Connecting a NEMA 17 stepper motor to a Teensy 3.2/Arduino Nano

Thread Starter

nickbuhling

Joined Oct 27, 2017
29
I am very new to arduino, electronics and this forum. I want to make a DIY camera slider that is capable of making time lapses as well as regular sliding footage. Recently I did a lot of research on the field of motors and controlling them and I found that running a stepper motor with batteries is either too expensive for me or the batteries will drain too soon. That is why I decided to run the motor on AC power.

I want to work with this motor and the Easy Driver 4.4. Then I want to power this with this wall wart and this DC jack.

my first question is wether I can power my Teensy 3.2 or Arduino Nano with the wall wart too or do I need to power it sepperately with a powerbank or something?

My research tells me that this is a possible setup but before buying the components I want to know this for sure. So that is my second question.

Thank you very much in advance for helping me out in this exciting world of electronics.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
I am very new to arduino, electronics and this forum. I want to make a DIY camera slider that is capable of making time lapses as well as regular sliding footage. Recently I did a lot of research on the field of motors and controlling them and I found that running a stepper motor with batteries is either too expensive for me or the batteries will drain too soon. That is why I decided to run the motor on AC power.

I want to work with this motor and the Easy Driver 4.4. Then I want to power this with this wall wart and this DC jack.

my first question is wether I can power my Teensy 3.2 or Arduino Nano with the wall wart too or do I need to power it sepperately with a powerbank or something?

My research tells me that this is a possible setup but before buying the components I want to know this for sure. So that is my second question.

Thank you very much in advance for helping me out in this exciting world of electronics.

Arduino have a big array of “shields” that plug into their connections. Here is a stepper motor shield.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-motor-shield-v2-for-arduino/using-stepper-motors

Then get the code from that page and make the minor modifications you need. Read the page or google stepper motor shield and all the comments. Post questions as needed.

Many other shields and suppliers exist - check amazon, eBay, adafruit, sparkfun, (all “.com”).
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,720
You wouldn't know until you try it.
Make sure that the wall wart outputs enough power to drive the motor and some more.
Motors are notorious for generating switching noise into electronic systems. The motor calls for 1.5A. Hence you want to look for 2A supply.

You might get away with a single supply if you make sure the supply line to the MCU is properly filtered.
Having a separate supply would give you better options.
 

Thread Starter

nickbuhling

Joined Oct 27, 2017
29
You wouldn't know until you try it.
Make sure that the wall wart outputs enough power to drive the motor and some more.
Motors are notorious for generating switching noise into electronic systems. The motor calls for 1.5A. Hence you want to look for 2A supply.

You might get away with a single supply if you make sure the supply line to the MCU is properly filtered.
Having a separate supply would give you better options.
Thank you for your quick response! So you suggest I buy this one instead with a 2A output. This is alright for the easydriver and won't be blowing up the driver or the motor? I decided to use a powerbank as power source for the Teensy/Arduino Nano.
 

128ITSH

Joined Jul 20, 2017
101
The easydriver 4.4 specification says it can handle 6-30V input voltage, and 2A or more input current.
This means you don't need to limit the current. In my opinion you should even upgrade to a 3A supply and with it you will be able to also power the arduino nano (but not the teensy 3.2 because its max input voltage is 6V, and you are using a 12 volt suplly). I would not recommend using a power bank for powering the MCU. It would be much easier to use a 12V 3A power supply to power the arduino nano and the easydriver together.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,720
Fair point. But do I then need to make sure the current is limited to a certain value or not?
Just remember basic Ohm's Law.
V and I are interrelated via the resistance R.
In other words, when you set V, you don't control I. The load R is what demands how much current you take via I = V/R., Ohm's Law.
Just make sure that the supply can provide more current than what you need.

There are times when one may want to set a maximum limit on the available current, for example when you do not want things to go up in smoke when there is an electrical fault. That is what fuses are for.
 

philba

Joined Aug 17, 2017
959
I am very new to arduino, electronics and this forum. I want to make a DIY camera slider that is capable of making time lapses as well as regular sliding footage. Recently I did a lot of research on the field of motors and controlling them and I found that running a stepper motor with batteries is either too expensive for me or the batteries will drain too soon. That is why I decided to run the motor on AC power.

I want to work with this motor and the Easy Driver 4.4. Then I want to power this with this wall wart and this DC jack.

my first question is wether I can power my Teensy 3.2 or Arduino Nano with the wall wart too or do I need to power it sepperately with a powerbank or something?

My research tells me that this is a possible setup but before buying the components I want to know this for sure. So that is my second question.

Thank you very much in advance for helping me out in this exciting world of electronics.
Yes, you can power the arduino or teensy from the wall wart but you need to take care to isolate it from the nasty noise that the stepper produces. I have a very similar project that uses a teensy 3.2 and feed it 5V from a regulator that takes in 12V with a "back check" diode. If you want, I could give you one of the PCBs I got made. Hardware is done but software is still in process.
42981f03a69e0dc0f8e075ffa3724480.png
 
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