STEPPER MOTORS

Name Designation Department : Mrs.A.Sangari & Mrs.P.T.Subasini : Sr. Lecturer & Lecturer : Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Subject code : 131307 Year : II ECE A & B Unit : IV

Stepper Motor Basics

stator
S

rotor
N

Stator: made out of coils of

Electromagnet wire called winding

Current switch in winding ==>Magnetic force ==>hold the rotor in a position

printers computer drives

Rotor: magnet rotates on

bearings inside the stator

Direct control of rotor position (no sensing needed) Low resolution

May oscillate around a desired orientation (resonance at low speeds)

Increased Resolution
S
torque

angle

Half stepping

Increased Resolution
S

More teeth on rotor or stator

Half stepping

Increased Resolution
S

More teeth on rotor or stator

Half stepping

How to Control?
4 Lead Wire Configuration Step Table Step Red Blue Yellow White 0 + + 1 + + 2 + + 3 + + 4 + + Clockwise Facing Mounting End Each step, like the second hand of a clock => tick, tick Increase the frequency of the steps => continuous motion
Red

A+

4 lead motor
ABlue

Yellow B+

White B-

Motoring along...
direct control of position

precise positioning (The amount of rotational movement per step depends on the construction of the motor)

Easy to Control

under-damping leads to oscillation at low speeds torque is lower at high speeds than the primary alternative

DC motors -- exposed !

Position Sensors
Optical Encoders
Relative position Absolute position

Other Sensors
Resolver Potentiometer

Optical Encoders
Relative position
light sensor
decode circuitry
- direction

- resolution

light emitter

grating

Optical Encoders
Relative position
light sensor
decode circuitry
mask/diffuser

light emitter grating

A diffuser tends to smooth these signals

Ideal

Real

Optical Encoders
Relative position
light sensor
decode circuitry
- direction

- resolution

light emitter grating

Optical Encoders
Relative position
light sensor
decode circuitry
- direction

- resolution

light emitter grating

A
A lags B

B B

Optical Encoders
Relative position
light sensor
decode circuitry
- direction

- resolution

light emitter grating

Phase lag between A and B is 90 degree

A

A leads B

Optical Encoders
Detecting absolute position

wires ?

Other Sensors
Resolver = driving a stepper motor

Potentiometer = varying resistance

Control
Control: getting motors to do what you want them to

What you want to control

For DC motors:

what you can control

voltage
windings resistance

speed

R w
S

N S

back emf

is a voltage generated by the rotor windings cutting the magnetic field

emf: electromagnetic force

Controlling speed with voltage

The back emf depends only on the motor speed. The motors torque depends only on the current, I.

e = ke w

t = kt I

R V e

DC motor model

Controlling speed with voltage

The back emf depends only on the motor speed. The motors torque depends only on the current, I.

e = ke w

t = kt I
V = IR + e
How is V related to w ?

Istall = V/R
current when motor is stalled speed = 0 torque = max

Consider this circuits V:

R V e

tR V= + ke w kt
- or -

V w=- R t+ ke kt ke DC motor model

Speed is proportional to voltage.

speed vs. torque at a fixed voltage

speed w

V ke

no torque at max speed

max torque when stalled

torque t

ktV R

speed vs. torque at a fixed voltage

speed w

Linear mechanical power Pm = F v

V ke

no torque at max speed

Rotational version of Pm = t w

torque t

ktV R

stall torque

speed vs. torque at a fixed voltage

speed w

Linear mechanical power Pm = F v

V ke
max speed

Rotational version of Pm = t w

power output

speed vs. torque

torque t

ktV R

stall torque

speed vs. torque

speed w

V ke
max speed power output

gasoline engine

speed vs. torque

torque t

ktV R

stall torque

Back to control
Basic input / output relationship:
We can control the voltage applied V.

tR V= + ke w kt

We want a particular motor speed w .

How to change the voltage?

V is usually controlled via PWM -- pulse width modulation

PWM
PWM -- pulse width modulation

Duty cycle:
The ratio of the On time and the Off time in one cycle Determines the fractional amount of full power delivered to the motor