Stepper UNO v1.0

The StepperUNO is a stepper motor manual control board for standalone system.

With this board one can control up to two stepper motors and read sensors at the same time. It is suitable for small application where some automation is required.

Based on the pattern of the Arduino UNO it is designed to host a LCD keypad shield. This combination makes the stepperUNO an excellent board for application control.

The software works exactly as an Arduino UNO.

Specifications

- 2 Motor control output (Generic or embedded A4988 drivers)
- 4 Digital Input/Output
- 2 Analog Input (can be used as digital I/O)
- 1 USB port
- 1 Power port (2.1mm Jack)
- 1 Potentiometer control
- 6 push buttons.
- 16x2 LCD screen

Motor Control

The stepperUNO can communicate with any stepper driver. A generic connector is available. Alternatively the A4988 driver can be integrated on the board itself.

For each motor there is a dedicated Attiny85 MCU. The ATtiny85 communicates with the main Atmega328 MCU via i2c.

User Control

The well known LCD keypad shield is used. It uses the usual LiquidCrystal library to display informations.

From the LCD keypad six push buttons are available. We have rerouted the reset button as a normal function button. A library for programming them easily should be released soon.

The potentiometer is available for linear controls such as speed.

Inputs/Outputs

All digital and analog ports are available with screw terminal connectors. On each port there are three pins. Data/Ground and +5V. Ground and +5v are here for powering the sensor.

Enclosure

The full combo StepperUNO/keypad shield can sit in a basket enclosure. This can be mounted on aluminium profile or other support.

Library

The stepperUNO library is available in the section Files below.

The library is described in more details in StepperUNO Library 1.1

A simple usage example is shown below.

// simpledrive v1.0
// lechacal.com
// Example usage of stepperUNO library
// drive a single motor with left right button

#define Pot 3

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <stepperUNO.h>

LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 9, 4, 5, 6, 7); 

keypad Keypad;
stepMOTOR motor1, motor2;

void setup(){

  motor1.begin(0x4);
  motor2.begin(0x5);
  motor1.enable();
  
  lcd.begin(16,2); //LCD INITIALISATION
}

void loop(){
 
 int POTval = analogRead(Pot);
 float step_delay = 102400/(POTval+1);
 
 byte button = Keypad.ReadKey();
 
 if( Keypad.buttonJustPressed ) {

        switch (button){              

            case BUTTON_RIGHT:{  
                 motor1.setDirection(true);
                 motor1.speed(step_delay);
                 lcd.setCursor(0,0);
                 lcd.print("RIGHT");
                 break;
            }
            case BUTTON_LEFT:{     
                 motor1.setDirection(false);
                 motor1.speed(step_delay);
                 lcd.setCursor(0,0);
                 lcd.print("LEFT ");
                 break;
            }
        }//end switch
 }// end if
 
 if( Keypad.buttonJustPressed ) Keypad.buttonJustPressed = false; //We have now done all we wanted once the button pressed. Closing it.
 
 if( Keypad.buttonJustReleased ) {  
   if (button==BUTTON_NONE){
     motor1.stop();
     lcd.setCursor(0,0);
     lcd.print("     ");
   }
 }
 if( Keypad.buttonJustReleased ) Keypad.buttonJustReleased = false;
    
  
}//end loop

Files

StepperUNO Library v1.0
StepperUNO Library v1.1

Application Examples

The library is provided with several examples in the Example directory.

• Default sketch - Sketch out of manufacture.
• Albawinder - Coil winder project
• Position Control
  • [Video]
  • [Sketch]
• attiny_stepperUNO - Sketch for both attiny85 mcu that individually control the drivers.
• test_lcd - dummy sketch to test the lcd keypad