ESPhome Stepper motor yaml issues

ESPHome
1

Greetings everyone.

I would like your help on an issue I am facing with integrating a stepper motor to my home assistant through esphome.
The Idea is to utilize it as a ‘’switchbot’’ component to press a button on an old air conditioner and learn through the prosses.

The issue I am facing is that although I thing I have followed the esphome instructions for the setup I am missing something I cannot think about.

This is the code I have written in the yaml file:

esphome:
  name: esp-step-motor
  friendly_name: ESP step motor

esp8266:
  board: nodemcuv2

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: "aMSilZzisTYbAiZiOjG8hJYWo03LiZVZH2gyhhLElm0="

ota:
  password: "77d955594eb5f5c11f7de45ea3d7fff7"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Esp-Step-Motor Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "asfsdgsjdty"

captive_portal:

stepper:
  - platform: uln2003
    id: my_stepper_switch
    pin_a: GPIO5
    pin_b: GPIO4
    pin_c: GPIO14
    pin_d: GPIO12
    max_speed: 250 steps/s
    sleep_when_done: true #Puts the stepper to sleep to reduce power consumption and heat
    acceleration: inf
    deceleration: inf

number:
  - platform: template
    name: Stepper Control
    min_value: -100
    max_value: 100
    step: 1
    set_action:
      then:
        - stepper.set_target:
            id: my_stepper_switch
            target: !lambda 'return x;'
button:
  - platform: template
    name: "Stepper Press"
    on_press:
      then:
          - logger.log: Button Pressed
          - stepper.report_position:
              id: my_stepper_switch
              position: 0          
          - stepper.set_target:
              id: my_stepper_switch
              target: 500

I have performed the wiring as following:

Stepper motor ESP
Stepper motor ESP1152×718 89.1 KB

I am getting these entities in home assistant:

entites
entites375×512 23.6 KB

Unfortunately, the motor is not moving at all.

The only thing I can think of is that may I need to change this part of the code

stepper:
  - platform: uln2003
    id: my_stepper_switch
    pin_a: GPIO5
    pin_b: GPIO4
    pin_c: GPIO14
    pin_d: GPIO12

with the following

stepper:
  - platform: uln2003
    id: my_stepper_switch
    pin_a: d1
    pin_b: d2
    pin_c: d5
    pin_d: d6

Although I did change, I had no luck.

To verify that have an operational stepper motor and uln2003 board, I have connected them to an Arduino uno I have around and tested is successfully with one of the examples. I have also tested the setup with a different nodemcu v2.1 esp8266.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thank you for your time in advance.

2

D1 and GPIO5 are the same thing and either is fine. What do the logs say? Its probably a blessing the stepper isnt working anyway. There are far better ways to make it “smart” and a stepper motor pushing a button is at the bottom of the list.

Why not pop off the cover and wire a relay to the wires that for the AC button? Much simpler, reliable, cleaner looking than having all that mess right on the control area of the AC.

3

Thank you for your time!

Unfortunately, the house is a rental home, and I cannot pop the cover. The best solution is to replace the Aircon with a new one, but this is not an option as well (owner’s responsibility).

In the end I will use the Arduino for the stepper control and connect a relay contact on the esp as an Arduino input to execute the move.

I have a whole weekend ahead.

4

I completely understand that. Im sure you wont like or want to hear but, its not a great idea to modify someone else’s property in a rental and for several reasons where you could potentially be personally liable for damage, fire, or god forbid something worse. Just be careful…

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