6 Nema 17 motors, a4988 motor driver and Arduino

Hello,

As an Ardruino project, I want to make a Rubik's cube solver. I would like to do this with 6 Nema 17 motors. I have a few questions about these motors (and a driver)

  • When I was looking for these motors, I saw there are different types of the Nema 17SH series motors with different current draws. What's the advantage of a higer or lower rated current?
  • Is it possible to attach 6 of these a4998 motor drivers and motors to any Arduino? If so, what Arduino?
  • What is the purpose of a motor shield and is it necessary to use those shields in my case?

Datasheet of the Nema 17SH series:

Thank you in advance!

Timozzzz

In general, stepping motor torque is proportional to current draw. Choose a motor with torque appropriate for the job.

If you plan to use A4988 drivers, then you should plan on using motors that with a current rating of less than 1.5 Amperes/winding. Most people choose the motor to fit the task and the driver to fit the motor.

Any Arduino will work.

Arduino boards are available in different properties. You need at least two pins for each motor, total 12 pins for 6. UNO is enough, BUT it is just for motors, you may have some other elements such as sensors/eyes which aren't known for us. You'll need a power supply that is a new story, supplying the board and driver with different voltages.

If you want a fast cube solver, servomotors are the way to go, not steppers, but thats more complicated and expensive.

Use DRV8825 drivers and 1 to 1.5A max motors and you'll be fine, tried and tested in 1000's of repraps. Such
motors are usually around 0.4Nm pull-out torque.

You might get away with smaller motors than NEMA17 size, torque requirements shouldn't be very high,
but alas NEMA14 and NEMA11 tend to be more expensive (lower volume sales). They will save a lot of size
and weight though.

There are also small-stack NEMA17's which are more compact and lighter, with lower pull-out torque.