How to Control Stepper Motor With Joystick Using Arduino

In this simple tutorial we will learn how to control a 4-wire stepper motor with a joystick using Arduino.

Watch the Video!

Also check out this amazing tutorial: Arduino Nano and Visuino: Control 2 Stepper Motors With Joystick

Step 1: What You Will Need

  • Arduino UNO (or any other board)
  • Stepper motor 28byj-48 & stepper motor driver board
  • Analog Joystick module
  • Jumper wires
  • Visuino program: Download Visuino

Step 2: Brought by PCBWay

 


Thank you PCBWay for supporting this tutorial and helping users learn more about electronics.

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Step 3: The Circuit

  • Connect Arduino pin [5V] to Driver Board pin [VCC]
  • Connect Arduino pin [GND] to Driver Board pin [GND]
  • Connect Arduino digital pin [2] to Driver Board pin [IN1]
  • Connect Arduino digital pin [3] to Driver Board pin [IN2]
  • Connect Arduino digital pin [4] to Driver Board pin [IN3]
  • Connect Arduino digital pin [5] to Driver Board pin [IN4]
  • Connect Arduino pin [5V] to Joystick pin [VCC]
  • Connect Arduino pin [GND] to Joystick  pin [GND]
  • Connect Arduino analog pin [0] to Joystick  pin [VRX]

Step 4: Start Visuino, and Select the Arduino UNO Board Type

The Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu also needs to be installed. Download Free version or register for a Free Trial.

Start Visuino as shown in the first picture Click on the “Tools” button on the Arduino component (Picture 1) in Visuino When the dialog appears, select “Arduino UNO” as shown on Picture 2

Step 5: In Visuino Add Components

 

  • Add “4 Wire Stepper Motor” component
  • Add “Joystick” component
  • Add “Dead Zone Scaled Analog” component

Step 6: In Visuino Set Components

  • Select “Stepper1” and in the properties window select “Steps Per Second” and click on the pin Icon and select “Float SinkPin“
  • Select “DeadZoneScaled1” and in the properties window set “Output Range” > “Max” to 800 and “Output Range” > “Min” to -800
  • This is the Max speed and you can adjust it to your needs

Step 7: In Visuino Connect Components

  • Connect Arduino Analog pin [0] to “Joystick1” Axis X [In]
  • Connect “Joystick1” Axis X [Out] to “DeadZoneScaled1” pin [In]
  • Connect “DeadZoneScaled1” pin [Out] to “Stepper1” pin [Steps Per Second]
  • Connect “Stepper1” pin [0] to Arduino digital pin [2]
  • Connect “Stepper1” pin [1] to Arduino digital pin [3]
  • Connect “Stepper1” pin [2] to Arduino digital pin [4]
  • Connect “Stepper1” pin [3] to Arduino digital pin [5]

Step 8: Generate, Compile, and Upload the Arduino Code

In Visuino, at the bottom click on the “Build” Tab, make sure the correct port is selected, then click on the “Compile/Build and Upload” button.

Step 9: Play

If you power the Arduino module and press the Joystick the Stepper Motor will start to rotate in forward direction or reversed direction.

Congratulations! You have completed your project with Visuino. Also attached is the Visuino project, that I created for this Project, you can download it here and open it in Visuino.

Download step-joystick.zip