Pcomp Week 10 – Motor Labs

This week, we did the transistor control motor lab, H bridge control motor lab, and stepper motor lab.

In the transistor control lab, the transistor allowed another power source to be used to power the motor, which the Arduino does not have enough voltage to power by itself.

The next lab controls the same motor with an H-bridge. Using an H-bridge enables more precise control of the motor, allowing the direction to be changed by reserving the polarity. In the video below, the motor spun too fast and shook off its own ground cable when reversing direction, I’m going to have to solder it back on next time.

The final lab controls a stepper motor with a motor driver. My stepper motor was a unipolar motor and came with its own drive. I couldn’t get the motor to work with the setup shown in the lab but I was able to setup a different circuit provided for my stepper motor and driver.

I was finally able to get the motor working with the new setup, in all my previous attempts the motor will only tick an vibrate slightly without moving.