Stepper Motors - Step Motors - Stepper Motor Driver
A stepper motor is an electric motor that is brush-less and synchronous. It converts digital pulses into mechanical shaft rotations. Each rotation of a stepper motor is divided into a set number of steps, sometimes as many as 200 steps. The stepping motor must be sent a separate pulse for each step. The motor can only receive one pulse and take one step at a time and each step must be the same length. Since each pulse sent results in the motor rotating a precise angle, typically1.8 degrees, the position of the stepper motor can be precisely controlled without any feedback mechanism. As the digital pulses from the controller increase in frequency, the stepper motor movement converts into a continuous rotation, with the velocity of the rotation directly proportional to the frequency of the control pulses. A Stepper motor is widely used because of low cost, high reliability, high torque at low speeds and rugged construction that allows a stepping motor to be used in a wide environmental range. (More)
Advantages of using a Stepping Motor:
- a wide range of rotational speeds can be utilized with a stepping motor since the speed of a stepping motor is proportional to the frequency of the input pulses from your controller.
- Precise open-loop positional control is possible with a stepper motor without any feedback mechanism.
- Very low speed rotation is possible with a load that is coupled directly to the shaft of the stepping motor.
- A stepping motor is quite reliable because there are no contact brushes. Generally, the life of a stepper motor is determined by the life of the stepper motor bearing.
- A stepper motor is very good at starting, stopping and reversing direction.
- A stepper motor is very good in providing precise positioning and repeatability of movement.
- An energized stepping motor maintains full torque at standstill position
Stepper Motor Types:
"Step" Modes:
Stepping Motor Full Step:
Stepper Motor Half Step:
Half Step means that the stepper motor is rotating at 400 steps per revolution (0.9 degree steps x 400 = 360 degrees). One winding would be energized and then two windings are energized alternately. This will cause the rotor of the stepper motor to move at half the distance (0.9 degrees). In the half-step mode, a typical stepper motor would provide about 30% less torque but it provides a smoother motion than in the full step mode.
Microstepping:
Linear Motion Control:
Series and Parallel Connection:
Stepper Motor Drivers Overview:
The speed and torque of a stepping motor is determined by the flow of current from the stepping motor driver to the stepper motor winding. The factor that reduces the flow, or limits the time it takes for the current to energize the winding is known as inductance. Most stepper motor driver circuits are designed to supply a greater amount of voltage than the rated voltage of the stepper motor. The higher the output voltage from the stepper motor driver, the higher the level of torque vs. speed. In general, the stepper motor driver output voltage ( also known as bus voltage) should be rated at 5 to 10 times higher than the stepper motor voltage rating. For protection of the stepper motor the stepper motor controller should be current limited to the stepper motor current rating.
Stepper Motor Controller (Indexer) Overview:
Communications to the stepper motor system indexer is usually through an RS-232 or RS-485 port. In either configuration, the indexer can receive high level commands from a host computer and supply the appropriate step and direction pulses to the stepper motor driver.
The stepper motor system indexer includes auxiliary Input/Output for monitoring from external sources such as Go, Home, Jog or Limit switch.
Click here to view a 3D printing machine that uses our stepper motors
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