Stepper Motor Setup Trouble Shooting CNC Shield V3.0 - AccelStepper.h

[StefanL38]

@ecomelon

I tried to use the code you provided but it resulted in a compile error stating that setMinPulseWidth was not declared?!

ups ! my fault. setMinPulseWidth is a - you could call it a "member"-function of accelstepper.
So the correct syntax is:

stepper_y.setMinPulseWidth(200);

For convenience the complete code

#include <AccelStepper.h>

#define step_x 2
#define step_y 3
#define step_z 4

#define dir_x 5
#define dir_y 6
#define dir_z 7

int led = 13;

// AccelStepper stepper_x(1, step_x, dir_x);
AccelStepper stepper_y(1, step_y, dir_y);
// AccelStepper stepper_z(1, step_z, dir_z);


void setup()
{
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

  for (int n = 0; n < 5; n++)
  {
    digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);
    delay(500);
  }
  stepper_y.setMinPulseWidth(200);

  stepper_y.setMaxSpeed(1000);
  stepper_y.setSpeed(100);
}

void loop()
{
  stepper_y.runSpeed();
  delayMicroseconds(800);
  // delay(1);  // alternativey use a 1 millisecond delay
}

If you like to do more investigations on the accelStepper-problem
You could change the compile-log to maximum detail-output
like described in this tutorial.

Activating maximum details does help even in case that the code compiles

The thing I am most interested in is what version of the AccelStepper-library do you use?

If you get a compiler-error provide all details for analysing the error

Hi newcomer, the Arduino-Forum community can be of great help. If the community is able to support you in a way that helps solving your problems depends on detailed information that you should provide. trying to be quick by posting a too short posting is just slowing down finding the solution. Because all that happends is that you are asked for the detailed information and have to provide it anyway. Only difference the answer and the solution comes later The most important thing is to pos…

best regards Stefan

[ecomelon]

@StefanL38

The thing I am most interested in is what version of the AccelStepper-library do you use?

Version 1.64

[StefanL38]

I finally took a Arduino-clone board and uploaded this code

#include <AccelStepper.h>

#define step_x 2
#define step_y 3
#define step_z 4

#define dir_x 5
#define dir_y 6
#define dir_z 7

int led = 13;

// AccelStepper stepper_x(1, step_x, dir_x);
AccelStepper stepper_y(1, step_y, dir_y);
// AccelStepper stepper_z(1, step_z, dir_z);


void setup() {
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

  for (int n = 0; n < 5; n++)
  {
    digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);
    delay(500);
  }
  //stepper_y.setMinPulseWidth(200);

  stepper_y.setMaxSpeed(1000);
  stepper_y.setSpeed(100);
}

void loop() {
  stepper_y.runSpeed();
  //delayMicroseconds(800);
  // delay(1);  // alternativey use a 1 millisecond delay
}

which is essentially your initial code except for added LED blinking in setup
and some comments but the same active code

On my Arduino-Clone board that has a QFP-package-chip instead of a DIL-housing

Keyestudio 328 PLUS Board with USB-C interface + USB cable [KS0546] - 12.00EUR...

On this board your code runs and runs
Maybe there is a problem through code-optimisation
The compiler can be adjusted to different levels of code-optimisations that might cause this problem if your loop has just this single function-call
stepper_y.runSpeed();

Your Arduino uno seems to be a QFP-chip clone too.

[StefanL38]

I looked up my storage and found an Arduino Uno-board with blue color that looks very similar to yours.

Having the same color does NOT mean it is the same manufacturer.
I tested the code from post # 23 too.
And this code runs well.

Another idea - but this is just a wild guessing - which could mean nothing
is to use a different IO-pin than IO-pin 3 for the step-pulses

So what results do you get if you run this code-version that uses IO-pin 4

Switch off all power-supplies !
Then disconnect the stepper-motor-driver from the Arduino

What happens if you run the code on the Arduino-Uno with everything disconnected
and just measure the frequency on IO-pin 4

#include <AccelStepper.h>

#define step_y 4

#define dir_y 6

int led = 13;

AccelStepper stepper_y(1, step_y, dir_y);


void setup() {
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

  for (int n = 0; n < 5; n++) {
    digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);
    delay(500);
  }
  //stepper_y.setMinPulseWidth(200);

  stepper_y.setMaxSpeed(1000);
  stepper_y.setSpeed(100);
}

void loop() {
  stepper_y.runSpeed();
  //delayMicroseconds(800);
  // delay(1);  // alternativey use a 1 millisecond delay
}

best regards Stefan

[StefanL38]

What happens if you use this code.

Step-pin is pin 4
and this code has an additional heartbeat-blinker that makes the onboard LED blink at 2 Hz.

Does the LED continue to blink even if you do not measure the 100 Hz step-pulse-frequency with your digital multimeter?

On my Arduino Uno the code runs and step-pulses are continually created

#include <AccelStepper.h>

#define step_y 4

#define dir_y 6

int led = 13;

AccelStepper stepper_y(1, step_y, dir_y);


void setup() {
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

  for (int n = 0; n < 5; n++) {
    digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);
    delay(500);
  }
  //stepper_y.setMinPulseWidth(200);

  stepper_y.setMaxSpeed(1000);
  stepper_y.setSpeed(100);
}

void loop() {
  stepper_y.runSpeed();
  BlinkHeartBeatLED(led,250);
  //delayMicroseconds(800);
  // delay(1);  // alternativey use a 1 millisecond delay
}


// easy to use helper-function for non-blocking timing
boolean TimePeriodIsOver (unsigned long &startOfPeriod, unsigned long TimePeriod) {
  unsigned long currentMillis  = millis();
  if ( currentMillis - startOfPeriod >= TimePeriod ) {
    // more time than TimePeriod has elapsed since last time if-condition was true
    startOfPeriod = currentMillis; // a new period starts right here so set new starttime
    return true;
  }
  else return false;            // actual TimePeriod is NOT yet over
}

unsigned long MyTestTimer = 0;                   // Timer-variables MUST be of type unsigned long
const byte    OnBoard_LED = 2;


void BlinkHeartBeatLED(int IO_Pin, int BlinkPeriod) {
  static unsigned long MyBlinkTimer;
  pinMode(IO_Pin, OUTPUT);
  
  if ( TimePeriodIsOver(MyBlinkTimer,BlinkPeriod) ) {
    digitalWrite(IO_Pin,!digitalRead(IO_Pin) ); 
  }
}

best regards Stefan

[ecomelon]

@StefanL38

I looked up my storage and found an Arduino Uno-board with blue color that looks very similar to yours.

Having the same color does NOT mean it is the same manufacturer.
I tested the code from post # 23 too.
And this code runs well.

Another idea - but this is just a wild guessing - which could mean nothing
is to use a different IO-pin than IO-pin 3 for the step-pulses

So what results do you get if you run this code-version that uses IO-pin 4

Switch off all power-supplies !
Then disconnect the stepper-motor-driver from the Arduino

What happens if you run the code on the Arduino-Uno with everything disconnected
and just measure the frequency on IO-pin 4

Disconnected everything leaving the bare Uno board. Tested it using both IO 3 & 4 (one at a time) as the step output.

They created the 100Hz signal for no more than 10 seconds then dropped to 0Hz.

[ecomelon]

@StefanL38

What happens if you use this code.

Step-pin is pin 4
and this code has an additional heartbeat-blinker that makes the onboard LED blink at 2 Hz.

Does the LED continue to blink even if you do not measure the 100 Hz step-pulse-frequency with your digital multimeter?

On my Arduino Uno the code runs and step-pulses are continually created

Interesting! I ran the heartbeat-blinker variant for half an hour and it didn't fall over. Produced the 100Hz signal the entire time. I set up a tripod to watch it