Usually, stepper motors and servos are horrifically noisy. However, there are a few key differences between this stepper motor and ones that you may have come across before. A FEW DIFFERENCESĪs is the case with any 4-wire stepper motors, its operation can be made simply using a dual H-bridge driver and an Arduino. Conveniently, these are at a standard pitch to fit into a breadboard. There are two mounting holes and a quick look at the back shows four PCB mount pins. It measures just 32mm in diameter by 9mm deep and has a needle length of 42mm. They also include a red gauge needle, similar to what you see on many dashboards. Whatever their history, they appear to be well-made. They did have a link to a datasheet for a similar gauge though, which is enough to get us started.Ī quick internet search of the part number “X27.168” which is printed on the unit, alludes to GM motors and Chevy trucks using these gauge steppers. The product we received wasn’t supplied with a datasheet and we couldn’t see one on their website. It’s really not unique to Adafruit, but that’s where we found it, and indeed the stock available via Core Electronics comes from Adafruit too. The Adafruit x27.168 Stepper Motor is an awesome piece of hardware.

We were captivated by their video demonstration so we had to get one to play with ourselves. This brings us to the Adafruit x27.168 Stepper Motor, which we were introduced to in a recent Adafruit New Products video. The hundreds of steps allow them to be very accurate as well. They are small in size, low power and can respond with a smooth but quick movement. Stepper motor based gauges are a great way to control a pointer gauge. It really comes down to their specific application, who designed them, and various other design considerations along the way. However, a stepper motor would also be an acceptable response! In fact, both are used in real and simulation dashboards. If you were asked to guess what drove those mechanical gauges, a servo motor would be an acceptable response. For instance, it's more noticeable to see the fuel gauge needle close to empty, compared to seeing numbers of litres left. Have you ever wondered about the mechanics behind your vehicle’s dashboard? While many modern cars and motorcycles have high-resolution digital displays in the dashboard, there are often still a few traditional analogue gauges at least.įor some applications, an analogue gauge can be better at displaying the measurement compared to a numerical digital. Want to make your own analogue gauge? Now you can with the Adafruit x27.168 Automotive Gauge Stepper Motor.

Stepper motor fritzing