I need help creating a code that moves a DC motor CW or CCW based off of 2 different buttons

Question

I know I can make the motor move backwards and forwards with buttons but I don't want it to move at full speed. I want it to increment in very small amounts to where it can be adjusted very small amounts at a time. I should also be able to hold the button so it moves continuously. I also have a motor with an encoder on it. Maybe there is a way to use the numbers on the encoder to increment? so press the CW button and now the motor wants to move till the encoder reaches +10 from where it was at? I understand what I want to do, just need help getting there. Thanks

HERE IS THE CODE I FIGURED OUT THAT MAKES MY DC MOTOR INCREMENT CW AND CCW

#define MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN   2
#define MOTOR_SPEED_PIN       3

#define MOTOR_DIRECTION_CW    LOW
#define MOTOR_DIRECTION_CCW   HIGH



void setup() 
{
  //button inputs
  //pullup so we do not need to include a physical resistor 
  pinMode(12, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(13, INPUT_PULLUP);
  
  pinMode(MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, OUTPUT);

  Serial.begin(9600);

  Serial.println("test");
}

void loop() 
{
  int pushedButtonOne = digitalRead(12);
  int pushedButtonTwo = digitalRead(13);

  if(pushedButtonOne == LOW)
  {
    Serial.println("Button number 1 has been pushed");
    digitalWrite(MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN, MOTOR_DIRECTION_CCW);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 50);
    delay(7);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 0);
  }

  else if(pushedButtonTwo == LOW)
  {
    Serial.println("Button number 2 has been pushed");
    digitalWrite(MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN, MOTOR_DIRECTION_CW);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 50);
    delay(7);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 0);
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.println("nothing has been pushed");
  }

  //delay(100);

}

Answer 1

To formulate the comments into an answer:

In principle it is of course possible to put an encoder onto a DC motor shaft and then drive the motor, until you reach the desired position. But you won't get good precision or accuracy with this. You wrote

till the encoder reaches +10 from where it was at

Since most encoders have more than 10 tics per full rotation (you didn't specifiy how much yours has), this can mean rotating only a fraction of a full rotation. Let's assume, that the encoder has 40 tics per full rotation. With 10 tics you have a quarter rotation. It seems you want precision in the range of about 1 tic.

DC motors are made for spinning relatively fast. They don't give you control over the position with steps. They mostly have very few coil/magnet combinations (for example just 2 coils, which are switched internally). Thus you have just an inert motor shaft, which is driven by the motor. It will need time to accelerate and to decelerate. With most motors, you may even get a half or full rotation, when you wanted only a quarter rotation (the 10 tics). Calculating the correct timings to get it any better will be not easy for relatively small reward. DC motors are not made for rotations below a small number of full rotations.

You could tackle that problem by using a geared DC motor. The shaft after the gears will run slower and thus have the explained problem not so badly. Then you have to live with the smaller speed.

Or you could go a more proper way and just use a stepper motor, which is made for small steps in the range of sub-full-rotation. It is a bit more difficult to drive (also depending on the driver circuit), but it gives you the position control, that you want. And to rotate continuously: A continuous rotation on a stepper motor is nothing else but step after step taken in fast succession (much like running is a fast succession of steps with your feet).

---

Note: The stepper motor does not have a feedback like an encoder on it. The motor driver will just drive the coils to step the motor. If the motor is stalled or if it is overloaded, you might loose some steps (meaning that the coils are driven for the steps, but the motor doesn't actually move). You could sense that with an additional encoder on the motor shaft. But in most cases that is not necessary. If you just make sure, that the motor is not overloaded at any time, you will be fine. Or you might not worry about some steps being lost sometimes, if the overall precision is good enough. That is your decision.

Answer 2

Here is the code i eventually figured out. It increments my DC Motor basically by activating it for a small amount of time in the direction of whichever button was pushed.

#define MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN   2
#define MOTOR_SPEED_PIN       3

#define MOTOR_DIRECTION_CW    LOW
#define MOTOR_DIRECTION_CCW   HIGH



void setup() 
{
  //button inputs
  //pullup so we do not need to include a physical resistor 
  pinMode(12, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(13, INPUT_PULLUP);
  
  pinMode(MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, OUTPUT);

  Serial.begin(9600);

  Serial.println("test");
}

void loop() 
{
  int pushedButtonOne = digitalRead(12);
  int pushedButtonTwo = digitalRead(13);

  if(pushedButtonOne == LOW)
  {
    Serial.println("Button number 1 has been pushed");
    digitalWrite(MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN, MOTOR_DIRECTION_CCW);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 50);
    delay(7);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 0);
  }

  else if(pushedButtonTwo == LOW)
  {
    Serial.println("Button number 2 has been pushed");
    digitalWrite(MOTOR_DIRECTION_PIN, MOTOR_DIRECTION_CW);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 50);
    delay(7);
    analogWrite(MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, 0);
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.println("nothing has been pushed");
  }

}