interfacing a 6V Unipolar stepper motor with a ULN2003a IC, with a PICAXE-20M

I sort of know the difference between unipolar and bipolar, after doing alot of research. I currently have a unipolar with 6 wires

I also have a ULN2003A Ic and have a PICAXE-20M FOR the driver. ( the pic axe also has other roles in my project, so an essential ic). I am deisiging a pill reminder/ dispenser and this motor will be used for opening the compartments. Can someone please explain to me how to make these componets into a working circuit ( schematically please) so i can thefore protype that circuit onto by breadboard.

Also for the project i am thinking of using a circular disk shape , rotated by the motor, which is split up into 28 compartments to hold pills ( 4 pills a day * 7 days in a week). This would make the angle in each compartment 12.86 degrees ( 360 / 4 X 7). Yet this motor can only step 7.5 degrees at a time.
what should i do??

My first query is more important than my second one


Thanks before hand ( to anyone even bothered enough to read all of this :-D)


p.s i can give the URL of the datasheets but i have to wait two posts to do so)

Look in PICAXE Manual - part3, section -output-device-6==>unipolar-stepper motor ..
**broken link removed**

IanP
:wink:

Thanks that link is vey useful , however the diagram in the link, shows the unipolar stepper motor connected to 12V. I am about to buy a 5v unipolar stepper from RS and i wanted to know 4 things;
(1) if i could control the 5v stepper motor with a uln2003a?
(2) what would the power connections be ( as apose to those given in the link) ?
(3) Could i power the entire circuit with a 9 volt battery and maybe a voltage regulator, or does the uln2003 only opearte with 12V?
(4) the unipolar stepper motor i am using has 6 wires, but the link you gave me shows only 5 being used...what should i do with the other one?

Thanks

---------- Post added at 14:22 ---------- Previous post was at 14:21 ----------

the motor i am using is the following : McLennan Servo Supplies | Control Gear | Motors and Motor Controllers | Stepper Motors | 7.5°+ Stepper Motors |42M048C-1U

The ULN2003 is just array of transistors, the supply voltage really doesn't matter - it will work with 5V as well as with 12V ..

The windings have two commons that can be connected together, see attached drawing ..
More details here:
**broken link removed**

You can use 7805 voltage regulator to drop voltage from 9V (battery) to 5V ..
Initially that is the simplest option, but if you think of prolonging battery life you may later consider a switching regulator such as LM2575-5 ..

IanP
:wink: