Driver for stepper motor for Barndoor Star Tracker

Community Chit Chat
1

I am in the middle of making a barndoor Star tracker and need a stepper motor driver to adjust the speed of the stepper motor to correct the tangent error.

I need some advise on what I need to order.

I have seen this (link below)and tried to contact him to purchase one of his drivers but no reply.

If anyone with knowledge of what he has used by looking at the driver and information supplied could help me order the right parts would be appreciated.

https://barndoor.space/index.php/2018/0 … _stack2_50

Alan

2

You just needed to browse his site a bit.

The driver is DRV8255 breakout board.

It is a shield to be plugged onto an arduino.

There is activity on his site as of April 2019, so it’s likely he’ll get back to you.

review this page for ALL the details:

https://barndoor.space/index.php/2018/0 … ce-design/

3

Thanks Dan I got his messenger ID from one of the people that replied on barndoor.space and sent him a PM but no reply.

Al

4

Hi Al, and thanks for posting.

What kind of motor do you have? If it’s a 4 wire, bi-polar stepper that needs less than 2A of current, our [Big EasyDriver might work for you. All you really need to do is supply the board with power and send it steps and the motor will move.

The [hookup guide might be more in depth than you need for your project, but you might give it a look over. That should explain how to use the driver. :-)](Big Easy Driver Hookup Guide - SparkFun Learn)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12859)

5

Thanks Chris sorry for the delay, I have one of those from a previous order I’ll dig it out and I’ve just ordered a 2amp motor from SparkFun.

Al

6

Arduino is a lot simpler than RasPi. And since the clone China boards are like $15 it’s really a no-brainer, they are actually cheaper than analog control circuitry.

You don’t even need to use the $20 Pololu stepper boards, because those are fancy micro-stepping controllers. There are cheaper options out there.