Stepper Motors and Back EMF

Pete Millett
Staff Technical Marketing Engineer
June 2022
Pete Millett – Staff Technical Marketing Engineer

2014–Present
• MPS Staff Technical Marketing Engineer for motor driver
ICs
• Responsible for new product definitions as well as
application engineering

2005–2013
• Systems Engineer and Systems Manager at Texas
Instruments
• Product definition and systems engineering for motor driver
ICs (DRV8XXX)

1982–2005
• Board-level hardware design engineer at various computer
and consumer electronics companies
Stepper Motor Back EMF

What is back EMF?

Back EMF in a stepper motor
Using back EMF for diagnostics
Summary / Q&A
What is Back EMF?
Brushed
DC Motor

Brushless
DC Motor

Stepper
Motor
Image by Florida State University, micro.magnet.fsu.edu
Stepper Motor Construction

Images from www.allaboutcircuits.com

Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor Hybrid Stepper Motor

Back EMF in the Stepper Motor
Driving a Stepper Motor

Winding current can be modulated

so it approaches sine and cosine
waveforms.
Effect of BEMF on Winding Current

Series Inductance
LS

Power Source
Series Resistance
VSRC
RS V = L*dI/dt

Back EMF
VBEMF
Effect of BEMF on Winding Current Low Voltage

Rotor Speed

Yellow: Voltage Green: Current

Effect of BEMF on Winding Current High Step Rate

Yellow: Voltage Green: Current

Effect of BEMF on Winding Current Rotor Stalled

Yellow: Voltage Green: Current

Constant Current Drive

Yellow: Voltage Green: Current

Effect of Supply Voltage on Constant Current High Voltage
Effect of Supply Voltage on Constant Current Low Voltage
Constant Current & BEMF

100% Duty Cycle

Yellow: Voltage Green: Current

Constant Current & BEMF

100% Duty Cycle

Yellow: Voltage Green: Current

Using Back EMF Information

Back EMF vs. Speed

50

45

40
Winding Voltage (V RMS)

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Electrical Speed (Hz)
Measuring the Back EMF
Back EMF Measurements vs. Rotor Speed

400 PPS 600 PPS 800 PPS

How to Measure BEMF?
VIN

VIN
MP6602 VCP
VIN

Gate
VCC Drive
Reg
VCC Internal
Supplies VG
GND & Ref.

AOUT1
Gate
nFAULT
Driver AOUT2
nRESET
STEP PGND
DIR
ENBL
Curr. ISENSE
SLEEP Reg.
µC
nSCS
BEMF
SCLK SPI A/D
SDATI I/F VIN
SDATO
Control
BOUT1
Logic

Motor
OSC Gate
BOUT2
Driver

PGND
UVLO
OVP
OTS Curr. ISENSE
OTW Reg.

BEMF
A/D
Stall Detection

3.6V
0V

Rotating Stalled
Back EMF = 3.6V Back EMF = 0
MP6602 Stall Detection
STD0
STD1
STD2
STD3
STH0
STH1
STP0 STH2
STP1 STH3
STP2 STH4 Auto hold
STP3 STH5
STP4 STH6 ENBL
STP5 STH7
TSTP STALL

nZCS (Zero CLR

Current Step) =0
Decode
S ADC
H done
B B
Avg A 4 A
A=B STALL
AOUT1 S&H ADC A<B U/D D
16
AOUT2
8 Stall
counter
5V Ref
BOUT1
BOUT2 BE0
BES0
BES1 BE1 If BEMF > STH7:0, stall counter is decremented
To H- BE2 If BEMF < STH7:0, stall counter is incremented
BES2 BE3
bridges Stall is detected when stall counter = STC register
CTRL2 BE4
BE5 Count cleared when disabled or auto hold active
BE6
BE7
If BEMFSEL = 1, BE7:BE0 is real time ADC output
BEG0
BEG1 If BEMFSEL = 0, BE7:BE0 is average of 16
BEG2 samples
BEMFSEL
BEMF
Low Step Rates
Load Torque Estimation

Unloaded Loaded

Magenta: Voltage Yellow: Current

Load Torque Estimation via BEMF Measurement

No Torque Moderate Torque Near Stall

Load Torque vs. BEMF

300
200
180
250
160
Back EMF Measurement

Back EMF Measurement

200 140
AVG 120 AVG
150 MIN 100 MIN
MAX 80 MAX
100
60

50 40
20
0 0
0 2 4 Torque 6 8 10 0 0.5 1 1.5Torque 2 2.5 3 3.5
Summary

• Stepper motors have back EMF, like any permanent magnet

motor
• Back EMF effects the winding current, and the ability to step the
motor at high speed
• Back EMF measurement can be used to provide stall detection,
and in some cases provide diagnostic information
Q&A

Please submit questions through the “Q&A” menu option in

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