Position control of stepper motor using PIC microcontroller

ABSTRACT Master Thesis POSITION CONTROL OF STEPPER MOTOR USING PIC MICROCONTROLLER Reşat ÇELİKEL Firat University Graduate School of Natural Applied Science Department of Electrical Education 2005, Page:78 Importance of stepper motors have increased in parallel with the improvement in semiconductor technology. Stepper motors are used in numerical control systems, control of machine tools, printers, valves, disc drivers and etc. PIC microcontrollers are produced by Microchip Company. PIC16F877 microcontroller has a high operating frequency. And its price is also very cheap. However, it is a may directional microcontroller that can control the circumferencal units, with a software. In this thesesis project, a system which has a moving capability through x, y and z axes has been realized. Mission of the system is to drill a point on the x-y plane of which its coordinates are already known. In this project, firstly the stepper motors used in the system have been choosed, and then appropriate control circuits for these motors have been designed. A software has been built for the system working and fits the hardware. In addition, a keyboard and LCD display have been used as parts of the system and input/output units. Finally, for certain points on the x-y plane of which their x and y coordinates are given have been drilled using the desired system. Thus, by designing such a system some ideas have been gained about microcontroller and stepper motors' applications in industry. Keywords: Stepper motor, Microcontroller, PIC X