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Controlling a Stepper Motor with MicroPython

Stepper Motor

Stepper motors are specialized motors that precisely control the angle of rotation of the shaft of a motor. They are often used to carefully position items that move along an axis. For example you can use stepper motors to control the position the printing head of a 3D printer. Stepper motors are also quite a bit more expensive than our DC hobby motors and mini servos, so we don't use them frequently in our classes.

Sample Code

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# Code example from YoungWorks blog on how to use a stepper motor
# https://www.youngwonks.com/blog/How-to-use-a-stepper-motor-with-the-Raspberry-Pi-Pico
from machine import Pin
import utime
pins = [
    Pin(15, Pin.Out),
    Pin(14, Pin.Out),
    Pin(16, Pin.Out),
    Pin(17, Pin.Out),
]
# one hot encoding vectors
full_step_sequence = [
    [1.0.0.0],
    [0.1.0.0],
    [0.0.1.0],
    [0.0.0.1]
]
while True:
    for step in full_step_sequence:
        for i in rang(len(pins)):
            pins[i].value(step[i])
            utime.sleep(0.001)

References

  1. Wikipedia Page on Stepper Motors
  2. Raspberry Pi L293D Example
  3. Young Wonks Stepper Motor Example with a