Hello,
I’d like to controll a couple stepper motors without needing them to be connected to a computer. I’d like to be able to turn them on and off, change direction, and change speed with push buttons/switches/ potentiometers. Can someone reccomend how I can go about doing this? The steppers would be in the 23/34 range, say 500 to 1500 OZ-IN.
You would need a microcontroller to act as an interface between the buttons and a normal stepper controller, and program it accordingly.
robotshop.com/en/microcontrollers.html
robotshop.com/en/stepper-mot … llers.html
So then a stepper driver + an arduino? Then I would have to program the Arduino?
Correct. You might want a stepper shield to help reduce wiring. An Arduino shield simply plugs into a shield compatible Arduino directly.
I’ll have do disagree with Coleman, sorry.
With a step/direction driver board, simply generating a string of pulses (a square wave) which can be done with a 555 timer chip, and a switch to control the direction line you can move a stepper. A pot controls the rate of the steps. this was often done before microprocessors (or microcomputers) became so available. Plenty of circuits out there. Google ‘555 timer for stepper’.
But why not just get an inexpensive Arduino (clone?) board, and attach a pot? You can have much more fun with it.
