Stepper Motor breaks the entire code if I move the xmotor just a bit

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hello,

I am making a code that can control the speed at which two stepper motors spin individually by a joystick. The issue I am having is with my xmotor. When I move the joystick a tiny amount to get precise movement, the motor stops turning and I cant toggle between the motors. I've changed the sensitivity value from 500 to 600 and the same error occurs with the same motor. The code is the same for the y and x motor yet only the xmotor breaks. Is it a bad driver or something in my code? The main code for the xmotor is named xmotor and it has its own function near the middle.

Heres my code.

#include <Stepper.h>
#define joystick A0

// define number of steps per revolution
#define STEPS 32

// define stepper motor control pins
#define XIN1 A1
#define XIN2 A2
#define XIN3 A3
#define XIN4 A4


#define YIN1 8
#define YIN2 9
#define YIN3 10
#define YIN4 11


// initialize stepper library
Stepper stepperX(STEPS, XIN4, XIN2, XIN3, XIN1);
Stepper stepperY(STEPS, YIN4, YIN2, YIN3, YIN1);

const int whiteled = 2;
const int redled = 3;
const int blueled = 4;
const int greenled = 5;


//redledmotorbrakes


const int button = 0;
const int sensitivity = 600;
int joystickState = 0;        // current state of the joystick button
int lastJoystickState = 1;    // previous state of the joystick button
int counter = 0; 

void setup() {
  pinMode(button, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(redled, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(blueled, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(whiteled, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  digitalWrite(greenled, HIGH);

}

//add button that shuts off all components
// figure out why the ymotor turns even tho its on whiteled
// MOTOR TURNS BECAUSE WHITELED = 0 and same with BLUELED. FIX: Make a Counter that goes from 0-2 then bounces between 1-2 once past 0
//find way to make motors stay on but not move
void loop() {
  
  joystickState = digitalRead(button);
  int val = analogRead(joystick);
 
  // check for a valid joystick button press (with software debounce)
  if (joystickState != lastJoystickState && joystickState == LOW) {
    counter++;
    
    if (counter > 2) {
      counter = 1;
    }
  }
  lastJoystickState = joystickState;
  
  delay(50);
  if (counter == 0) {
    allmotor_off();
    WHITElight();
  } 
  else if (counter == 1) {
    ymotor();
    ymotor_off();
    BLUElight();
    
    Serial.println("Controlling X-Axis");
  }
  else if (counter == 2) {
    xmotor();
    xmotor_off();
    REDlight();
    Serial.println("Controlling Y-Axis");
  }
}
int allmotor_off(){
  xmotor_off();
  ymotor_off();
}

int xmotor_off(){
  digitalWrite(XIN1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(XIN2, LOW);
  digitalWrite(XIN3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(XIN4, LOW);
}

int ymotor_off(){
  digitalWrite(YIN1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(YIN2, LOW);
  digitalWrite(YIN3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(YIN4, LOW);
}

int xmotor(){
  int valX = analogRead(joystick);
  
  // if the joystic is in the middle ===> stop the motor
  if(  (valX > 500)  && (valX < sensitivity))
  {
    xmotor_off();
  }
 
  else
  {
    // move the motor in the first direction
    while (valX  >= 515)
    {
      // map the speed between 5 and 500 rpm
      int speed_  = map(valX, sensitivity, 1023, 5, 700);
      // set motor speed
      stepperX.setSpeed(speed_);
  
      // move the motor (1 step)
      stepperX.step(-1);
 
      valX  = analogRead(joystick);
    }
 
    // move the motor in the other direction
    while (valX <= 500)
    {
      // map the speed between 5 and 500 rpm
      int speed_  = map(valX, 500, 0, 5, 700);
    
      // set motor speed
      stepperX.setSpeed(speed_);
  
      // move the motor (1 step)
      stepperX.step(1);
 
      valX  = analogRead(joystick);
    }
  }
}

int ymotor(){ //BLUE IS YAXIS
  int valY = analogRead(joystick);
  
  // if the joystic is in the middle ===> stop the motor
  if(  (valY > 500)  && (valY < sensitivity) )
  {
    ymotor_off();
  }
 
  else
  {
    // move the motor in the first direction
    while (valY  >= sensitivity)
    {
      // map the speed between 5 and 500 rpm
      int speed_  = map(valY, sensitivity, 1023, 5, 700);
      // set motor speed
      stepperY.setSpeed(speed_);
  
      // move the motor (1 step)
      stepperY.step(1);
 
      valY  = analogRead(joystick);
    }
 
    // move the motor in the other direction
    while (valY <= 500)
    {
      // map the speed between 5 and 500 rpm
      int speed_  = map(valY, 500, 0, 5, 700);
      // set motor speed
      stepperY.setSpeed(speed_);
  
      // move the motor (1 step) - sign to change the direction of it. 
      stepperY.step(-1);
 
      valY  = analogRead(joystick);
    }
  }
}

int REDlight(){
  digitalWrite(redled, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(blueled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(whiteled, LOW);
}

int BLUElight(){
  digitalWrite(redled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(blueled, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(whiteled, LOW);
}

int WHITElight(){
  digitalWrite(redled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(blueled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(whiteled, HIGH);
}
2

Welcome to the forum.

With a Arduino Uno ?
Can you try pin 6 for the button ?
And add "Pin" to the name (I get confused without a "Pin" in the name)

const int buttonPin = 6;
3

I made your project in Wokwi simulation:

In the middle-upper of the screen is the start button. When the simulation runs, click in the middle of the joystick for the button, and you can select up and down.

The analog joystick does not work the same as your joystick, perhaps I should have used a potentiometer and a button.
I can toggle between the motors and I can make the motors turn.

I used pin 6 for the button, because pin 0 and 1 on a Arduino Uno are used for the Serial Monitor and to upload a sketch.

I suggest to connect one driver to your Arduino board (remove the other one), and test the two stepper motors. Make a small test-sketch for that. Then replace the driver and do the test again.

It is normal when developing a project to use a number of test-sketches.