Elektor Motor Control Experiments Kit with Maker Pi RP2040

Note: This guide is well written and created by Elektor with 52 sample projects based on the included hardware components.

Electric motors are found in countless appliances and devices in and around our homes. Motor controllers are used to ensure efficient, safe, and accurate control of the speed or actuator position of the motor being used. Electric motors can be classified as DC or AC depending on the type of voltage used to control them. DC motors are the oldest type of electric motor and are widely used by electronics developers in homes, schools, and laboratories. Almost all printers, cameras, robots, and CNC machines in consumer, commercial, and industrial applications use some type of DC motor. AC motors, on the other hand, are used in many home appliances and tools because they can be powered directly from an AC outlet.

Cytron's Maker Pi RP2040 board is an advanced system based on the RP2040 processor and developed with motor control applications in mind. The board comes with a 2-channel brushed DC motor controller hardware, 4 servo motor ports, and 7 Grove I/O ports, making it an ideal platform for mobile robot applications. For controlling the robot arm or in other types of applications that require precise control of motors and actuators.

This project book, written by famous Elektor writer Dogan Ibrahim, contains over 50 projects using LED, buzzer, OLED display, ADC converter, ultrasonic sensor, PWM and temperature and humidity control. The main chapter covers DC motor control. Servo motor control and controlling stepper motors using the Maker Pi RP2040 Development Board in a creative and educational way.

52 projects in the book

Simple LED Projects:

• Flashing LED light
• Flashing SOS signal
• ON/OFF All LED lights 
• Binary counting LED light
• Rotating LED light
• Randomly flash LED lights 
• Rotating LED light with push button control
• Reaction timer
• Two-player interactive game
• Using RGB LEDs onboard – shows different colors
• Using the RGB LEDs on the board – both RGB LEDs flash randomly

Simple Buzzer Projects:

• Playing the middle C tone
• Using a Buzzer as an audio indicator
• Play a melody – Happy Birthday
• Frequency sweep

Using an OLED display:

• Displaying text on OLED
• Show general shape
• Seconds counter
• Drawing bitmap

Using an analog-to-digital converter:

• Voltmeter
• Measurement of temperature
• ON/OFF Temperature control
• ON/OFF Temperature control with OLED Display
• Measurement of ambient light intensity
• Ohmmeter

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM):

• Generates waveform 1000 Hz PWM with 50% duty cycle
• Changing the brightness of the LED
• Alarm sound on buzzer
• Electronic organ

Ultrasonic sensor projects:

• Ultrasonic distance measurement
• Ultrasonic distance measurement displayed on OLED
• Measuring the water level in the tank
• Ultrasonic reverse parking assistance system with buzzer sound

Temperature and Humidity Relative:

• Measuring Temperature and Humidity relative
• Measured Temperature and Humidity relative displayed on the OLED

DC Motor Control Projects:

• Controlling DC motor ON/OFF
• Two-speed DC motor speed control
• Changing the motor speed
• Uses two DC motors
• Changing the direction of the motor
• Motor control using LDR
• Motor control with Magnetic reed switch
• Displaying the speed of a DC motor – Using a rotary encoder
• Displaying DC motor speed on OLED – Using a rotary encoder
• Motor time response with encoder
• Measuring and displaying motor speed using interrupts
• Motor speed control Proportional + Integral + Derivative (PID)

Servo motor control projects:

• Servo motor control – rotates to 0, 90 and 180 degree positions
• Two Servo motors control  – rotates to 0, 90 and 180 degree positions.
• Ultrasonic sonar

Stepper Motor Control Projects:

• Basic Stepper Motor Control
• Thermometer with dial

• Maker Pi RP2040 Development Board
  • 1x Maker Pi RP2040
  • 4x Grove to Female Header Cable
  • 1x Mini Screwdriver
  • 1x Silicone Rubber Feet (Pack of 4)
• Electronic Parts
  • 3 x 1kΩ resistor
  • 1 x 10kΩ resistor
  • 1 x 12kΩ resistor
  • 1 x 470Ω resistor
  • 1 x LED
  • 1 x Relay (3V/10A)
  • 1 x LDR (10kΩ)
  • 40 x Male-Male Jumper Wires
  • 1 x Breadboard
• Sensors
  • 1 x TMP36 (temperature)
  • 1 x DHT11 (temperature and humidity)
• Modules
  • 1 x 5V Stepper Motor with ULN2003 Driver
  • 1 x HC-SR04 (ultrasonic)
  • 1 x SSD1306 (I²C OLED)
  • 1 x KY-021 (reed switch)
  • 1 x DC motor (brushed, miniature, 3V, 12 krpm)
  • 1 x SG90 (servo motor)
• Project Book (191 pages)

• Contents_Motor Control Development Kit
• Software_Motor Control Development Kit