a google search for "avr gcc stepper motor" found two good links about controlling a stepper motor on the cheap with an atmega on the first result page: Low-cost Stepper Motor Controller http://www.instructables.com/id/Drive-a-Stepper-Motor-with-an-AVR-Microprocessor/
still looking forward to the arduino shield design. Can the existing DC motor shield be used to drive two stepper motors?
peter
thanks for the link, but i dont think i'm going to use that. for two reasons:
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i want to harness the sweet toolchain that arduino has developed. being able to plug the board into a computer and program it in one easy step is a HUGE deal. moving away from arduino to a custom design means i'd have to essentially re-invent that wheel. been there, done that. no thanks.
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the circuit i am designing uses the L297/L298 combo which means it can handle stepper voltages from 12-36v, meaning you can drive your stepper motors at their optimum performance, as well as making the controls much easier: from the microcontroller you only need to send pulses when you want a step, and tell it which direction to step. so easy!
as for the DC motor shield, to the best of my knowledge it can only be used to drive DC motors. i dont know enough about it to tell you conclusively though.
~Zach