UNIT 7: STEPPER MOTORS

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

STEPPER MOTORS
Stepper motors convert digital information to mechanical motion. Stepper motors rotate in distinct angular increments (steps) in response to the application of digital pulses to an electrical drive. Three types: Permanent Magnet (PM) Variable Reluctance (VR) Hybrid

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

STEPPER MOTOR
Advantages:
Simplicity in construction Position control without feedback component Low maintenance

Disadvantages:
Resonance effect and long settling time Heat (consume current regardless of load condition) Slower than servo (DC) systems Variable holding torque (cogging)

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

PERMANENT MAGNET (PM) STEPPER

Equilibrium position depends on phase of excitation. Rotor and stator each have magnetic fields. Misalignment between stator and rotor magnetic poles causes torque, which aligns rotor with stator. If excitation is held constant, the rotor will not move. If external torque is applied to rotor, it moves. As rotor moves, field misalignment again generates a restoring torque. This effect acts like a (nonlinear) spring. The magnetic field will generate holding torque even if the field coils are not excited detent torque.

N N

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

PERMANENT MAGNET (PM) STEPPER

Stepping Sequence
S
N

N
N

N
N N

N
N

S
N

S Initial equilibrium state N

N

S Horizontal winding field reversed (no motion yet) N

N
N

N N

N N

S
N N

S Reach new equilibrium

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

S Motion starts toward new equilibrium

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VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (VR) STEPPER

Replace the permanent magnet rotor with a teethed ferromagnetic rotor. The motion and holding are results of minimization of the magnetic reluctance between the stator and the rotor poles. Advantage: Lower rotor inertia results in faster dynamic response. Gives double the step size for the same number of teeth. Disadvantage: Low allowable load inertia. No holding torque when the windings are not energized no detent torque.

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (VR) STEPPER

Step Sequence
1 2 3 3 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 1

3 1 2

1 3

1 2 3

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

HYBRID STEPPER
Multi-toothed stator and rotor. The rotor has an axially magnetized magnet around its non-magnetic stainless shaft.

N S N S N S N S

The configuration is a mixture of the variablereluctance and the permanent-magnet type construction. High accuracy and high torque with extra cost.

S N S

S N S

S N S S N N S N Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013 8 S N

STEPPER/BRUSHLESS DIFFERENCES
Feedback Brushless servomotors run in closed-loop mode, requiring a feedback device. Stepper motors do not require feedback. Accuracy If an unexpected load is encountered, a brushless motor will correct its position. A stepper motor will not recognize when its torque limit has been exceeded. Speed Brushless servomotors can run at much higher speeds (3000 to 6000 rpm) than steppers (1500 to 3000 rpm), and are not subject to the overheating phenomenon seen in steppers. Simplicity Stepper systems are easier to maintain because there are no feedback devices. Cost When comparing systems of the same torque capacity, a stepper system costs less than a brushless servo system. Inertia Sensitivity Brushless servomotors are more sensitive than stepper motors to fluctuations in load mass.

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

STEPPER/BRUSHLESS DIFFERENCES
Shaft Power The largest stepper motors can deliver around 2000 W of shaft power. Brushless servomotors are capable of providing much higher power. Resolution Brushless servomotors usually have resolutions between 500 and 4000 counts/rev. Stepper motors are manufactured with nominal resolutions of 200 steps/rev. However, some stepper drives can achieve resolutions of 50000 pulses/rev. Digital Control Stepper motors are well-suited to digital control from computers and other digital devices. Most brushless servomotors use an analog controller and resolver or encoder feedback, requiring a more sophisticated and costly controller. Standardization Nearly all stepper motors conform to the NEMA flange dimensions so they can be easily be replaced, even between different brands. Noise Stepper motors are inherently noisy, while brushless servomotors don't exhibit this problem. Power Consumption Stepper motors apply full rated motor current through the motor windings, no matter the applied load. A servomotor only consumes current as needed to achieve desired rotor positioning.
List adopted from: http://www.automotsys.com.au/stepserv.html
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FULL STEP SEQUENCE

Full Stepping, One Phase On
A A ON
(a)

OFF
(b)

ON
(c)

OFF
(d)

OFF

ON

OFF

ON

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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FULL STEP SEQUENCE

Full Stepping, Two Phase On
A A
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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UNIPOLAR AND BIPOLAR OPERATION

Bipolar
One winding per phase Current through winding must be reversed needs an H-bridge! More torque, but more complex circuitry

Unipolar
Center tap (common wire) for each winding Simple circuitry Thinner wire => more resistance => more power loss
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UNIPOLAR AND BIPOLAR OPERATION

A B
Q5 Q6

Q7

Q8

A
(1) (2) (3) (4)

A
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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PHASE WINDING CURRENT PROFILE

Full Step Sequence, Two Phase On with Bipolar Drive
1 2 3 4

Phase 1

Phase 2

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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PHASE WINDING CURRENT PROFILE

Full Step Sequence, Two Phase On with Unipolar Drive
1 2 3 4

Phase 1A (Q1) Phase 1B (Q2) Phase 2C (Q3) Phase 2D (Q4)

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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PULSE EXCITATION

Phase 1A (Q1) Phase 1B (Q2) Phase 2C (Q3) Phase 2D (Q4)

Logic circuit can make driving (controlling) stepper motor easier: Pulse causes step Q 2 = Q1 Direction of step controlled by logic level signal Only two output variable is needed, since
S0 Pulse Direction Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

and Q 4 = Q 3

11 10

S1

11 11
S3

10 10 10 11 10
S2

11

Input: P & D Output: Q1 & Q3

01

00

Pulse signal must be longer than the state machine clock. Otherwise additional logic must be designed to detect edges. Alternative arrangement use the pulse signal as the clock. The pulse signal will be eliminated from the transition condition.

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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HALF STEPPING SEQUENCE

If a complete coil set is turned off rather than reversed, the rotor will move one-half of a step: The holding torque at the half-step position is less than that at the full step position (about 3/4), i.e. alternate steps will be strong and weak. To produce approximately equal torque on every step, we can apply higher current level when only one phase is energized:

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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MICRO-STEPPING SEQUENCE
If half-step is possible, why not smaller steps? Full and half step sequence can be viewed as crude approximation to sine/cosine quadrature signals. Application of true sine/cosine current profile to the two phases will give arbitrarily small step size -- Micro-Stepping. The size of the micro-steps depends only on the discretization size of the sine/cosine wave. Disadvantages: Holding torque varies. Requires proportional amplifier.
Switching amplifier is more efficient, cooler. PWM can be used for proportioning so that a switching amplifier can still be used.

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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WINDING CONFIGURATION
Most stepper motors are bifilar wound, which means that there are two identical sets of windings on each pole. Bifilar winding was originally designed for unipolar drives. Rather than reverse the current in one winding, the field may be reversed by transferring current to another coil wound in the opposite direction.

By looking at the number of leads from a stepper motor, we can determine whether a unipolar or a bipolar driver is needed: 4 leads: requires bipolar driver (non-bifilar winding) 6 leads: can be driven by both bipolar or unipolar drives 8 leads: most flexible, can be driven by both bipolar or unipolar drives
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STEPPER MOTOR PERFORMANCE

Single Step Response
When a stepper motor performs a single step move, the response is oscillatory. Lightly damped mass-spring-damper response:
Rotor inertia plus load inertia is the mass, Magnetic field is the nonlinear spring, and very little damping (provided by the motor).

Step (Angular Position)

Time
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STEPPER MOTOR PERFORMANCE

Resonance
Step the motor at its natural oscillation frequency will cause an exaggerated response resonance. It is the major difficulty for designed stepper motor actuated systems. Can also excite structural resonance in the surrounding mechanical components. When operating at resonance, the stepper motor will not step properly desyncronizing or stall. Remedy:
Avoiding step rates near the resonance (may switch between full/half stepping) Adding mechanical damping.

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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STATIC OPERATION
Holding Torque
The maximum torque can be applied to the rotor of the motor without moving the rotor position. Motor will slip if the applied external torque exceeds the maximum rated holding torque.
PM steppers will slip in four step increments. With open-loop operation (no feedback of position), system position accuracy is lost!

PM stepper exhibits detent torque small holding torque present when no power is supplied to the motor.
Due to the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnets.

Depends on application, holding torque can be good, bad or indifferent.

Jeff Shelton 21 February 2013

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TORQUE SPEED CURVE

Start/Stop Curve (limit)
Speed (Step Rate)

Slew Curve (limit)

Torque

The chart is load dependent. Operation above the start/stop limit requires ramping up the speed from under the start/stop limit.
The stepping speed (rate) is slowly brought up to the operating speed. To stop, the speed is slowly brought down below the start/stop curve before stopping.

For a heavier load, a lower acceleration rate is used.

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THERMAL CHARACTERISTICS
Temperature is a major performance limitation. When motor is stopped, current flow through the windings are at maximum most heat is generated via resistive heating. Positioning applications tends to spend most time sitting still. At idle, the rotor is not moving, cooling is also limited. To reduce temperature rise during idling, winding current is usually reduced to lower resistive heat generation. Motor temperature rating are based on the thermal breakdown temperature of the winding wire insulation. At steady-state, the rate current is applied to achieve the rated holding torque. During transient (current reversal), voltage will increase substantially to overcome the inductance effect since duration is short, temperature is not affected substantially.
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