCad migration (work in progress)
We are moving the hardware design from EAGLE to KiCad for the next revision. hardware/step400_r1/ holds the r1 design imported into KiCad 10, along with a footprint library (step400_r1.pretty) exported from the board.
The connectivity and footprints of this KiCad project have been checked against the EAGLE files. However, it is kept as a reference for future work, not as manufacturing data. The PCB still carries leftovers from the import (an unconsolidated layer stack, missing keepout areas, default design rules), so use the EAGLE files or the PDFs above if you need the exact r1 design.
configTool/
Source of the web-based configuration tool, which creates the JSON configuration file that the board loads from its microSD card. A hosted version is available at ponoor.com/tools/step400-config/. For usage, see Setup with a microSD card.
step400_hardware_tests/
A PlatformIO project for the hardware inspection firmware, used to test assembled boards.
Examples and libraries
| Environment | Repository |
|---|---|
| Max | ponoor/step-series-example-Max |
| TouchDesigner | ponoor/step-series-example-TouchDesigner (by @loveandsheep) |
| openFrameworks | ponoor/step-series-example-openFrameworks (by @niimi) |
| Unity | ponoor/step-series-example-Unity (by @niimi) |
| Processing | yuskegoto/STEP400_Processing (by @yuskegoto) |
| Node-RED | yuskegoto/STEP400_Node-RED (by @yuskegoto) |
| Python | ponoor/python-step-series |
License
MIT License © Ponoor Experiments Inc.
Parts
245| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 100nf | C0402 | C5, C10, C13, C15, C16, C21, C22, C23, C24, C27, C28, C31, C38, C45, C46, C55 +6 |
| 19 | TESTPOINT_D1.6 | TESTPOINT_D1.6 | TP1, TP2, TP3, TP4, TP5, TP6, TP10, TP11, TP12, TP13, TP14, TP15, TP16, TP17, TP18, TP19 +3 |
| 16 | 220nF | C0805 | C43, C44, C47, C48, C49, C50, C51, C53, C73, C74, C77, C78, C79, C80, C81, C83 |
| 8 | B3B-XASK-1 | CN1, CN2, CN3, CN4, CN5, CN6, CN9, CN10 | |
| 8 | 0.1 | RESC6332X71N | R19, R20, R21, R22, R25, R26, R27, R28 |
| 8 | 100R | R0603 | R7, R8, R9, R10, R17, R18, R23, R24 |
| 8 | 100uF | E5-10,5 | C59, C60, C63, C64, C89, C90, C93, C94 |
| 8 | 1uf | C0603 | C17, C18, C19, C20, C39, C40, C69, C70 |
| 8 | 470nF | C0603 | C52, C54, C61, C62, C82, C84, C91, C92 |
| 6 | 10K 1/10W | R0603 | R4, R12, R31, R32, R33, R34 |
| 5 | 100nF/100V | C0805 | C3, C57, C58, C87, C88 |
| 5 | GREEN-0603 | LED-0603 | BUSY1, BUSY2, BUSY3, BUSY4, UNK3.3V0 |
| 5 | STANDOFF_ELECTRICAL | STANDOFF-ELECTRICAL | S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 |
| 5 | YELLOW-0603 | LED-0603 | FLAG1, FLAG2, FLAG3, FLAG4, TX0 |
| 4 | B4B-XASK-1 | CN7, CN8, CN11, CN12 | |
| 4 | 220nF | C0402 | C65, C66, C95, C96 |
| 4 | 22pF | C0402 | C6, C7, C32, C33 |
| 4 | 22uf | C0805 | C67, C68, C97, C98 |
| 4 | 47nF | C0805 | C41, C42, C71, C72 |
| 4 | 691321300004 | 691321300004 | J3, J4, J5, J6 |
| 4 | BAR43 | SOT23-3 | D3, D4, D5, D6 |
| 4 | POWERSTEP01_VIA | IC_POWERSTEP01_VIA | U5, U6, U7, U8 |
| 3 | 330 | CAY16_LONG_W | RN1, RN4, RN5 |
| 2 | FIDUCIAL_MARKER_PBAN | U$2, U$3 | |
| 2 | 100nf | C0603 | C4, C8 |
| 2 | 10nf | C0402 | C30, C35 |
| 2 | 330R | R0603 | R15, R16 |
| 2 | 330R-1500MA | L0805 | L2, L3 |
| 2 | 4.7K | R0603 | R35, R36 |
| 2 | 4.7uF/100V | C1210 | C1, C2 |
| 2 | 47uF | C1206 | C11, C12 |
| 2 | 47uF/6.3V | C1206 | C25, C26 |
| 2 | 5.1k | R0603 | R29, R30 |
| 2 | 6.8nF | C0402 | C36, C37 |
| 1 | dummyfp1 | UNK_HOLE_1 | |
| 1 | dummyfp11 | UNK_HOLE_11 | |
| 1 | dummyfp12 | UNK_HOLE_12 | |
| 1 | dummyfp13 | UNK_HOLE_13 | |
| 1 | USB-C_USB2.0-TYPE-C | USB1 | |
| 1 | CE_3MM | U$8 | |
| 1 | dummyfp4 | UNK_HOLE_4 | |
| 1 | dummyfp14 | UNK_HOLE_14 | |
| 1 | dummyfp7 | UNK_HOLE_7 | |
| 1 | PONOOR_LOGO_6MM | U$4 | |
| 1 | dummyfp8 | UNK_HOLE_8 | |
| 1 | WEEE_6MM | U$6 | |
| 1 | dummyfp2 | UNK_HOLE_2 | |
| 1 | dummyfp0 | UNK_HOLE_0 | |
| 1 | dummyfp6 | UNK_HOLE_6 | |
| 1 | STEP400_LOGO_6MM | U$1 | |
| 1 | dummyfp15 | UNK_HOLE_15 | |
| 1 | dummyfp5 | UNK_HOLE_5 | |
| 1 | 61200621621 | J7 | |
| 1 | dummyfp10 | UNK_HOLE_10 | |
| 1 | dummyfp9 | UNK_HOLE_9 | |
| 1 | dummyfp3 | UNK_HOLE_3 | |
| 1 | 0982_W5500LONG | TQFP48-LONG | IC1 |
| 1 | 100V 2A | DO-214AC | D2 |
| 1 | 100k | R0603 | R1 |
| 1 | 10R | R0603 | R14 |
| 1 | 10uF/10V | C0805 | C14 |
| 1 | 12.4K | R0603 | R11 |
| 1 | 13k | R0603 | R3 |
| 1 | 150uH | L5045_L | L1 |
| 1 | 16MHz | SG5032 | Q3 |
| 1 | 1M 1/10W | R0603 | R13 |
| 1 | 219-08 | CTS-219-08 | ID0 |
| 1 | 22NF 50V | C0402 | C34 |
| 1 | 25MHz | CRYSTAL-3.2-2.5 | X2 |
| 1 | 32.768kHz | FC-135 | Q2 |
| 1 | 33 | CAY16_LONG_W | RN2 |
| 1 | 3k | R0603 | R5 |
| 1 | 4.7k | R0603 | R2 |
| 1 | 4.7uF/6.3V | C0603 | C29 |
| 1 | 49.9 | CAY16_LONG_W | RN3 |
| 1 | 5.1V | SOD-323 | D1 |
| 1 | 750 | R0603 | R6 |
| 1 | ATSAMD21G-A | TQFP-48 | U4 |
| 1 | BD9G341AEFJ | SOIC127P600X100-9N | U2 |
| 1 | BLUE-0603 | LED-0603 | L0 |
The 234 most common of 245 parts.
Questions
How big is the Step400 r1 PCB?
It measures 120 × 104 mm and has 4 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the Step400 r1 use?
245 parts, built around the BD9G341AEFJ-E2 and BAR43. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the Step400 r1 KiCad files?
From the ponoor/STEP400 repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is hardware/step400_r1/step400_r1.kicad_pcb and its schematic hardware/step400_r1/step400_r1.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the Step400 r1 design in my own project?
Its repository publishes it under the MIT licence: you may reuse it on that licence's terms (keep the author's notice, and for a copyleft licence share your changes alike).
Similar boards
- 4 layers174 × 104 mm
- 4 layers
- 4 layers101.6 × 120.6 mm
- 4 layers100 × 100 mm
- 4 layers115.5 × 96.2 mm
Closed deck x4
OpenLogicEFI/Hardware
Hardware is based off an open source project called Speeduino by Josh Stewart.
245 parts19 - 4 layers58 × 58 mm
- 4 layers200 × 50 mm
IV-6 Display Board
drewsum/VFD_Clock
A VFD clock centered around a PIC32MZ EF microcontroller
245 parts1