Controller more than one stepper motor with the same controller

Hi @frogandtoad,

   No need to apologise ... you pointed out a possible alternative hardware approach, i.e. servos ... which may or may not be useful in this case.

As for the software aspects, to a large extent I was leaving that for "sermon 2, the sequel", which others like yourself and @will are better placed to administer, but it clearly depends upon hardware choices ... and also "sermon 1" was long enough! Of course an object orientated approach could well ameliorate a few headaches.

I've never really played with servos, but I assumed they were generally kept 'powered on' during operation, even if they only occasionally moved intentionally, so that they were always maintained the position. This means the 'position reference voltage' or equivalent must be available at all times for every motor. I haven't come across a servo motor that is 'smart' enough to remember the value, but they might exist.

I acknowledged that with either stepper or servo motors, if the loading force is smaller than the mechanical friction, then it may be possible to power off the majority of the motors, but that is clearly not true in all cases, and generally feels like a slippery slope to frustration, if it 'nearly, but not always' works.

Best wishes to all, Dave

@frogandtoad  I'll try it out on my TinkerCad simulator and see how it works..I'll report back with a fritzing, and schematic drw of how I put it together. This maybe very useful for future projects, but it's certainly great for my understanding of how classes work, and how to think about them..Thanks for your help in getting me started..my goal is to be a better programmer, so my hardware projects will be both efficient and workable.

Regards,

LouisR