I'm working on a personal project. I want to control a stepper motor (Nema 17) with a 3-position toggle switch using an Arduino uno, but I don't know what I'm doing. I believe I have all of the parts I need, including motor, Uno, breadboard, driver, powersupply, and switch. I watched a couple videos to try to understand what I'm doing, and I think I have the wiring correct, but I haven't taken any real Mechatronix classes so I don't know how to code it. Any code or wiring diagrams would be super helpful. The switch is just to tell the motor to drive up - stop - down.
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- $\begingroup$ You need a stepper driver. These are separate hardware that often get hot and usually need separate capacitors. If you want to drive multiple motors, usually one buys the drivers and a cnc shield (works with just one also). Arduino also has a library designed for steppers to make stable ramped motion commands in the software easier. $\endgroup$Abel– Abel2025-10-23 14:23:22 +00:00Commented Oct 23 at 14:23
- $\begingroup$ What is the part number of the stepper driver? $\endgroup$Drew– Drew ♦2025-10-24 15:47:04 +00:00Commented Oct 24 at 15:47
- $\begingroup$ You can proceed with an Arduino Uno, NEMA 17, A4988 or DRV8825. 12V DC power supply. A 3-position toggle switch. Breadboard + jumper wires. And two 10kΩ resistors. $\endgroup$user31256271– user312562712025-10-30 17:33:54 +00:00Commented Oct 30 at 17:33
- 1$\begingroup$ what is your specific question? $\endgroup$jsotola– jsotola2025-10-30 19:44:16 +00:00Commented Oct 30 at 19:44
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2 Answers
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1 The arduino is a good choice for this, because there will certainly be a library for your stepper driver.
Hook the driver and motor up according to the instructions that come with the driver.
Install the arduino library for your stepper driver.
Load the example it comes with.
Note the output pins and make sure those are connected to the right inputs on your stepper driver.
Run it (with nothing connected to the stepper).
Troubleshoot if necessary. Once this works, you're 90% of the way there.
Add a couple of lines of code to periodically read your switch position and send a command to the stepper library.
Your code will be something like:
while(1){ if(digitalRead(1)){ //switch is up set_speed(100); //function call to the stepper library } else if(digitalRead(2)) { //switch is down set_speed(-100); } else { //switch is in the middle set_speed(0); } delay(100); //limit the number of calls to set_speed } I could be more specific if I knew the part number of the stepper driver.
- $\begingroup$ it's an A4988 driver $\endgroup$Seth Mendel– Seth Mendel2025-10-28 01:24:50 +00:00Commented Oct 28 at 1:24
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You can control a NEMA17 stepper with an Arduino Uno easily. Use an A4988 driver, a 3-position switch, and a 12V power source. Connect the driver’s STEP, DIR, and ENABLE pins to Arduino pins 3, 4, and 5.
Wire the switch to pins 7 and 8 for direction control. The middle position stops the motor, while the sides move it up or down. Make sure all grounds are connected together for safety.
Upload simple Arduino code to read switch states and send pulses. Each step pulse moves the motor in the chosen direction. For a detailed project example, see this Arduino Nano and A4988 Stepper Motor Controller guide. https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Arduino_Nano_and_A4988_Stepper_Motor_Controller.html
