I am wondering if using steppers will be a good idea for fitting them in small Rc gauges.
Would it be possible to set all the stepper motor positions to zero by coding a switch button on my Rc transmitor before powering down ?
We probably can but my main question is if this will keep my motors synchronised with the dials of each gauge …
The gauges are really small , using DRV8834 drivers so having encorders might not be an option ,
I was thinking that by having my motors set to zero before powering down this will keep them all sync to the dials , once I power on again, each motor knows where it’s at??
Does this makes sense or will this not work in practice?
Would be interested in anyone who may have done this before ?
Steppers are 6.5mm from AliExpress.. I’m
Also using the DRV8834 as drivers .
If I place the needle at zero on the gauge , would it be possible to count the steps the motor is moving ? After all thr arduino is moving the motor by X amount .
If I were to bring the needle back to zero before shutdown then it will work ??
Once I power up the arduino it will know it’s at zero , or at least tell it by code , then it has a reference point I’m
Thinking …
Automotive gauges are usually zeroed at startup by driving them counterclockwise against the stop pin for a period of time slightly longer than it takes for a full sweep.
I remember a period of time back in the 1970s ~ 80s when car gauges would "hang" at their last position when the ignition key was turned off. When the key was turned on, they would snap to their correct position. For example if the temperature gauge was at 160 on shutdown, it would hang there. If you came back an hour later and turned the key on, the gauge would jump back down to 90 or whatever the current temperature was.
If I set my motor position to zero on the code , since arduino will know how many steps my motor has done ( both clockwise and anti-clockwise ) , if we move the motor back to zero position before switching arduino off , why would we need an encoder ?
Obviously I haven’t tried the above yet so getting some insights as how this would work .
Advise and comments would be great to hear from .. thank you
You should not if your hardware is designed correctly. That's the whole idea of steppers. But if it's not and you have missed steps, count is not valid anymore.
Yep, my cnc can cut for hours hard wood with 0.1mm precision without ever loosing position. Eeprom is only option, if you have "arduino uno" type of board.
Missing steps are not coding issues, they are hardware issues, either motor stalling, or signal interferences...
It can, but if stepper windings are not powered, the shaft position is not held. It is easy to "bump" the setup and then the stored position is lost. Most people home the steppers at system startup.
