EE474 Robotics and Control

Lecture 4: Motors

Dr Gordon Dobie, EEE

Rory Hampson, EEE
 What You Will Learn

• Motor Types
– AC, DC, Stepper, Servo
Lecture 3:
– Basic Theory Kinematics
– Control Requirements
– Applications
• Measuring Motor position and velocity Lecture 4:
• Sizing Motors

– Worked example to choose a motor

– Demystifying datasheets
– Gears Lecture 5:
Motor Control
• Motor Drivers
– Electronic design tips
• Case Study – Differential Drive
Inspection Robot
* Some Material adapted from http://www.roboticscourseware.org/
Basic Motor Theory
Basic Motor Theory Recap
• Current (I) through a coil in a magnetic field
(B) produces a force (F) orthogonal to both
by Flemings RHR.
• This force causes a rotation of the coil (the
motor rotor).
• Use of commutators allow current direction
UF Phys. 3054
to change, to continue the rotation Lorentz Force
• Moving coil in a magnetic field induces a
current in the coil via Flemings LHR.
• This manifests as back EMF, a voltage that
reduces the total current in the winding.
• Back EMF is proportional to motor speed.

• So be careful when using Ohm’s Law

Motor Power, Torque, and Efficiency
Pe : Supplied Electrical Power, in watts[J / s]
Pe  IV F

r
Pm : Output Mechanical Power

Pm  T 
T Fr is the torque;it is the tangential force F
delivered at a distance r from shaft center [N m]
 : Angular velocity of shaft [radians / sec]

Efficiency e  Pm / Pe
Gearing Down
• Gearbox:
– Transmits power mechanically
– Transforms shaft angular
velocity  and torque T
• Gear ratio Pinion A (driver):
R = # teeth out / # teeth in in, Tin
• So out = in / R
Wheel B
• Tout = e (Tin . R) (follower):
out, Tout
• What is e ?
– Gearbox efficiency, 0 < e < 1

• Backlash: the amount of space between an engaging tooth and

the tooth space of the mating gear
“Speed-Torque Characteristic”

10mm DC Gearmotor - 24mm Type What does

(Precision Microdrives) this plot
mean?

How can we
interpret it?

7
Load vs. RPM, Power, and Torque
• Increase load on the shaft
– RPM drops
– Rotation-induced voltage across
armature (opposing PS) decreases
– Thus (since V=IR) more current
will flow from the power supply
– Thus more torque will be produced

• Decrease load on the shaft

– RPM goes up
– Rotation-induced voltage across
armature (opposing PS) increases (Details depend on the motor geometry,
– Thus (since V=IR) less current materials, # of windings, supply voltage)
will flow from the power supply
– Thus less torque will be produced

• What if you apply rated voltage V at no load? 170 rpm

8
 Motor operating regimes
• Rated torque (8mNm)
– Torque that won't overheat the motor
• Peak torque (~28 mNm)
– Momentary, intermittent or acceleration torque
– Torque maximised at stall (immobilised shaft)
• Peak output power (T . 
– Calls for much more than
continuous torque level
• Peak efficiency
– Maximum battery duration
– But only ~30% of peak torque!
Motor Types and
Applications
Brushed DC Motors

Function
• DC engages an electromagnet on rotor.
• This aligns with permanent magnet on
stator
• Split ring commutator reverses polarity to
continue the rotation.
Control Mechanism
• DC, Variable current, PWM
Applications
• RC cars, DC fans, small robots
• Very cheap motor architecture
DC Motor
Brushless DC Motors

Function
• 3 DC stator windings driven with 120°
separated sinusoids.
• This creates a rotating magnetic field in the
stator.
• This causes the rotor to follow the field and
rotate.
• This can also hold its position.
Control Mechanism
• DC, 3 phase variable frequency
Applications
• Drones, electric skateboards
• High power, high torque, complex to run
AC Motors

Function
• AC stator switches magnetic field and causes
rotor to repel / attract every half cycle.
• Must be soft started to begin the rotation.
• Single / 3phase requires different starting
conditions.
Control Mechanism
• AC, Variable frequency drive, phase angle
control (beyond scope of this lecture)
Applications
• Machinery drive motors, microwave turntable
• Very common in mains operated devices.
Synchronous Motors
General Stepper Motors

Function
• 90° digital quadrature input to phase 0 and 1.
• Creates discrete stepped rotating magnetic field in
stator
• Rotor follows to rotate the drive shaft
• Can hold position if windings stay magnetised
• Can hold between steps by magnetising multiple
windings at different currents
Control Mechanism
• DC, quadrature, variable current, variable frequency
Applications
• CNC machines and robot arms
• Very common in indexing devices such as printers
and disk drives
Stepper Motor
Multipurpose Stepper Motors
• 4, 5, 6, and 8 lead variants available
• 8 Leads are multipurpose.
• Series windings for more Torque ( full current in each winding )
• Parallel for more speed ( Less inductance in parallel winding )
Servo Motors

Function
• DC motor with 3 additional elements:
– Gearbox between motor shaft and output shaft
• Provides low-speed, high-torque output
– Feedback-based position control circuit (pulse-width control)
• Drives servo to commanded “position” (shaft angle)
• Shaft angle sensing (potentiometer)
• Current sense for torque sensing
– Limit stops on output shaft
• These mechanically delimit servo’s minimum & maximum “position”
Control Mechanism
• PWM for Servo Motors (Differs from normal PWM)
Applications
• Walking robots and scanning sensors

• Can be generalised to any motor (DC, brushless, stepper)

under closed loop control
 Motor Types Summary and Comparison
Type Pros Cons Suited Application

DC Common Too Fast (usually needs Large robots

Many sizes gearbox) Wheel drives
Easily interfaced Control can be complex
Cheap

Brushless DC High speed Expensive Drones

Indexable High Current High torque servo
Specialist Controller
AC Very Cheap Speed control is Mains operated
Very powerful complicated devices
Mains operated Usually Mains Industrial machines

Servo Position control Little speed control Small walking robots

High torque to weight Low power Sensor positioning
ratio
Simple interface

Stepper Speed and position High speed control CNC Machines

control difficult Robotic arms
High power Noisy
Simple interface Bulky
20
Complex control
circuitry
 Measuring Motor
Position and Velocity
for Servos
 PWM for Servo Motors

• Position control, not speed

control -- closed loop
• Pulse proportional modulation:
width of pulse is the encoded
information needed by
controller (I.e. the position to
which the shaft should turn)
• Use 1-2ms out of a possible 20
ms time period to encode the
position info
• Typical:
– Center: 1.3 ms pulse,
– range: 0.7ms - 1.7 ms
Shaft Encoders
• Report motor shaft speed (easy) or position (harder)
• Codewheel: Circular disk mounted on motor shaft
with many alternating black and white regions

Agilent

• Optical sensor reads / emits codewheel region transitions.

• Counting the pulses produced in any time interval yields
change in shaft angle.
• This is basic odometry used for control & “dead reckoning”,
or estimation of position relative to some starting point.
Quadrature Encoder

• An incremental rotary encoder

provides cyclical outputs (only)
when the encoder is rotated.
• Can find incremental encoders
with up to 10,000 counts per
revolution, or more.
• The two output wave forms are
90 degrees out of phase,
which is what quadrature
means.
• Provide distance and rotational
direction
Calculating Distance

• Consider a quadrature encoder mounted on the motor shaft.

The gearmotor has a 48:1 gear ratio. The differential drive
robot has 50mm OD wheels. The encoder provides 100
counts per rotation.
• You measure 10000 pulses on channel A (from both wheels),
how far has the robot moved?

• 10000 pulses
= 100 revolutions of motor shaft
= 100/48 revolutions of the gearbox output / wheel.
Wheel circumference = D = 157.1mm

Distance = 100/48 x 157.1mm

= 327 mm.
Calculating Velocity

• Option 1:
– Count pulses in a fixed duration (also for stepper motor)

• Option 2:
– 1 / duration between pulses.

• Option 3:
– Measure Back EMF (DC only)
– https://www.precisionmicrodrives.com/content/ab-021-
measuring-rpm-from-back-emf/
Sizing Motors
DC Example
Demystifying Datasheets
 Example gear motor datasheet (detail)
Physical Specification
Parameter Specification Condition
Max body diameter or
Body Diameter 10 mm max face dimension
where non-circular Momentary stall
Excl. shafts, leads and Max. Stall Current 320 mA condition current at rated
Body Length 24.1 mm
terminals voltage
Unit Weight 7.5 g At rated voltage and at
No. of Output Shafts 1 Max. Rated Load Current 100 mA
rated load
Shaft Diameter 2.5 mm Typical Performance Characteristics
Shaft Orientation Inline Parameter Specification Condition
Measured from motor Typical Rated Load Power
Shaft Length 10 mm 410 mW At rated voltage and load
body face Consumption
Construction Specification Typical N/L Current 25 mA At rated voltage
Parameter Specification Condition Typical Peak Efficiency 33 %
Gear Ratio 100.0 :1 Typical Peak Eff. Torque 10.6 mN·m
Gearhead Type Spur Typical Peak Eff. Speed 135 rpm
No. of Poles 3 Typical Peak Eff. Current 78 mA
Operational Specification Power out at rated
Parameter Specification Condition Typical Peak Eff. Power
150 mW voltage at the peak
Rated Operating Voltage 6 V Out
efficiency torque point
Maximum continuous Typical Max. Output
Rated Load 8 mN·m 205 mW
torque Power
At rated voltage under Typical Terminal
Rated Load Speed 144 rpm 20 Ohm
fixed torque at rated load Resistance
Measured at rated Typical Terminal
N/L Speed 170 rpm 3,020 uH
voltage Inductance
At rated voltage. Environmental Characteristics
Max. N/L Current 40 mA
Measured at no load Parameter Specification Condition
Certified starting voltage. Max. Operating Temp. 60 Deg.C
Max. Start Voltage 1V Measured at no load, Min. Operating Temp. -10 Deg.C
where applicable Max. Storage &
Max. Operating Voltage 9V 80 Deg.C
Transportation Temp.
Min. Storage &
-30 Deg.C
Transportation Temp.
Example gear motor datasheet (detail)
Motor Sizing Example
v
• Differential drive robot’s task: climb ramp of r
inclination
   at constant velocity v = 10 mm/s
Ft = w sin 
• How much torque must each wheel motor w
deliver? (Current, power needed?) 
• What else do you need to know?
– Weight w = ~0.3N;
– Wheel radius r = 50mm.
• Ft = w sin  (tangential component)
• Equate power terms: Ft v = 2 T
• Since v=r
• Then Ft  r = 2 T 
• So that T = Ft r /2
= w sin  r / 2
= (0.3N)(0.5)(0.05m) / 2
= 3.75mNm required torque
• Current (from datasheet) = 40mA; Power = I V = 0.04A * 6V = ~0.24 W
Motor Drivers
And Traps for Young Players
DC Motor speed control - PWM

• Apply motor voltage as square

wave at fixed frequency (from
60Hz to 50KHz)
• Control motor speed/power
by changing the duty cycle
(or pulse width) of voltage
signal
– At 0% duty cycle, motor is off
– At 100%, full power
– At 50%, half power etc.
• Effectively produces a
time- averaged voltage
signal.
• This applies an average
power to the motor.
• This controls speed in a DC motor.
• Controls phase current in a stepper motor
• Can also be used to control ‘brightness’ in lights.
WARNING! Caveats Apply! (1)
 DC Motor Direction Control

• This circuit is called an H-bridge.

– Direction of motor is determined by corner-paired
switch that determines direction of potential and
thus current flow
– In the past I have used a STK681-332-E
which can provide 8A
WARNING! Caveats Apply! (2)
H-Bridge Circuit States
• Open
– No voltage applied across motor M

• Forward
– Vin applied
left to right across M

• Reverse
– Vin applied right to left across M

• Can be combined with PWM

WARNING! Caveats Apply! (3)
Special Motor Drivers
• Stepper Drivers
– Custom H-Bridges (Not advised)
– Constant current drivers (TB6600)
– Micro-stepping drivers for increased resolution and torque (A4988) (common)
– Trinamic stepper drivers (ultra low noise and distortion) (expensive)

• Brushless DC Drivers
– Electronic speed controllers (ESC)
– Matched to specific motor classes
– Self contained circuitry
– Take extreme care if rolling your own, they are complicated!

• Premade purpose built drivers will usually be better for you than
custom ones.
Caveats Explained
• Caveat 1 – Inductive Spikes
– PWM for motors involves switching inductive loads
– Freewheel diodes must be used to protect circuitry
– Applies to H-bridges too!

• Caveat 2 – Heating in datasheets

– H-Bridge drivers / MOSFET / Transistor data sheet
current specifications assumes infinite coolant!
– Heatsinks must be applied.
– Current capability decreases with temperature.

• Caveat 3 – Ton Toff conflicts

– With H-Bridge or Push/Pull Networks, switches on the
same side cannot be ‘ON’ simultaneously (shorts out
power rails)
– Switches are non ideal, and take time to turn on/off
– Control signals should be delayed to allow one set to
turn off before turning the other on.
– Explosions occur if not considered!
 Case Study
Differential Drive Inspection Robot
Case Study Differential Drive
Inspection Robot

5x5 mm grid
Case Study Differential Drive
Inspection Robot
Case Study Differential Drive
Inspection Robot
Case Study Differential Drive
Inspection Robot
What You Should Have Learnt!
• Motor Types
– AC, DC, Stepper, Servo
– Basic Theory
– Control Requirements
– Applications
• Measuring Motor position and velocity
• Sizing
– Worked example to choose a motor
– Demystifying datasheets
– Gears
• Motor Drivers
– Electronic design tips
– Caveats and how to avoid them
• Application case study

Questions?