Introduction: Microcontrollers and a Stepper Motor

About: I have an Associate degree in Electronics Technology from Joliet Junior College . I have worked as an electronic technician in telecommunications and at Commonwealth Edison .Presently ,I enjoy electronics as …

Microcontrollers are small computers on a chip . They execute programs for controlling other devices .

Stepper motors are motors which move in discrete steps .They are used in printers ,clocks and other devices .

This circuit will use a microcontroller to control a stepper motor.

Step 1: The List of Electronic Components

This circuit will require ;

An Arduino Uno

AT Tiny (85 or 45)

stepper motor

breadboard

9 volt battery

leads

Step 2: the AT Tiny

The AT Tiny (45 or 85) will be used in the circuit .

The voltage is applied to pin 8 which has a red lead there .

The ground is at pin 4 which has a black lead there .

Pin 5 and Pin 6 are PWM( pulse width modulated outputs ) which means pulses are generated at a frequency .

These pulses will be applied to the stepper motor to drive it .

Step 3: Connecting the Stepper Motor

The orange lead goes from pin 5 of AT Tiny to Channel A of the stepper motor .

The purple lead goes to pin 6 of the AT Tiny to Channel B of the stepper motor.

The red and black leads of the motor go to the 9 volt battery.

The voltage sensor of the motor goes to 5 volts on the breadboard .(it is a red lead).

The ground from the motor goes to ground on the board .

Step 4: The Arduino Uno 3 and Final Summary

The Arduino Uno has 5 volts supply which is connected to the board(red lead)

The ground from the Arduino is connected to the ground of the board(black lead.)

Now the circuit is complete .

The ATTiny has pulse width modulation outputs which will drive the stepper motor with the 9 volt battery source. .

The Arduino Uno supplies the power (5 volts ) to the AT Tiny .The motor is set at 437 rpm .It is running at

307 rpms .

This project I designed on Tinkercad. It was tested on Tinkercad and works .

I hope this projects help you understand microcontrollers and stepper motors better .