RpiMotorLib

Table of contents

• Table of contents
• Overview
• Installation
  • From PyPi with pip or pipx
  • From Github
• Hardware
  • Stepper motors
  • DC motors
  • Servos
• Software
  • File System
  • Dependencies
• Notes and issues
  • RPI 5
  • Two Motors simultaneously
  • GPIO cleanup method
  • pipx

Overview

• Name: RpiMotorLib
• Title: Raspberry pi motor library.
• Description:

A python 3 library to drive motor controllers and servos with a Raspberry pi.

These components supported are some of the most widely used by maker community. There are three categories in library. Stepper motors, DC Motors and Servos. The end user can import this library into their projects and then control the components with short snippets of code. The library is modular so user can just import/use the section they need.

• Project URL: URL LINK

• Tested on Toolchains:

  1. RPI 3 model B. Raspbian 10 Buster, 32 bit. Python 3.7.3.
  2. RPI 3 model B. Raspbian 12 Bookworm, 64 bit. Python 3.11.2.

Installation

Latest version 3.2 (10-2022)

From PyPi with pip or pipx

The Python Package Index (PyPI) is a repository of software for the Python programming language. The program is present in python package index, Pypi. Install using pip or pipx to the location or environment of your choice. Package name = rpimotorlib Link.

NB see notes section for more on pipx.

From Github

Manually install from github The package is also archived on github and can be manually download and installed via python and setup.py. Not recommended.

curl -sL https://github.com/gavinlyonsrepo/RpiMotorLib/archive/3.2.tar.gz | tar xz
cd RpiMotorLib-3.2
python3 setup.py build 
python3 setup.py install --user

Hardware

Supported Components:

Stepper motors

Motor tested	Motor controller	Help File URL link
Unipolar 28BYJ-48	ULN2003 driver module	URL
Bipolar Nema	TB6612FNG Dual Driver Carrier	URL
Bipolar Nema	L298N H-Bridge controller module	URL
Bipolar Nema	A4988 Stepper Driver Carrier	URL
Bipolar Nema	DRV8825 Stepper Driver Carrier	URL
Bipolar Nema	A3967 Stepper Driver aka "easy driver v4.4"	URL
Bipolar (untested on hw)	LV8729 Stepper Driver Carrier	URL
Bipolar (untested)	DV8833 Motor controller module	TODO
Bipolar (untested)	L9110S Motor controller module	TODO

DC motors

Motor	Motor controller	Help File URL link
DC Brushed Motor	L298N Motor controller module.	URL
DC Brushed Motor	L9110S Motor controller module.	URL
DC Brushed Motor	DV8833 Motor controller module.	URL
DC Brushed Motor	TB6612FNG Dual Motor Driver Carrier	URL
DC Brushed Motor	Transistor control	URL

Servos

There are two different options for controlling the servo. When using Rpi_GPIO option you may notice twitching at certain delays and stepsizes. This is the result of the implementation of the RPIO PWM software timing. If the application requires precise control the user can pick the pigpio library which uses hardware based timing. The disadvantage being they must install a dependency(pigpio) and start its daemon.

Servo	Link
Servo software timing	RPi.GPIO module PWM
Servo hardware timing	pigpio library module PWM

Software

1. Separate help files are in documentation folder to learn how to use library. Click on the relevant URL link in tables in hardware section.
2. Test files used during development are in test folder of repository.
3. There is a "Software matrix" showing which classes are used to drive which components. This is in the Software_Matrix.md file in documentation folder.

File System

RpiMotorLib files are listed below:

File Path	Description
RPiMotorLib/RpiMotorLib.py	stepper motor python library file
RPiMotorLib/rpiservolib.py	servo python library RPi.GPIO PWM file
RPiMotorLib/rpi_pservo_lib.py	servo python library pigpio PWM file
RPiMotorLib/rpi_dc_lib.py	DC python motor library file
documentation/*.md	15 markdown library documentation files
test/*Test.py	14 python tes