Stepper motors are used for CNC machines, 3D printers, and whenever else one needs precise, powerful motion. But to get good behavior from steppers you need a motor driver chip that can provide high bursts of current, and for smooth motion, be able to PWM that current for microstepping support. You can DIY this with a lot of timers, a microcontroller and an H-Bridge chip - or you could take the easy way out and use an Adafruit A4988 Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board which makes controlling stepper motors easy-breezy.