Motion Control with an Arduino: Servo and Stepper Motor Controls

Abstract

As explained in Chapter 4, there are several control schemes for operating a DC motor using an Arduino. Th is chapter extends the discussion of electric motor control to servo and stepper electromechanical devices. Th e Arduino’s ATmega328 microcontroller has dedicated port pins for providing digital signals to control the speed and direction of servo and stepper motors. In this chapter, I explain the conventional method of varying speed using a potentiometer or joystick, along with an introduction to the FlexiForce sensor. Th e potentiometer, joystick, and the FlexiForce sensor are important tools in many Physical Computing projects and are used here to introduce the concept of motion control. You will use remix techniques in prototyping and writing software for the electronic projects in this chapter. The required parts you will need to build the experiments and projects are pictured in Figure 5-1.