Stepper Motor Driver

I am a part of Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets Space Program, where I help design and assemble some of the ground electronics. Recently, I developed an Arduino circuit that activates a stepper motor driver. A stepper motor is a DC motor that moves in partial rotations. Inside the motor are magnetic coils that spin when an electric current is applied to it. Stepper motors can be programmed through microcontrollers and powered through an external DC supply. We use it as the main motor for the launch systems. This circuit was designed and created in the Engineering Sciences & Mechanics building.

Driver Module

This is the driver module we used in the circuit. It acts as an actuator that transforms pulse signals into angular displacement. It also accounts for extremely precise movements and has a very simple user interface. It also can run up to 30 Volts. The four wires from the motor are placed into the green inputs. It was very challenging to find a driver, as they are very expensive and limited in stock. Luckily, we found a driver inside one of the bins in the YJSP maker space. The connections for the rest of the circuit are down below.

Pin Diagram

Here is a sample pin diagram that I modeled this circuit off of. As you can see, it contains an Arduino Nano Module, stepper motor driver, stepper motor, 1 microfarad capacitor, voltage source, and multiple jumper wires. This diagram is incomplete as it needs resistors to ensure that the circuit will not short. Source of the schematic is listed on the right, if you want to find out more.

Stepper Motor with DRV8825 and Arduino Tutorial (4 Examples)In this tutorial you will learn how to control a stepper motor with DRV8825, AccelStepper and Arduino. Wiring diagram and many example codes included!

Physical Circuit

This is the physical circuit I created based on the schematic above. The stepper motor wires fit inside the green inputs of the driver. All the connections were made through jumper wires. The Arduino Nano module acts as an interface between the software (written in C++) and the rest of the hardware. While not seen, I connected the red and black wires on the left to the DC power supply. Wires are color coded where red always goes to VCC and black always goes to ground. As mentioned earlier, the stepper motor driver can handle up to 30 volts. We had to be extremely careful with where we placed the pins or else the circuit would short!

Code

I also wrote all of the code that activates the Arduino and rest of the circuit. This code was modeled from the same link from above, but there are different pins. This code turns the stepper motor for 3 turns: one left, then one right, and finally back to left. It is still a work in progress as I am trying to debug some of the errors. In addition, I was having problems with my computer detecting the COM port. This was fixed when I swapped USB connection wires.

Results

Unfortunately, the stepper motor did not spin as I wanted it to. Possible sources of error include lack of proper connections, low voltage from the DC supply module, bad code, or improper soldering. Although this is disappointing, I do hope to continue working on this project for the rest of the semester, in hopes of finally activating it!

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