ESP8266 HUZZAH WiFi Operated Stepper Motor
Overview Surprisingly, you can run a powerful stepper motor (via motor controller) from the Adafruit Huzzah ESP8266 WiFi module and thus control the stepper via browser or web service, turning your stepper into an Internet of Things (IoT) device. This makes for a compact and low-cost remotely controlled motor, good for robots, mechanical arms and more.
Requirements I used the following Adafruit components for the Stepper Motor and ESP8266 right out of the box. Otherwise, you would need to add regulators and related components to make the voltages compatible.
IMPORTANT NOTE! The power regulator on the Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 board has CHANGED. It no longer can handle 12v DC. A 5VDC power supply to feed the V+ and a 12v supply to the Stepper now required!
Older HUZZAH ESP8266's included a 3-16v regulator, so are unaffected.
##Hardware
- Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 Breakout https://www.adafruit.com/products/2471
- Adafruit TB6612 1.2A DC/Stepper Motor Driver Board https://www.adafruit.com/products/2448
- Stepper motor NEMA-17 size 200 steps/rev, 12V 350mA https://www.adafruit.com/products/324 or equiv
- 12 VDC 1000mA power supply https://www.adafruit.com/products/798 or equiv
- 5 VDC 500mA power supply https://www.adafruit.com/products/501 or equiv
- FTDI or USB console cable https://www.adafruit.com/products/954 or equiv
- Breadboard, wire, etc.
##Software
- Arduino IDE with ESP8266 extension package installed
- Download my ESP8266 Stepper web server app from GitHub https://github.com/rgrokett/ESP8266_stepper/
See ESP8266_Stepper.pdf for details.