Radio controlled stepper with FlySky controller

Robotics and electronics discussion Wireless and radio
1

Hello,
So, to make a long story short, I have a laser welder with a control arm that uses two axis stepper motors to move the laser head. I am not familiar with a lot of this, so I apologize for any missing info that may be needed.

after rewiring the entire system we have decided to use the Pololu Tic 36v4 to control both the X and Y axis stepper motors. With all of the control options for the Tic 36v6 we decided a radio controller would be a great fit; with wireless, sensitive controls, multiple channels to control different aspects of the machine, where could it go wrong? We have it all wired to where we can move the stepper motors at a nice speed, but the only problem is with the RC controller the stepper positioner moves back to center when the analog stick goes back to center… is there a way to set up my pololu to not read when the joystick moves back to center— only reading any outward motion from the center of the joystick???

any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Halle

2

Upon doing more research, I believe it would be called a “deadzone” in the center of the joystick. Is it possible to create a “deadzone” for the stepper motor when the joystick is going back to center position?

3

Hello, Halle.

From your description, it sounds like you are currently using the Tic in RC position control. If you want to move the stepper motor incrementally and have it stay there when the joystick returns to the center, RC speed control is probably the better option.

Alternatively, you could remove the return springs in your joystick.

Brandon