Hello,
I am new to the site and I wanted to ask for some suggestions on what will work well for my first device before I place my order. It will be a balancing pendulum project .I would appreciate any help offered, if only to confirm that my choices would integrate well together. If possible, I need guidance on 4 items:
Gyroscope/accelerometer- (measuring the angle a pendulum strays from a vertical position) I assume “vertical” will need to be calibrated on each power-up. I have looked around and I think the Buffered ±2g Dual Axis Accelerometer (LIS244ALH) or the Dual Axis Gyro Breakout Board IXZ500 ±500° / sec product code RB-Spa-365 will do the job.
Stepper Motor – I figure I need approximately 80 to 125 oz. - in of torque and will be supplying the power using a wall outlet. I will need a ac-dc wall adaptor as well if that is the case. I am open to using batteries if cost is low and power is sufficient. Something like this: 3V, 1.6A, 233 oz-in Geared Bipolar Stepper Motor RB-Phi-131
Microcontroller- I decided to try and learn c programming. This is what I came up with to oder: Arduino Uno USB Microcontroller Rev 2 RB-Ard-18
with accessories, and the Proto shield?
Motor Driver- to drive the stepper motor, I think this may be sufficient: Big Easy Driver Bipolar Motor Controller RB-Spa-616
Thank you in advance to anyone with any suggestions
beginner
Thank you very much for the quick response. I look forward to completing this project and enjoying the results.
I did have one last question about power regulation. If I was to use a wall adaptor, how do I distribute the appropriate power for each device? Would I just use a breadboard and a few switching regulators? I guess the same answer would go for if I went the 3.7V LiPo route.
Ok, thanks, any suggestions on a good charger for Lithium Polymer Battery - 3.7V 3000mAh
Product code : RB-See-138?
Im trying to get the stepper motor to drive but I seem to have missed something. Ive hooked up the Big Easy Driver to Gnd, 5V, and connected the 3v stepper motor according to the diagram. from my arduino, I have pins 8 and 9 connected to the driver’s Direction and Step… I uploaded a quick program onto my arduino that should get the motor to run but I have not been sucessful… Any suggestions or links to answers? I used the codes from this page schmalzhaus.com/EasyDriver/Examples/EasyDriverExamples.html but its not working
You really seem to be on the right track.
Gyro/Accel: Unless you plan to be moving quite fast, the rate at which the robot will tilt should be minimal. You can use an accelerometer to measure the orientation (most pick up the direction of gravity).
Stepper / Controller: The stepper motor you chose will work with the stepper controller you chose. Some might prefer DC gear motor with encoder - the choice is yours and there is not “best solution”.
Controller: The Uno is a good choice, and it’s up to you if you want to use the protoshield to connect the sensors.
Battery / Wall adapter: You will need a ~3V battery pack capable of providing ~2A continuous. A 3.7V LiPo may be able to do the job, otherwise consider 2xAA batteries.
Ideally you choose a battery where the voltage corresponds to that of the actuators you are using. If you want to use only one battery, you would then need one or more voltage regulators (you can install it on the prototyping board) to power the electronics.
You might find the wireless charger interesting - it works specifically with that battery and is priced less than most normal chargers. The standard charger for that battery is the LiPo Rider.
A few troubleshooting tips:
]Double check the connections between the stepper motor and the controller; a wrong connection can freeze the motor in place./:m]
]To check - your stepper motor is bipolar right? You chose RB-Phi-131?/:m]
]Double check the connections from the Arduino to the controller. In this case a lot of the information is in the schematic. RST, Sleep don’t need to be connected. VCC is likely 5V./:m]
]Check that you are powering the controller, and then split the voltage to power the Arduino via the Vin/Gnd pins./:m]
]Make sure the voltage regulator is producing 5V output, and that the GND is connected to both the Arduino, the stepper controller and the battery/:m]
]Of course the usual… make sure the battery is charged./:m]
Troubleshooting code is harder - the EasyDriver code may not work for the Big easy driver (and, you need to check the pin assignment).
