I came across a bunch of stepper motors and I have since been looking for a project to do with the kids.
An old Telecran (French for Etch-a-Sketch) later, we are in business !
What I used for this project:
– an Arduino Uno
– 2 stepper motors
– 2 easydrivers v44 (by www.sparkfun.com)
– various Fishertechnik parts (http://www.fischertechnik.com)
– a push button.
Optional parts:
– a sensor shield + 2 push buttons
– a Nintendo Wii Nunchuck
– a WiiChuck adapter
And also:
– hot glue gun
Step 1: Mechanics
The mechanical part has been done with some Fishertechniks parts.
I had to drill into the stepper cogs as the axis of the steppers were 5mm where the FT standard is 4 mm.
The other cogs were simply hot glued onto the Telecran (Etch-a-sketch) knobs.
The rest is best explained in pictures…
Step 2: Steppers
Some details of the motors and the final assembly.
Step 3: Arduino
To drive the steppers I used a couple of easy driver board from Sparkfun.
Very straight forward. Note the emergency button that allows to put the motors to sleep in case of a runaway sketch.
I added a sensor shield to the Arduino for convenience as I have a couple of push buttons (with a pull-up resistor) already cabled.
WiiChuck adapter is one of my favorite. Although the Nunchuck is a little more difficult to program than it may first appear.
Step 4: Schematics
Step 5: Code – sketch.
If NUNCHUCK is defined then the code will be compiled with Nunchuck support.
The motors are then controlled exclusively with the Wii Nunchuck..
For more detail: Telecran (Etch a Sketch) + Arduino = Telecranduino !
