Stepper Motor

Prepared By:
Mr. N. D. Mehta
Assistant Professor,
Department of Power Electronics Engg,
Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, 1
Chandkheda-382424
 DC Motors

❑ The stator is the stationary outside part of a motor. The

rotor is the inner part which rotates.
❑ Just as the rotor reaches alignment, the brushes move
across the commutator contacts and energize the next
winding
❑ The brushes of a dc motor have several limitations; brush
life, brush residue, maximum speed, and electrical noise
 Brushless DC Motors

❑A brushless dc motor has a rotor with permanent

magnets and a stator with windings.
❑It is essentially a dc motor turned inside out.
❑The control electronics replace the function of the
commutator and energize the proper winding.
 Stepper Motor
DEFINITION :
❑ A stepper motor is defined as a digital
electromechanical device where each command
pulse results in a movement of the shaft by a discrete
angle called step angle of the motor.
OR
❑ A stepper motor is an electromechanical device
which converts electrical pulses into discrete
mechanical movements.

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 Stepper Motor
❑ A stepper motor is a brushless, synchronous electric
motor that converts digital pulses into mechanical
shaft rotation.
❑ Its normal shaft motion consists of discrete angular
movements of essentially uniform magnitude when
driven from sequentially switched DC power supply.

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Construction of Stepper Motor

Parts of Stepper Motor

❑ Stator
❑ Magnet
❑ Rotor
❑ Winding
❑ Shaft
❑ Bearing
❑ Frame
❑ Terminal

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Construction of Stepper Motor

Parts of Stepper Motor

❑ Stator
❑ Magnet
❑ Rotor
❑ Winding
❑ Shaft
❑ Bearing
❑ Frame
❑ Terminal

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Name Plate Specification of Stepper Motor

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 Types of Stepper Motor
❑ Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor
❑ Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor
❑ Hybrid Stepper Motor

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 Comparison of Stepper Motor
Parameter VR Stepper Motor PM Stepper Hybrid Stepper
Motor Motor
Inertia Low Rotor Inertia High Inertia High Inertia

Weight Less Weight High Weight High Weight

Détente Torque No detente torque Provide détente Provide detente

available winding de- torque torque available
energized winding de-
energized
Rotor Rotor is no permanent Rotor is Rotor is
Construction magnet. permanent permanent
magnet. magnet.
Saliency Rotor is Salient Pole Rotor is Cylindrical Rotor is Salient
type. Pole type. Pole type.
Noise Noise no matter what Quiet Quiet
type of excitation
Design Simple Complex Moderately 10
Complex
 Comparison of Stepper Motor
Parameter VR Stepper Motor PM Stepper Motor Hybrid Stepper
Motor
Cost Moderate Cheapest Most Expensive

Resolution 1.8 / Step and Smaller 30-3 /step 1.8 / Step and
Smaller

Stepping Typically run on Full Full , half and Micro Full , half and Micro
step only stepping stepping

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Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor

❑ In VR motor, excitation of
the stator phases give
rise to a torque in
direction which minimize
the magnetic circuit
reluctance.
❑ The reluctance torque
depends on the square
of the phase current and
its direction is dependent
of the polarity of the
phase current A VR
motor can be a single-
stack or multi-stack
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motor.
 Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor
Advantages:
1) It can driven open loop without feedback.
2) Responds directly to digital control signals, so stepper
motors are natural choice for digital computer controls.
3) It is mechanically simple.
4) It requires little or no maintenance.
5) Capable of high step ping rate.

Disadvantages:
1) Low efficiency with ordinary controller.
2) Fixed step angle.
3) Limited ability to handle large inertia load
4) Limited power output and sizes available.
5) Normally available in 3.6° to 30 step angles.
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6) No detente torque available with windings de – energized
Multi- stack VR Stepper Motor

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Working of Stepper Motor

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Working of Stepper Motor

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Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

❑ A Permanent –magnet
steppe motor has a
permanently-
magnetized cylindrical
rotor.
❑ The direction of the
torque produced
depends on the
polarity of stator
current.

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Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

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Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

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 Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor
Advantages:
1) Low power requirement.
2) High detente torque as compared to VR motor.
3) Rotor do not require external exciting current.
4) It produces more torque per ampere stator current.

Disadvantages:
1) Motor has higher inertia.
2) Slower acceleration.

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Hybrid Stepper Motor

❑ A hybrid motor
combines features
of VR and PM
stepper motors.
❑ The direction of its
torque also
depends on the
polarity of the
stator current.
❑ Its step angle β =
360 / m Nr

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Hybrid Stepper Motor

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Disc Magnet Stepper Motor

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Claw Pole Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

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 Hybrid Stepper Motor

Advantages:
1) Less tendency to resonate
2) Provide detent torque with windings de-energized
3) Higher holding torque capability
4) High stepping rate capability

Disadvantages:
1) Higher inertia and weight due to presence of rotor
magnet.
2) Performance affected by change in magnetic
strength.

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 Step Angle of Stepper Motor

❑ A step angle is the angle of

rotation traveled in a single
step.
❑ This can be calculated one of
two ways—
❑ either by dividing the motor's
full 360 degrees by the number
of steps the motor takes to
complete one revolution, or
❑ by dividing the motor's full 360
degrees by two times the
number of rotor teeth times the
number of stator phases.
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 Lead Angle of Stepper Motor

❑ The angle of difference between the phase to be de-

energized to bring the stepper motor to the position of
equilibrium (stopping the motor) and energization of
next phase winding to start the motor during closed
loop operation is known as lead angle.

❑ The relation between the rotor's present position and

the phase(s) to be excited is specified in terms of lead
angle.

❑ Resolution: It is defined as the number of steps

needed to complete one revolution of the rotor shaft.

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 Characteristics of Stepper Motor

❑ Holding Torque : Holding torque is the maximum load

torque which the energized stepper motor can
withstand without slipping from equilibrium position.
❑ Détente Torque: Detente torque is the maximum load
torque which is unenergized stepper motor can with
stand without slipping. It is also known as cogging
torque.
❑ Torque Constant : Torque constant of the stepper motor
is defined as the initial slope of the torque current curve
of the stepper motor. It is also called as torque
sensitivity.
❑ Pull in Torque: It is the maximum torque the stepper
motor can develop in start - stop mode at a given
stepping rate F (steps/sec), without losing synchronism.28
 Characteristics of Stepper Motor
❑ Pull out Torque: It is the maximum torque the stepper
motor can develop at a given stepping rate F
(steps/sec), without losing synchronism.

❑ Pull in Rate: It is the maximum stepping rate at which

the stepper motor will start or stop, without losing
synchronism, against a given load torque.

❑ Pull out Rate: It is the maximum stepping rate at which

the stepper motor will slow, without losing synchronism
against a given load torque.

❑ Response Range: It is the range of stepping rates at

which the stepper motor can start or stop with losing
synchronism, at a given load torque. Response range29
spans stepping rates the pull in rate.
 Characteristics of Stepper Motor

❑ Slewing: The stepper motor may be operate at very

high stepping rates i.e., 25000 steps per second. A
stepper motor operates at high speeds is called
slewing.

❑ Slewing Range: It is the range of stepping rates at

which the stepper motor can run in the slow mode, with
losing synchronism, at a given load torque.

❑ Synchronism in Stepper Motor : It is the one-to-one

correspondence between the number of pulses applied
to stepper motor controller and the number of steps
through which the motor has actually moved.
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 Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

❑ Stepper motors come with multiple wires. The

rotating direction depends on the sequence of the
pulses applying to the coil windings. The rotating
speed depends on the pulsing frequency. There is a
method to use an oscilloscope finding the phase
relation to the windings.
❑ First the coil terminal pairs must be identified and
each pair of coil terminals resistance can be
measured by using a multimeter.
❑ The unipolar stepper has a common terminal center-
tapping on each coil. The resistance on the A-A' is
approximately twice the resistance on A-common and
A'-common.
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Wiring Diagram of Stepper Motor

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 Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

❑ The resistance between all 4 terminals and the

common terminal are about the same.
❑ By using a ohm meter to measure the resistance
between the terminals of a 5-wire unipolar stepper
motor, it can only be found the common terminal.
❑ But you can not identify the terminals which one is A,
A', B and B’.
❑ To test a unipolar stepper motor, it is easier to use a
4-channel digital scope. First the scope captures the
waveform and displays it on the screen. Then it finds
out the phase relationship between each windings.

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 Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

❑ Hookup the four terminals to the probes of each

channel.
❑ The common terminal connects to the ground lead.
Turn the motor by hand, you may need to try a few
times to get a smooth wave form.
❑ Use channel 1 for reference as assigned for terminal
A.

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 Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

❑ As shown in the captured wave form, channel 1

(yellow) is A terminal, channel 2 (blue) is A', channel
3 (purple) is B and channel 4 (green) is B’.
❑ The waveforms show that A is always at a
180o phase advancing to A'. The same situation goes
for the phases between B and B’.
❑ The B terminal is a 90o phase lag behind A. When
driving the unipolar stepper motor in a clockwise
direction, the wave driving sequence is A-B-A'-B'.
Reverse sequence will result in a counter-clockwise
direction.

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Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

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 Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

❑ Finding the wiring is similar to the 4-terminal bipolar

stepper motors. First using an ohm meter to measure
the 4 terminals; the two coils of A-A' and B-B' pairs
have approximately the same resistance.
❑ The ohm meter can only be used to find When the
two coil windings of A-A' and B-B', but need to be
identified which pair of terminals belongs to A, A' and
B, B’.
❑ This can be done by using a 2-channel
digital oscilloscope.

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 Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

❑ After finding out the terminal pairs of the two coils by

an ohm meter, next to assign the first coil terminals
as A-A' and connects to channel 1.
❑ The probe connects to one of the terminal and the
ground lead connects to the other. The same
connection goes for the second coil B-B' terminal pair
in channel 2.
❑ Turn the motor by hand, you may need to try few
times to get a smooth waveform. If the waveform of
channel 1 is not a 90o phase lead of channel 2, swap
the connection with the B-B' terminal to the probe and
ground lead of channel 2.
❑ Repeat in turning the motor by hand until to see is a
smooth waveform. 38
Finding Stepper Motor Wiring

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Working of Stepper Motor

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Magnetic Flux Path Through two pole with
lag between stator and rotor

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Uni polar and Bipolar wound Stepper Motor

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Torque v/s Rotor angle position

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Torque v/s Rotor angle position at different
Holding Torque

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Torque Speed Characteristics

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Torque Current Characteristics

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 Stepping Mode

▪ Wave Drive ( 1 Phase ON )

▪ Full Step Drive ( 2 Phase ON )
▪ Half Step Drive ( 1 & 2 Phase ON)
▪ Micro stepping ( Continuously varying
Motor Current )

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Stepping Mode

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Excitation sequence for Different Drive
Modes

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 Half Stepper Motor

▪ This animation shows the stepping pattern for a half-step stepper

motor. The commutation sequence for a half-step stepper motor
has eight steps instead of four. The main difference is that the
second phase is turned on before the first phase is turned off. Thus,
sometimes both phases are energized at the same time. During the
half-steps the rotor is held in between the two full-step positions. A
half-step motor has twice the resolution of a full step motor. It is
very popular for this reason.
 Full Stepper Motor

▪ This animation demonstrates the principle for a stepper motor

using full step commutation. The rotor of a permanent magnet
stepper motor consists of permanent magnets and the stator has
two pairs of windings. Just as the rotor aligns with one of the stator
poles, the second phase is energized. The two phases alternate on
and off and also reverse polarity. There are four steps. One phase
lags the other phase by one step. This is equivalent to one forth of
an electrical cycle or 90°.
 Stepper Motors

❑ Some stepper motor uses permanent magnets.

❑ Some stepper motors do not have magnets and instead use
the basic principles of a switched reluctance motor.
❑ The stator is similar but the rotor is composed of a iron
laminates.
Stepper Motor Converter

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 Converter for Full Stepping

❑Animation shows how coils are energized for full

steps.
 Converter for Half Stepping

❑Note how the phases are driven so that the rotor takes
half steps
 Full Stepping Sequence

❑Full step sequence showing how binary numbers can

control the motor
 Half Stepping Sequence

❑Half step sequence of binary control numbers

H-Bridge:
Enables you to control the motor in
both forward and reverse with a
microcontroller.
H-Bridge:
Enables you to control the motor in
both forward and reverse with a
microcontroller.
H-Bridge:
Enables you to control the motor in
both forward and reverse with a
microcontroller.
H-Bridge:
Enables you to control the motor in
both forward and reverse with a
microcontroller.
H bridge Converter for Stepper Motor
Practical Circuit of Stepper Motor Converter

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Practical Circuit of Stepper Motor Converter

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Practical Circuit of Stepper Motor Converter

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Practical Circuit of Stepper Motor Converter

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Practical Circuit of Stepper Motor Converter

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Positional Accuracy of a Stepper Motor

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 Advantage of Stepper Motor
▪ The rotation angle of the motor is proportional
to the input pulse.
▪ The motor has full torque at standstill (if the
windings are energized)
▪ Precise positioning and repeatability of
movement since good stepper motors have
an accuracy of 3 – 5% of a step and this error
is non cumulative from one step to the next.

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 Advantage of Stepper Motor
▪ Excellent response to starting/
stopping/reversing.
▪ Very reliable since there are no contact
brushes in the motor. Therefore the life of the
motor is simply dependant on the life of the
bearing.
▪ The motors response to digital input pulses
provides open-loop control, making the motor
simpler and less costly to control.

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 Advantage of Stepper Motor
▪ It is possible to achieve very low speed
synchronous rotation with a load that is
directly coupled to the shaft.
▪ A wide range of rotational speeds can be
realized as the speed is proportional to the
frequency of the input pulses.

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 Disadvantage of Stepper Motor
▪ Resonances can occur if not properly
controlled.
▪ Not easy to operate at extremely high
speeds.

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 Application of Stepper Motor
▪ Printer
▪ Tap Driver
▪ X-Y Recorder
▪ Robotics
▪ Textile Industry
▪ Integrated Circuit Fabrication
▪ Watches

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Queries ?

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