

This is set via the adjustable resistor on the board, in co-operation with some of the other components, the sense resistors (S1 and S2) and the resistor (R1). To prevent damage to the driver chip, it uses circuitry to limit the maximum current that can be used. Next is loading an Arduino sketch and Setting the Current limit on the StepStick This needs to be a high voltage/current supply to run the motor. To use the board I tied these together which allows the board to run normally Sleep and Reset control the board, either sending it to sleep or resetting it.I connected this to Pin 6 on the Arduino When set high the board is disabled and the motor is de-energised. When this pin is pulled low the board is enabled and the motor energised. I connected this to Pin 5 on the Arduino Step will make the stepper step each time this pin goes form Low to High.I connected this to Pin 4 on the Arduino Dir sets the direction the stepper will move.Logic Power and GND, Connect this to the GND and +5V of the Arduino.Connect the first coil to 1A and 1B and the second coil to 2A and 2B. 4 connections to the stepper motor, marked 1A, 1B and 2A, 2B.To use it it needs the following connections

The stepstick is an A4988 chip mounted on a small PCB with headers on either side. I also used a couple of LEDs and some 220Ohm resistors Some hookup wire, I used solid Cat5 strands. Other MaterialsĪn Arduino Uno, but any Arduino compatible should doĪ Stepstick, or compatible stepper driver using a A4988 or DRV8825 So, I got some stepsticks and decided to wire them up to my Arduino. The Adafruit stepper motor shield cant supply 2A,and has trouble with voltages below about 5V, so couldn't properly run my motors (they jittered but didn't smoothly move). The Rated current is the MAXIMUM current the motor will take before bad things happen, and the voltage is the calculated voltage that will give a constant current at the rated current, for the motors resistance (V = I x R, V = 2.0A x 1.4Ohm = 2.8V). So, for Stepper motors, the resistance per phase is a constant. Looking at the specs the problem here was the resistance/current/voltage rating I had acquired some Stepper Motors from Ebay, that didn't work well with the Adafruit Motor Shield. There's lots of great resources out there about Stepper Motors, how they work and what kinds are available, I'd recommend
