Having given up on the STM L6482H stepper driver chip, for lack of software, the TI DRV8711 has now been laid out in PCB design software with it's associated MOSFETS. The design features attachment holes for two large aluminium heat sinks and a small 12 volt fan.

Each of these boards has it's own Nano MCU which can be programmed for acceleration and torque characteristics and each motor has it's own board resulting in semi-autonomous motors. The boards will be stacked vertically on another PCB and individually controlled by a Master MCU via the I²C bus. Sounds complicated? Will this machine really have over 12 MCUs in it? ...... All will be made clear in future updates!