Stepper Component¶

The stepper component allows you to use stepper motors with ESPHome. Currently only the A4988 stepper driver (datasheet) and ULN2003 (datasheet) are supported.

Note

This component will not show up in the Home Assistant front-end automatically because Home Assistant doesn’t have support for steppers. Please see Home Assistant Configuration.

A4988 Configuration¶

# Example configuration entry
stepper:
  - platform: a4988
    id: my_stepper
    step_pin: D0
    dir_pin: D1
    max_speed: 250 steps/s

    # Optional:
    sleep_pin: D2
    acceleration: inf
    deceleration: inf

Configuration variables:

id (Required, ID): Specify the ID of the stepper so that you can control it.
step_pin (Required, Pin Schema): The STEP pin of the A4988 stepper driver.
dir_pin (Required, Pin Schema): The DIRECTION pin of the A4988 stepper driver.
max_speed (Required, float): The maximum speed in steps/s (steps per seconds) to drive the stepper at. Note most steppers can’t step properly with speeds higher than 250 steps/s.
sleep_pin (Optional, Pin Schema): Optionally also use the SLEEP pin of the A4988 stepper driver. If specified, the driver will be put into sleep mode as soon as the stepper reaches the target steps.
acceleration (Optional, float): The acceleration in steps/s^2 (steps per seconds squared) to use when starting to move. The default is inf which means infinite acceleration, so the stepper will try to drive with the full speed immediately.
deceleration (Optional, float): The same as acceleration, but for when the motor is decelerating shortly before reaching the set position. Defaults to inf (immediate deceleration).

Note

If the stepper is driving in the wrong direction, you can invert the dir_pin:

stepper:
  - platform: a4988
    # ...
    dir_pin:
      number: D1
      inverted: True

ULN2003 Configuration¶

# Example configuration entry
stepper:
  - platform: uln2003
    id: my_stepper
    pin_a: D0
    pin_b: D1
    pin_c: D2
    pin_d: D3
    max_speed: 250 steps/s

    # Optional:
    acceleration: inf
    deceleration: inf

Configuration variables:

id (Required, ID): Specify the ID of the stepper so that you can control it.
pin_a, pin_b, pin_c, pin_d (Required, Pin Schema): The four pins of the stepper control board.
sleep_when_done (Optional, boolean): Whether to turn off all coils when the stepper has reached the target position
step_mode (Optional, string): The step mode to operate the motor with. One of:
- FULL_STEP (Default)
- HALF_STEP
- WAVE_DRIVE
max_speed (Required, float): The maximum speed in steps/s (steps per seconds) to drive the stepper at. Note most steppers can’t step properly with speeds higher than 250 steps/s.
acceleration (Optional, float): The acceleration in steps/s^2 (steps per seconds squared) to use when starting to move. The default is inf which means infinite acceleration, so the stepper will try to drive with the full speed immediately.
deceleration (Optional, float): The same as acceleration, but for when the motor is decelerating shortly before reaching the set position. Defaults to inf (immediate deceleration).

`stepper.set_target` Action¶

To use your stepper motor in automations or templates, you can use this action to set the target position (in steps). The stepper will always run towards the target position and stop once it has reached the target.

on_...:
  then:
  - stepper.set_target:
      id: my_stepper
      target: 250

  # Templated
  - stepper.set_target:
      id: my_stepper
      target: !lambda |-
        if (id(my_binary_sensor).state) {
          return 1000;
        } else {
          return -1000;
        }

Configuration options:

id (Required, ID): The ID of the stepper.
target (Optional, int, templatable): The target position in steps.

Warning

This turns the stepper to an absolute position! To have the servo move relative to the current position, first reset the current position and then set the target to the relative value.

on_...:
  then:
    # Move 150 steps forward
    - stepper.report_position:
        id: my_stepper
        position: 0
    - stepper:set_target:
        id: my_stepper
        target: 150

`stepper.report_position` Action¶

All steppers start out with a target and current position of 0 on boot. However, if you for example want to home a stepper motor, it can be useful to report the stepper where it is currently at.

With this action, you can set the stepper’s internal position counter to a specific value (in steps). Please note that reporting the position can create unexpected moves of the stepper. For example, if the stepper’s target and current position is at 1000 steps and you “report” a position of 0, the stepper will move 1000 steps forward to match the target again.

on_...:
  then:
  - stepper.report_position:
      id: my_stepper
      position: 250
  # It's best to call set_target directly after report_position, so that the stepper doesn't move
  - stepper.set_target:
      id: my_stepper
      target: 250

  # Templated
  - stepper.report_position:
      id: my_stepper
      position: !lambda |-
        if (id(my_binary_sensor).state) {
          return 0;
        } else {
          return -1000;
        }

Configuration options:

id (Required, ID): The ID of the stepper.
target (Optional, int, templatable): The target position in steps.

Home Assistant Configuration¶

This component will not show up in the Home Assistant frontend automatically because Home Assistant does not support steppers natively (raise this issue in Home Assistant forums to make this a higher priority for Home Assistant). You can add this to your Home Assistant configuration to be able to control the stepper from the frontend.

# Home Assistant configuration
input_number:
  stepper_control:
    name: Stepper Control
    initial: 0
    min: -1000
    max: 1000
    step: 1
    mode: slider

automation:
  - alias: Write Stepper Value to ESP
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: input_number.stepper_control
    action:
      # Replace livingroom with the name you gave the ESP
      - service: esphome.livingroom_control_stepper
        data_template:
          target: '{{ trigger.to_state.state | int }}'

# ESPHome configuration
api:
  services:
    - service: control_stepper
      variables:
        target: int
      then:
        - stepper.set_target:
            id: my_stepper
            target: !lambda 'return target;'

stepper:
  - platform: ...
    # [...] stepper config
    id: my_stepper

lambda calls¶

From lambdas, you can call several methods on stepper motors to do some advanced stuff (see the full API Reference for more info).

set_target: Set the target postion of the motor as an integer.

// Argument is integer (signed int)
// Set the (absolute) target position to 250 steps
id(my_stepper).set_target(250);

report_position: Report the current postion as an integer.

// Report the (absolute) current position as 250 steps
id(my_stepper).report_position(250);

current_postion: Get the current postion of the stepper as an integer.
int pos = id(my_stepper).current_position;
target_position: Get the set target postion of the stepper as an integer.
int pos = id(my_stepper).target_position;

Table of Contents

Stepper Component¶

A4988 Configuration¶

ULN2003 Configuration¶

`stepper.set_target` Action¶

`stepper.report_position` Action¶

Home Assistant Configuration¶

lambda calls¶

See Also¶

Stepper Component¶

A4988 Configuration¶

ULN2003 Configuration¶

stepper.set_target Action¶

stepper.report_position Action¶

Home Assistant Configuration¶

lambda calls¶

See Also¶

`stepper.set_target` Action¶

`stepper.report_position` Action¶