Standby Compass: StepperTest


Yesterday I finally received the EasyDriver stepper driver and the X27-168 steppers(no more AliExpress orders if I can help it - took weeks to arrive).  

I opened up the motor and removed the tiny plastic tab that was keeping it from spinning 360.  I soldered headers on one of the EasyDrivers for prototyping and soldered some solid core wire to the little leads on the motor.  

After wiring it all up on the breadboard I used this code to see it run.

For the connections: you need to put one coil's wire pair on the A pins for the EasyDriver and the other coil's on the B pins.  There is no polarity so the A coil wires can go on plus or minus.  I put the 12v power on the M+ and GND pin pair.  Then these as well:

// EasyDriver -> Nano
stp -> 2
dir -> 3
MS1 -> 4
MS2 -> 5
EN  -> 6
GND (by step pin) -> GND

Do not connect/disconnect the motor when power is applied. Power is constantly flowing to keep motor still and changing connection when powered will kill EasyDriver.

Things learned:
  • Where I stored my pin vise (took a bit to find it) 😀😀
  • Dupont connectors on breadboard wires DO NOT accept solder
  • The OmniFixo seems to be working well for me
  • A sharp utility knife is a good way to split a row of header pins into smaller groups - just make sure to hold down each side when you cut else things go flying



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