Im going to make an X-Y plotter by using 2 Stepper motors to control the X and Y axis, as well as a solenoid to move the pen up and down, ofcourse i would like to just input a sketch on a PC and let the XY plotter draw it. I wish to use an Arduino to control the power input to the 2 Stepper motors (turn them on and off) The Stepper motors that i am going to use have the following specifications...
Company: VEXTA (stepping motors)
Model: PXB44HZ-02AA-C8
DC 6V SR7 0.8 A 54354
2-phase 1.8degrees/step
the first question i have is...
My first worry is how does the Arduino power up the 2 stepper motors? To my knowledge I will need 2 PWM pins to power the 2 stepper motors and 1 for the solenoid, but will it provide power through the PWM pins, or does it produce a signal to turn on an EXTERNAL power supply which then powers the motor? (PLEASE correct me if i am wrong, i have been reading from nomber of sights and the information might be jumbled up in my head)
I assume that i will somehow need to convert the CAD picture (or sketch) into Code, which i can then send to the Arduino to input the necessary power to the motors, and I assume that this is taken up by the Flash memory of the Arduino (agian Please correct if wrong), How much Flash memory do you think this will take up?
Im going to make an X-Y plotter by using 2 Stepper motors to control the X and Y axis, as well as a solenoid to move the pen up and down, ofcourse i would like to just input a sketch on a PC and let the XY plotter draw it. I wish to use an Arduino to control the power input to the 2 Stepper motors (turn them on and off) The Stepper motors that i am going to use have the following specifications...
Company: VEXTA (stepping motors)
Model: PXB44HZ-02AA-C8
DC 6V SR7 0.8 A 54354
2-phase 1.8degrees/step
the first question i have is...
My first worry is how does the Arduino power up the 2 stepper motors? To my knowledge I will need 2 PWM pins to power the 2 stepper motors and 1 for the solenoid, but will it provide power through the PWM pins, or does it produce a signal to turn on an EXTERNAL power supply which then powers the motor? (PLEASE correct me if i am wrong, i have been reading from nomber of sights and the information might be jumbled up in my head)
I think that the information is jumbled in your head. The Arduino board will NOT power the steppers. You will need a stepper driver or shield. The easiest method is to have something like this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10267
I assume that i will somehow need to convert the CAD picture (or sketch) into Code, which i can then send to the Arduino to input the necessary power to the motors, and I assume that this is taken up by the Flash memory of the Arduino (agian Please correct if wrong), How much Flash memory do you think this will take up?
You won't get much of the picture into RAM because there is very little RAM in an Arduino. You will need some CAD program running on a PC to do the conversion. I would suggest to Google Arduino CNC or something similar.
Am i missing something that is blatantly clear?
This is not a trivial project. I suggest you do a lot of research. If you are new to Arduino, I suggest you start with a simple task and work your way up.
I know you guys get this question 10 times a day but your help is greatly appreciated .
An Arduino UNO will be a good starting point. There are tons of examples and libraries. I am also 99% sure that an UNO will be enough to accomplish what you are trying to do.
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