Fredrik Stridsman
Published © LGPL

Lego Stepperbot

Play around with Lego, Arduino, stepper motors, IR, and piezo beepers! Blip, blop!

IntermediateFull instructions provided4 hours9,262
Lego Stepperbot

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino UNO
Arduino UNO
×1
TSOP 4838 IR-Receiver
×1
Generic Piezo buzzer/speaker
×1
28BYJ-48 Stepper Motor with Driver
×2
9V battery (generic)
9V battery (generic)
×1
Generic IR-remote control
×1

Story

Read more

Custom parts and enclosures

Lego Stepper Mount

Lego axis adapter

adapter from lego axis to stepper motor axis

Stepper Mount source

OpenSCAD code for the stepper mount lego piece. Also functions for printing other basic lego compatible pieces.

Axis adapter source

Schematics

Schematics

Hand drawn schematic, not even a ruler. Enjoy!

Code

LegoStepperBot

C/C++
The code for the stepper bot!
#include <IRremote.h>

IRrecv irrecv(A0);
decode_results results;

//delay between subsequent IR reads, to avoid getting muliple presses
#define IR_DELAY 250  

//last ir decoded, micros
long lastIR = 0; 

#define MOVE_STEPS 2000
#define TURN_STEPS 3000
#define STEP_DELAY 1000

//I can never make up my mind on the step sequence. Both works obviously, need to measure them properly some day to see what really works best.
byte stepSequence[8] = {B1100, B1100, B0110, B0110, B0011, B0011, B1001, B1001};  
//byte stepSequence[8] = {B1000, B1100, B0100, B0110, B0010, B0011, B0001, B1001};

byte leftPins[4]  = {2, 3, 4, 5};
byte rightPins[4] = {6, 7, 8, 9};

//variables keeping track of current position of steppers
long currentLeft=0, currentRight=0;

//steps left to step, positive or negative
long stepLeft=0, stepRight=0;

//when was the last step done, micros
long lastStepChange = 0; 

//this is where the piezo beeper sits
#define TONE_PIN 11

void setup() {
    for(int pin=0 ; pin<4 ; pin++) {
      pinMode(leftPins[pin], OUTPUT);
      pinMode(rightPins[pin], OUTPUT);
    } 

  irrecv.enableIRIn(); 
  
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Hello Serial!");

  pinMode(TONE_PIN, OUTPUT);  
}

/*
 * The stepping function. Will step _one_ step in the direction specified by stepsToGo and update variables accordingly
 */
void step(long* stepsToGo, long *currPos, byte *pins) {
  
  if(*stepsToGo != 0) {
      if(*stepsToGo > 0) {
         (*stepsToGo)--;
         (*currPos)++; 
      }
      else {
         (*stepsToGo)++;
         (*currPos)--;                
      }
  
      byte mask = stepSequence[*currPos & 0x7];
      for(int bit=0 ; bit<4 ; bit++) {        
        digitalWrite(pins[bit], mask & (B1000 >> bit));
      }
      lastStepChange = micros();     
  }
  else {    
      //switch off all pins to save power when idle
      for(int bit=0 ; bit<4 ; bit++) {        
        digitalWrite(pins[bit], 0);
      }
  }
}

//some nice frequencies for sound
int tones[] = {262, 294, 330, 349};

//moves are stored in the "moves" queue
typedef enum {FWD, BACK, LEFT, RIGHT} move;
move moves[100];
int nMoves = 0, currMove = 0;

bool run = false;

/*
 * Simplistic tone generation function. Have this to avoid using timers that conflict with other libraries. 
 * f is frequency in hz
 * d is duration in milliseconds
 */
void myTone(int f, int d) {
  bool state = 0;
  unsigned long now = micros();
  unsigned long stopAt = now + d*(long)1000;
  unsigned long dt = 1000000 / (2*(long)f);  //dt is for the double frequency  
  unsigned long nextChange = now+dt;

  while (stopAt > micros()) {
    if(micros() > nextChange) {
      digitalWrite(TONE_PIN, state ? HIGH : LOW);
      nextChange += dt;
      state = !state;
    }    
  }
  digitalWrite(TONE_PIN, LOW); //end on a low (assuming beeper is connected to GND on the other end)
}

/*
 * The allmighty loop function.
 * Does three things:
 * - step the steppers (one step at a time).
 * - update how steppers should run according to move queue.
 * - read IR to program the move queue and start/stop things.
 */
void loop() {
   if(micros()-lastStepChange > STEP_DELAY) {
      step(&stepLeft, &currentLeft, leftPins);
      step(&stepRight, &currentRight, rightPins);
   }     

   if(run) {
      if(currMove == nMoves) {
        nMoves = currMove = 0;         
        run = false;        
      }
      else if(currMove < nMoves && stepLeft == 0 && stepRight == 0) {
        switch(moves[currMove++]) {
          case FWD:
             Serial.println("FWD");
             stepLeft += MOVE_STEPS;
             stepRight += MOVE_STEPS;         
             break;         
           case BACK:
             Serial.println("BACK");
             stepLeft -= MOVE_STEPS;
             stepRight -= MOVE_STEPS;         
             break;         
           case LEFT:
             Serial.println("LEFT");
             stepLeft += TURN_STEPS;
             stepRight -= TURN_STEPS;         
             break;         
           case RIGHT:
             Serial.println("RIGHT");
             stepLeft -= TURN_STEPS;
             stepRight += TURN_STEPS;         
             break;         
        }
      }      
   }
   
  if (micros()-lastIR > IR_DELAY && irrecv.decode(&results)) {         
    switch(results.value) {
       case 0x1FE10EF: moves[nMoves++] = FWD; myTone(tones[FWD], 100); break; 
       case 0x1FEB04F: moves[nMoves++] = BACK; myTone(tones[BACK], 100); break; 
       case 0x1FE50AF: moves[nMoves++] = LEFT; myTone(tones[LEFT], 100); break; 
       case 0x1FEF807: moves[nMoves++] = RIGHT; myTone(tones[RIGHT], 100); break; 
       case 0x1FE7887: //start running! 
            run=true;
            Serial.print("Start! moves="); 
            Serial.println(nMoves);
            //play through the sounds of the queue, just because blip blop...
            for(int i=0; i<nMoves; i++) {
              myTone(tones[moves[i]], 100);
              delay(50);
            }
            break; 
       case 0x1FE48B7: //Stop all and clear queue
            nMoves=currMove=0;
            stepLeft=stepRight=0;
            run=false;
            break; 
       default:
         //this printout will give you the hex-values for the keys on your remote, just update the cases above with your values
         Serial.println(results.value, HEX);
     }
    irrecv.resume(); 
    lastIR = micros();     
  }

}

Credits

Fredrik Stridsman

Fredrik Stridsman

3 projects • 85 followers
A good day is a day when you built or repaired something.

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