Ingredient
Stepper motor
Also known as: NEMA 17, NEMA 23, stepper
Brushless DC motor that rotates in discrete steps — typically 200 steps per revolution (1.8°), microstepped to 800–6400+ steps per revolution by the driver. The right ingredient for any task that needs precise position control without an encoder: 3D-printer-style farm machines, CNC seeders, multi-axis transplant arms. Sized by NEMA frame: NEMA 17 (the 3D-printer standard, ~$10–20, ~40 N·cm holding torque) and NEMA 23 (heavier farm robots, ~$30–60, ~150 N·cm). Driven by a dedicated stepper driver (A4988, DRV8825, TMC2209) that translates step+direction pulses into coil currents.
Inputs / outputs
- Power: 12–48V DC typical; current set on the driver
- Signal: step pulse + direction line (TTL); driver translates to coil currents
- Torque: depends on frame size and current; falls off with rotation speed
- Step resolution: 1.8°/step native; microstepping divides this 4–256× (TMC2209 supports 256 microsteps)
Solves / unlocks
- 3-axis CNC machines ([[farmbot-genesis|FarmBot]], seed-drilling jigs, transplanters)
- Precise transplant-arm motion (X-Y-Z position control)
- Continuous-rotation seed dispensers (one step = one seed via cup-disk geometry)
- Slow-speed precision rotation (greenhouse rotating-tray stations)
- Stepper-driven peristaltic pumps for hydroponic dosing
Constraints
- Holding current — steppers draw current even at rest; budget power for continuous holding or use disable lines.
- Open-loop — without an encoder, missed steps go undetected; use closed-loop steppers or add encoders for critical applications.
- Heat — stepper drivers and motors get hot; provide heatsinks and good current tuning.
- Resonance at certain step rates — microstepping helps; sometimes need to skip a speed range.
- Slower than DC motors — high-speed work wants brushless DC.
Source
- Driver chips: A4988, DRV8825 (cheaper, louder); TMC2209/TMC2208 (silent, smarter)
- Library: https://github.com/waspinator/AccelStepper (Arduino)
- LinuxCNC / Klipper for full-CNC control
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Parallels: [[servo-motor]]
- Member of: [[ingredient]]
- Combines with: [[arduino-uno]] · [[beaglebone-black]] · [[farmbot-genesis]] · [[peristaltic-pump]]
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Practical
combines with
- BeagleBone Black PRUs generate precise step-and-direction signals for multi-axis motion control; LinuxCNC and Machinekit run on BBB
- FarmBot Genesis FarmBot uses NEMA 17 steppers on all three axes
- Peristaltic pump stepper-driven peristaltic pumps give the most precise volumetric control
- ROS 2 ROS2 + Klipper or LinuxCNC for multi-axis stepper-driven farm machines
contains
- Farm-tech toolkit actuator / precise position control without encoder
combines
- Recipe: autonomous row-crop weeder drives the actuator arm that delivers weed-disruption tool
6 inbound links · 6 outbound