Today I bugged several people far more knowledgeable than I about Arduinos, drawbots, steppers, servos, and power supplies. Here’s what I’ve learned:
- Apparently you can run a drawbot using tin can steppers! (Just check out LadaAda’s setup!)
- Apparently you can power those steppers through the power the Adafruit Motor Shield gets through the Arduino! (Thanks to Matt Mets)
- Apparently MakerBot has a crazy deal on the Adafruit Motor Shield! (Thanks to Whosawhatsis)
Having just salvaged a bunch of parts from some old electronics this weekend, I think I’m ready to pull the trigger and start building this bad boy. :)
Yay for learning!
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If you try to order the motor shield from Makershed, make sure you get the Adafruit version and not the official Arduino version that was just released. It looks a lot nicer, but it’s $30 and only supports one stepper or 2 DC motors.
@Whosawhatsis: I ended up getting the shield from MakerBot per your suggestion, it was only $12 versus the normal $20 or so. Even with shipping it was cheaper to order this by itself. The Adafruit shield is a must – the drawbot will need to drive two steppers and the arduino version only powers one. :/