Step 1: Make the Board.
Notes: I had to make the board have thinner lines than normal - at 0.01 rather than the usual 0.016 thickness as there were so many lines squeezing into small places. The first version I had to recut certain paths by hand with an exacto blade — which may have messed up some of the traces.
Step 2: Test partially stuffed board
For some reason, when I use a battery to power it - even thought the voltage meter reads the right amount of power, the green light on the AVRISP doesn’t come on until after I compile and send the code. This is the error I got. Now I’m trying to troubleshoot this more before building a different board.
Here’s the code I used from Neil:
Code link
Code link 2
I stuffed the rest of the board and then when attempting to code the board when powered by the battery, my computer gave me the screen of death.
I spoke with a number of TAs about this. When batteries were suggested as a power source, there was no conversation in class about the issues around batteries as a source of power while programming the board. I was using an AVRISP mkII to program the the board and when I hit send, suddenly the screen popped up. The TAs said the AVRISP should have protected the power from going back into my laptop - but apparently it didn't. This was a really, really, really, really frustrating error. It is another point where I feel that some of the basics are glossed over. In this case, that meant a $300 error. Urgh
Step 3: Try a similar project on a bread board to test the output
I returned to the output motor and tested a stepper motor on a breadboard. Jose and I took turns devleoping a stepper motor board. My goal was to see if I could make an output device more simply. The electronics section has been challenging for me as I haven't had experience with designing and programming circuit boards before.I need to understand more of the basics which are at a level that would help me understand some the general rules that govern circuit board designs.
It worked! The stepper motor moved and responded.