ARDUINO DUAL STEP MOTOR DRIVER SHIELD problems

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
7

DocBrown:
Don't know if that helps but I have read on Vref Dual Step Motor Shield (Arduino) iteadstudio.com - Mikrocontroller.net that the dual stepper controller board v1.0 has one serious construction fault. it is in german but I guess google translater could take you across.

Anyways I havn't looked into what stepper you used but did you put in the correct steppings ? I mean the example code uses 1/8 stepping with a 200 step stepper. Therefore the '1600' in the example code. One 20 step stepper would need 160 steps for one revolution in 1/8 stepping mode (20 in 1/1 stepping mode, etc.).

I am very new to this stepper stuff and electronics in general so it is possible I have just written false information :slight_smile:

UPDATE:

I had the exact same problems as the TS with just a stepper motor making noises and not moving at all.
I am using a DVD drive stepper from an old Samsung drive.
These steppers don't do 200 steps per revolution but I guess more like 20.
20 * 8 = 160
instead of
200*8 = 1600

So I modified the example code and changed :

void loop(){

step(true,16005);
 delay(500);
 step(false,16005);
 delay(500);




to

void loop(){
 step(true,1605);
 delay(500);
 step(false,1605);
 delay(500);





and there it worked.


UPDATE 2:
I just found out another thing. When delivering power via the usb cable over Arduino the stepper just does half the steps and makes mechanical cracking noises.
When I unplugged the USB from the Arduino and connected a 12V DC to the MotorShield jack it worked again as it should.

Thanks for replying.

As for the first point you made, I don't believe it matters if I put 160 or 1600. that determines how many steps the motor takes. So if the step size is bigger or smaller than what I think, the motor will end up doing more or less steps respectively. So it will turn more or less than I want. The problem I am having is that it just vibrates and doesn't turn at all.

As for your second point, I did consider that, and I am using an external 12Vdc source to power the shield. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I am probably going to take the advice of the author you cited and buy 2 easy drivers instead after returning this shield.