Stepper Motor compatablility

Projects General Guidance
1

According to this video (Arduino Stepper Tutorial - Using Sparkfun Big Easy Driver to create a single axis CNC - YouTube) it says that I should use a sparkfun big easy driver (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12859) because the Arduino uno typically cant handle the type of voltage used with a stepper motor.

I am using this nema 17, 12 volt, 350mA motor (Stepper motor - NEMA-17 size - 200 steps/rev, 12V 350mA : ID 324 : $14.00 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits)

I want to use this arduino uno r3 (Adafruit METRO 328 Fully Assembled - Arduino IDE compatible [ATmega328] : ID 50 : $17.50 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits) which says it has a recommended input voltage of 7-12V and a 500mA fuse. I was wondering if It's possible to go without the Sparkfun big easy driver?

2

I was wondering if It's possible to go without the Sparkfun big easy driver?

Never attempt to power a motor from an Arduino, always use a separate power supply and some sort of motor driver. 350 mA is not a high current, so just about any stepper driver intended for bipolar motors will work.

3

it has a recommended input voltage of 7-12V

Understand this. That voltage is the input voltage to a 5V regulator chip. The Arduino only ever works off 5V, you only ever get a 5V signal out of it. This signal has a very low current capability, any more than 40mA and you will damage the pin.

I was wondering if It's possible to go without the Sparkfun big easy driver?

You can only go without this driver if you use another driver, you can not use the motor directly.

4

Have a look at stepper motor basics.

If your motor only requires 350mA you could also use the smaller Easydriver which may be cheaper.

Also note that with a specialized stepper driver you could drive that motor with 24v or 36v for better performance.

...R