In this article, we are publishing a project which explains different aspects of interfacing a Stepper Motor with Arduino. Stepper motor is a specially designed DC motor which comes with advantages of both a servo motor and a normal dc motor. Compared to a normal Dc motor, the maximum rpm a stepper motor can produce is very low. But they have the advantage that they can be positioned accurately. Unlike servo motor, stepper motor can also be rotated continuously. On the basis of the winding arrangement inside, the stepper motor can be categorized into unipolar and bipolar. The stepper motor we are using here is a unipolar stepper motor named 28BYJ-48. After going through the project you can run or turn the motor to desired direction.
Let’s begin our tutorial and learn how to interface a stepper motor to Arduino.
Objectives of the Project
- Understanding the basic working of stepper motor.
- Interfacing of stepper motor with Arduino.
- Generating code for turning motor to a desired direction.
- Using a simple Arduino library for stepper motor interfacing.
Let’s begin to build our project!
Components Used
| Component | Specification | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Arduino | Uno | 1 |
| Stepper Motor | 28BYJ-48 | 1 |
| Darlington Pair Transistor | ULN2003A | 1 |
| Resistors | 470 Ohms | 4 |
| LED | 4 |
Arduino Stepper Motor Interfacing – Circuit Diagram
Assemble the circuit as shown in the diagram. Components required and connections are explained below
28BYJ-48 Stepper Motor
As mentioned earlier stepper motors are classified into unipolar and bipolar stepper motors according to their winding arrangement. 28BYJ-48 is a unipolar stepper motor with both windings center tapped and connected to the common pin of the ULN2003A. As per the circuit remaining four ends of the windings are connected to the output pins of a Darlington IC (ULN2003A). ULN2003 is a monolithic Darlington IC consists of seven NPN Darlington transistor pairs with high voltage and current capability. It consists of common cathode clamp diodes for each NPN Darlington pair, which makes this driver IC useful for switching inductive loads. Darlington IC is used here as the stepper motor driver for Arduino. Since 28BYJ works at 5V, we connect the com pin of ULN2003A to 5V pin of Arduino.
Read more: Interfacing Stepper Motor to Arduino
