The Engineering Projects

Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab

Hello friends! I hope you will be absolutely fine and having fun. Today, I am going to share that how to make a program for Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab. I am going to share this tutorial on demand. I have also make different programs for DC Motor Direction Control using Arduino, DC Motor Direction Control in Matlab, DC Motor Direction Control using LabVIEW, DC Motor Speed Control using Arduino, DC Motor Speed Control using Matlab and Stepper Motor Direction using Arduino in my previous tutorials.  So before going into the detail of this tutorial you must have to go through these tutorial because I will use the same hardware and a bit changed Arduino source code. In this tutorial I will make an algorithm to send different commands from the Matlab to Arduino using the serial port. I have created a simple GUI (Graphical User Interface) in Matlab having two different panels. The first panel contains two and the second panel contains three buttons respectively. Each button sends the corresponding command through the serial port from Matlab to the Arduino and hence the corresponding action takes place.

Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab

Here's the tutorial on Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab, I will elaborate you that how can you make a Matlab program to send different commands from Matlab to Arduino using serial communication. I have made a simple GUI first containing two different panels having five buttons in total for different purposes.

Initial GUI

• The initial diagram of the GUI for Stepper Motor direction control using Matlab,  is shown in the figure below.

• Here you can download the complete Matlab Simulation.

Download Matlab Simulation

• Once the code is downloaded, simply extract the zip file and copy past the code in you Matlab software and enjoy the results. :)
• I have changed some of the properties of the GUI to make its external look better.
• The updated GUI is shown in the figure below.

Matlab Code Description

• Here I am going to explain the logic designed for this project Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab.
• Go to the callback function of the Start Serial button in the Matlab code.
• Copy and just paste the source code given below in its callback function.

clc
disp('Welcome to TEP');
disp('');
disp('www.TheEngineeringProjects.com');
disp('');
global tep
tep=serial('COM5'); % assign serial port object
set(tep, 'BaudRate', 9600); % set BaudRate to 9600
set(tep, 'Parity', 'none'); % set Parity Bit to None
set(tep, 'DataBits', 8); % set DataBits to 8
set(tep, 'StopBit', 1); % set StopBit to 1
%display the properties of serial port object in MATLAB Window
disp(get(tep,{'Type','Name','Port','BaudRate','Parity','DataBits','StopBits'}));
fopen(tep); % Open Serial Port Object
set(handles.text1,'String','Serial port os opened');

• The code given above first of all creates an object for the serial port named as tep.
• tep is made global so that it can be used in all the functions.
• Then it, opens the serial port and then sends command through the serial port.
• This code also prints baud rate, data bits, stop bit etc on the serial port as mentioned in the comments of the code given above.
• After sending the commands it also prints the commands executed on the GUI as well.
• The GUI with the printed command is shown in the figure below.

• Go to the callback function of the Clockwise button in the Matlab code.
• Copy and just paste the source code given below in its callback function.

global tep   %making the serial port vaiable global
fwrite(tep,'C'); %sending C through the serial port
disp('Character C is sent to the serial port'); %displaying on the serial port
set(handles.text1,'String','Clockwise rotation'); %prints on the GUI

• The code given above send the command C through the serial port in order to rotate the motor in clockwise direction.
• It prints the command on the serial port as well as on the GUI created in Matlab.
• The GUI with the updated text for Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab is shown in the figure below.

• Now, go to the callback function of the Anti Clockwise button in the Matlab code.
• Copy and just paste the source code given below in its callback function.

global tep
fwrite(tep,'A'); %sending command to the serial port
disp('Character A is sent to the serial port'); %displaying on the serial port
set(handles.text1,'String','Anti clockwise rotation'); %prints on the GUI

• The code given above send the command A through the serial port in order to rotate the motor in anti clockwise direction.
• It prints the command on the serial port as well as on the GUI created in Matlab.
• The GUI with the updated text is shown in the figure below.

• Now, go to the callback function of the Stop button in the Matlab code.
• Copy and just paste the source code given below in its callback function.

global tep
fwrite(tep,'S'); %sends S to the serial port
disp('Character S in sent to the serial port'); %prints on the serial port
set(handles.text1,'String','Motor is stopped'); %prints on the GUI as well

• The code given above send the command S through the serial port in order to stop the rotation of the motor.
• It prints the command on the serial port as well as on the GUI created in Matlab.
• The GUI with the updated text is shown in the figure below.

• Now, go to the callback function of the Stop Serial button in the Matlab code.
• Copy and just paste the source code given below in its callback function.

global tep
fclose(tep);%Close Serial Port Object
set(handles.text1,'String','Serial port is closed');%prints the executed command on the GUI

• The code given above prints the command Serial port is closed on the serial port as well as on the GUI created in Matlab.
• The GUI with the updated text is shown in the figure below.

• Was it difficult! I do not think so ;)
• So, try to make the same project and observe the results, are they closed to me?

That's all from the tutorial Stepper Motor Direction Control using Matlab. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you face any sort of problem you an ask me any time without feeling any kind of hesitation. I will try my level best to solve your issue in a better way way if possible. I will explore Matlab and will share with all of you, by making different projects on it in my later tutorials. Till then, Take care :)