Facebook Wall Robot

Step 7: Connecting the Motor Controller

I used the EiBotBoard off my Eggbot to control the motors.  You can use anything you'd like (an Arduino with a motor shield for example).  You need to be able to move both steppers at the same time.  The EiBotBoard is nice because it allows you to move two steppers, plus several servos.  To connect the motors I connected an Ethernet female connector to the motor leads and to the Eggbot board.  That way I can use an Ethernet cable between the motors and the controller board.  This is good because I can put longer or shorter cables in depending on the size of my frame.  When I bring it in to work with the big white boards I can make it wider and just use longer Ethernet cables.

To connect the server I used really light weight wire I found at Fry's.  That way the movement of the gondola isn't hampered by wire that's resisting the movement.  The is important since this is heavily reliant of gravity an the length of the two strings to get it to work accurately, other forces shouldn't be involved.