In this update, we successfully configured the MSP430FR6989 Launchpad evaluation board to communicate with an A4988 stepper driver to run a NEMA 11 stepper motor. The stepper motor has a 27:1 gearbox on the output, which results in the input shaft having to turn about 27 times before the output shaft can complete a full rotation. The basic principle of operation for this setup is that the MSP430 sends a PWM signal to the A4988, and every pulse received turns the stepper motor 1.8° (assuming a feature called micro-stepping isn’t on, which it wasn’t for this test). The higher the frequency of the PWM signal, the faster the motor will turn.

Although we used an A4988 stepper driver in this test, we’re currently testing two other stepper drivers as well (one of which has several more advanced features), but the reason we tested with an A4988 first was because it is a simple and reliable drive, and we had faster access to it than the other stepper drivers. Although the other drivers have slightly different feature sets, the basic principle to use them all is the same, therefore the majority of the code for the MSP430 will work between the three drivers with minimal differences.

For this test, we are using 9V from a 9V battery to power the motor, but in our final project, we will power the motor from a 12V battery. This higher voltage will allow for faster motor speeds without losing precision of movement. The primary function for the motor in the final project will be to open and close the window.

There is also a switch connected to the active-low enable pin of the A4988. When this switch is on, the enable pin is shorted to ground, enabling the output of the stepper driver to the motor. However, when the switch is off, the enable pin is pulled high by a 10 kΩ pull-up resistor connected to Vcc (3.3V for the MSP430). This consequently disables the stepper driver output to the motor, ceasing its movement. This simple add-on circuit was meant to test our emergency shutoff/manual window operation switch that we will have on the final project. It performed exactly as expected, so we see no problems using it for the emergency shutoff/manual operation switch.