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MotorFAQRepRapWiki

MotorFAQ
FromRepRapWiki

Contents
1Introduction
1.1SteppermotorsvsServoMotorsvsDCGearMotors
1.1.1DCmotors
1.1.2BLDCmotors
1.1.3DCgearmotors
1.1.4Servomotors
1.1.5Hobbyservomotors
1.1.6StepperMotors
1.2generalmotorinformation
1.3Torque
1.4designtips
1.5friction
1.6Furtherreading

Introduction
Thispagetriestoanswermostofthefrequentlyaskedquestionsrelatedto
thechoiceandoperationofdrivemotorsusedbytheReprap.

SteppermotorsvsServoMotorsvsDCGear
Motors
Electricmotorsallstartwithasimpleconcept.Youapplyanelectriccurrent
toacoil,anditgeneratesamagneticfield.Thatfieldcausestheshaft
attachedtorotate.Thisisallanelectricmotoris.Throughsomeengineering,
variationsonthishavebeencreatedtoallowsomefurthercontrol.
DCmotors
DC(Brushed)motors=easiesttouse,justconnectstraighttobattery,only
twowires.Hardesttocontrol,youneedanexternalfeedbackmechanism
(opticalormagneticencoder,linearencoder,etc)andHbridgemotordriver
togetvariablespeedanddirection.
BLDCmotors
BLDC(BrushlessDC)motors=synchronouselectricmotorspoweredby
directcurrent(DC)electricityandhavingelectroniccommutationsystems.
[1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brushless_DC_electric_motor)Similarto
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steppermotors,theyneedadedicatedelectronicdrivertorunatall.
Neverthelesscommonlyusedinsomeapplications(millingspindles,model
airplanes),becausethey'repowerfulfortheirweight,relativesilentandcan
reachveryhighRPM.
DCgearmotors
ADCgearmotorisaDCmotorwhichhasanextensionbuiltontoitto
"geardown"therotation.Essentially,aseriesofgearstomaketherotation
ofthemotormovemoreslowlyforparticularuses.DCgearmotorsare
normalDCmotorswhichhavebeengeareddowntodecreasetheirspeed
andincreasetheirtorque.TheSolarboticsGMseriesareapopulartype
becauseoftheirlowcost,howevertheplasticgearsmeansthiscomesata
price.Theyincludeatorquelimitingslipclutchtoprotecttheplasticgears.
Ifthisclutchisdisabled,thegearsmaybreak.
MagServoisahighlyexperimentalattempttoreplacethesteppermotors
(andtheirdrivers)inaRepRapwithlowcostDCgearmotors(andtheir
driversandafeedbackmechanism).
TheoriginalDarwindesignusesDCgearmotorsintheextruder.
NopheadreportsthathisDCgearmotorextruderhashigherthroughputthan
otherextruders.SeeNophead'sExtruderTweaks.
"Oneprojectonmylistof"stufftodo"istomakeasmall"addonboard"
thathasthesamefootprintasthewidelyusedPololustepperdriverboard.
Thisboardwouldreceivestep/directionsignalsfromtheArduino,andthen
controladcmotor+encoderaccordingly,asthoughitwereasteppermotor.
Icallita"stepperemulator".Ihaveaworkingcircuitfromanotherproject
I'dliketouse,buttheformfactoriswrong,sotheboardneedstobe
redesigned..."MattMoses(http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?
88,307532,308323#msg308323)
Anothernamefor"stepperemulator"isGearMotorStepper.
Servomotors
Servomotorsincludeaclosedloopfeedbacksystemusuallyinvolvingan
opticalormagneticrotaryencoder.Highertorquethancomparablesteppers.
ThedifferencebetweenaservomotorandaDCgearmotoris2factors:
servomotorsusuallyhavetheirdrivecircuitryincorporatedatleast,but
alwaysincludearotaryencoder.Theyalsohavelightweightrotorswhich
allowthemfastwindup/winddownacceleration.
Hobbyservomotors
HobbyServoMotorsarestandardizedservomotorsintendedforrobotics,
RC,andotherhobbyapplications.HobbyServosfunctionusinginformation
producedbyacomputeroramicrocontrollercalledpulsewidthmodulation
(PWM).BysendingacertainrepeatingsignaltotheServo,itwillmoveto
thatcertainpoint.Intermsofareprap,aservowouldneedtoeitherbe
modifiedorpurchasedasa"fullrotationservo".Inareprap,servosrequire

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closedloopfeedbacksystemandusuallyinvolveanopticalormagnetic
rotaryencoder.Theygenerallywillofferhighertorquethancomparable
steppers.Servomotorsusethreewires,Ground,Power,andPWM.
TheOpenEncoder(http://openservo.com/OpenEncoder)OpenServoproject
isconvertinglowcostanaloghobbyservosintodigitalservosdothese
haveenoughprecisionandtorquetoreplacesteppermotorsinaRepRap?
StepperMotors
Mainpage:
StepperMotor.
Asteppermotorisanother
kindofspecialmotor.This
motorispoweredandsenta
signaltomoveforwardx
numberof"steps".The
currentRepRapprinteruses
acommonNEMA17
steppermotor,which
usuallyhas180stepsinit.
Theseareoperatedinan
"openloop".Steppermotorshave4to8wires,andrequireamore
complicatedwithtwoorfourphases.
Steppermotorsmoveaknownintervalforeachpulseofpower.Thesepulses
ofpowerareprovidedbyastepperdriverandisreferredtoasastep.As
eachstepmovesthemotoraknowndistanceitmakesthemhandydevices
forrepeatablepositioning.
NearlyallRepRapsandRepStrapsusesteppermotorsseeStepperMotorfor
details.

generalmotorinformation
Thepowerofamotorisusuallyproportionaltothephysicalsizeofthe
motor.TheDarwinversionofReprapprimarilyusedNEMA24stepper
motors,whereastheMendelversionisdesignedtouseeitherNEMA14or
NEMA17motors.ThemorecommonlyusedsizeisNEMA17asitiseasier
tofindNEMA17motorswithsufficienttorquecomparedtoNEMA14.

Torque
TheMendelofficiallyrequires0.137Nmtorque(1400gcmor1.215lbin)
fortheX,YandZaxis.Recentdesignsforextruders(ExtruderController)
almostexclusivelyrequiresteppermotorsaswell,butnorequirementsfor
torquehasbeengiveninthosedesigns.
Steppermotorsdonotofferasmuchtorqueorholdingforceascomparable
DCServomotorsorDCGearmotors.Theiradvantageoverthesemotorsis
oneofpositionalcontrol.Whereas:DCmotorsrequireaclosedloop

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feedbackmechanism,aswellassupportcircuitrytodrivethem,astepper
motorhaspositionalcontrolbyit'snatureofrotationviafractional
increments.

designtips
StandardelectricmotorslikeDCmotorshavea(roughly)lineartorquevs.
speedcharacteristics.
Steppermotorsrunningwithacurrentchoppingdriveronahighersupply
voltagethantheirnominalvoltagehaveroughlyconstanttorqueuptosome
speed,thentheyfollowothertypesofelectricmotors.Alowernominal
voltageextendsthisconstanttorquerange,butalsolowersgeneraltorque.
Doublingsupplyvoltagealsodoublestherangeofconstanttorque.Ifthe
constanttorquerangeissufficientwithamoderatesupplyvoltage,raising
supplyvoltagehasnosubstantialeffect.Seealso:Steppertorque.
Manypeoplecharacterizeanelectricmotorbytwonumbersattheextreme
endpointsofthatgraph:itslockedrotortorque(stalltorque),anditsnoload
angularvelocity(speedinRPM).
(Themaximumoutputpowerpointofamotoris(approximately)halfway
betweenthesepointsyoucanmultiplyhalfthelockedrotortorquebyhalf
theangularvelocity.It'spossibletouseabunchofunitconversionstogive
youthemechanicaloutputpowerinWattsorhorsepower,butmostpeople
don'tbothertheysimplyconverttorquetotheirfavoriteunitsandspeedto
theirfavoriteunits,andmeasuremotorpowerasacombinationofthetwo
Nm*RPMorgm*cm*RPSorlb*in*RPMorthelike).
Thepoweryouwantisthetorqueyouwantmultipliedbythespeedyou
want.Afterrulingoutallthemotorsthatareaboveyourbudgetandtheones
thatarebelowyourdesiredpower,occasionallytherearenomotors
remainingsoyouwillhavetocompromisesomewhereeitherpaymore
foramorepowerfulmotor,orrunslowerthanyouoriginallyplanned,or
somehowchangethedesignoftherestofthesystemtoreducethetorque
needed.
Ifyouareluckyenoughthatthetorqueyouneedatthespeedyouwantis
"below"thattorquevs.speedlineofamotor,thenyoucandirectlyconnect
thatmotortoyoursystemnogearsnecessary.
Alas,mostofthetimeallthe"reasonablypriced"motorswithadequate
powerhavefarlesstorquethanyouneedatthatspeed,andfarlessspeed
thanyouwantatthattorque.Fortunately,aslongasthatmotorhasthepower
youneed,youcanusegearstotradeoffspeedandtorquesuchthat,in
operation,theoutputofthegearsgivesyouyourdesiredspeedandtorque.
(Atthatpoint,themotorisrunningclosertoitsmaximumoutputpower
point).
The"geardesign"pagehassometipsonhowtodothat.
Usuallypeopleendupusingamotorwithfarmorepowercapacitythanever
getsturnedintousefulwork,for4reasons:
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Inadditiontothepowerthatgoesintousefulwork,somepoweris
neededtoovercomevariousinescapablelossesgeartrain
inefficiencies,slidingfriction,etc.
Aspurgearistypicallyover95%efficientaherringbonegear
ismoreefficientawormgearisoftenworsethan50%efficient.
peopleusesomeconvenientgearratio,ratherthanthehypothetical
"exact"ratiothatconvertsthespeedatmaximumpower(halftheno
loadspeed)intothedesiredoutputspeed.
Motorsthatarepushedtotheirlimitsmaygethotenoughtosoften
plasticmountingbrackets.
Inthefirstprototype,weusedmotorswithmanytimesouroriginal
roughestimateofthepowerweneeded,becausewehadsomany
uncertainties.Wehaven'tyetfiguredoutexactlytheworstcase
conditionthatusesthemostpower,ormeasuredpreciselytheworst
casemaximumpower.Manypeoplepeopleprefertostickwiththe
"knownworking"motororonewithequivalentspecs.
Whatisagoodruleofthumbtoestimatehowmuchtorqueandpoweranew
RepRapdesignreallyneeds?
DoestheruleofthumbatMassmind:EstimatingStepperMotorSize
(http://techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/estimate.htm)workfor
RepRaps/RepStraps?

friction
Thispagehasbeenflaggedascontainingduplicatematerial.Aneditorhas
suggestedmergingthispageorsectionintolubrication.(Discuss)
MosttheelectricalpowerfedintothemotorsofanyCNCmachineislost
duetofriction.Thereareavarietyoftechniquesusedtoreducefriction:
FTIStrapmentionssiliconoilonthethreadedrods
lotsofrollerbearings
"Peter"usesKaptontapeonthesliders
(http://builders.reprap.org/2010/07/changinggameandusingkapton
tapeas.html)
Development:LegoRepStrapmentionsvaselineonthewormgear
???teflontape???
managingyourfilamentmentionsoilingthefilamenttoreducefriction
insidethehotend
PTFESleeveNozzlementionsusingateflonsleevetoreducefriction
insidethehotend
(Therearesomecaseswherewewanttoincreasefrictioninparticular,
whentwopartstouchandare*not*supposedtoslideagainsteachother,
suchasthenutsandboltsholdingthemachinetogether,lotsoffrictionhelps
keepthemfromunscrewingthemselves).

Furtherreading
Category:DriveTrainsdiscussesvariouswaystoconverttherotary
motionofamotortomoreusefulmotions.
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Inmostdrivetrains,thefirstthingdirectlyattachedtothemotor
shaftofaRepRapisoftenaherringbonegearorthreadedmetal
rod.
ActuatorFabricationhassomenotesonthepossibilityoffabricating
motors(orotheractuators)fromsimplermaterials,abigsteptowards
afullyprintablereprap.
Mostmotorscanalsoberun"inreverse"asgenerators,whichmaybe
usefulinaWindTurbine.
Retrievedfrom"http://reprap.org/mediawiki/index.php?
title=Motor_FAQ&oldid=175012"
Categories: Pagestobemerged Electronics Steppermotors
Servomotors Reference Generalmotioncontrol

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