I'm trying to create a model that has a component which moves out, pauses, then moves back in. I've been looking online, and it appears a stepper motor would do this. The moving object is light, so I guess a 5V stepper motor will do the job, and the travelling distance would only be a maximum of 8cm. Do I need a motor shield to connect the motor to my Arduino board? I've also seen that a 'ULN2003 controller' works, but I don't understand what this is? Also, how many stepper motors can I connect to a single Arduino board?
Any help would be very much appreciated!