Stepping Motor

Theory, Operation and Applications

What is a Stepping (Stepper) Motor
A stepper motor is an electromechanical device
which converts electrical pulses into discrete
mechanical movements.
The direction of rotation depends on the sequence
of the applied pulses, and the speed of rotation
depends on the frequency of the input pulses.
 Types of Stepper Motor

There are three basic types of Stepper

Motors:

•Variable Reluctance
•Permanent Magnet
•Hybrid
Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor

It consists of a
salient pole rotor
and a wound
stator. The rotation
occurs when one
stator phase is
energized, causing
the rotor teeth to
be attracted to
energized stator
poles.
 Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

It has, as the name implies, a permanent magnet

added to the motor structure (the rotor). In this case
the rotation is caused by the magnetization of the
rotor with alternating north and south poles situated
in parallel to the rotor shaft.
 Truth table

Full Step Half Step

A B θ A B θ
+ 0 0
+ 0 0
+ + 45
0 + 90
0 + 90
- + 135
- 0 180 - 0 180
- - 225
0 - 270
0 - 270
+ - 315
+ 0 360
+ 0 360
 Hybrid Stepper Motor

The Hybrid stepper

motor is a combination
of the two previous
types, VR and PM,
hence it combines the
best features of both
types (small step
angles, and higher
torque).
 Principal of Operation

The top electromagnet

(1) is energized,
attracting the topmost
four teeth of a sprocket.
 Principal of Operation

The top electromagnet

(1) is turned off, and the
right electromagnet (2)
is energized, pulling the
nearest four teeth to the
right. This results in a
rotation of 3.6°.
 Principal of Operation

The bottom electromagnet

(3) is energized; another
3.6° rotation occurs.
 Principal of Operation
The left electromagnet (4) is
enabled, rotating again by
3.6°.
When the top electromagnet
(1) is again energized, the
teeth in the sprocket will
have rotated by one tooth
position; since there are 25
teeth, it will take 100 steps
to make a full rotation.
 Mathematical Equations

 
360 ns  nr
stepangle(  ) 
mn
 360 * Re solution  360
r n *n
s r 
*f
Shaft _ Speed 
360
f is the pulse rate (pps)
ns is the number of stator’s teeth.
nr is the number of rotor’s teeth.
m is the number of phases.
 Stepping Modes

•Full Step Mode:

In full step operation, the motor steps through the normal step
angle. There are two kinds of full-step modes:

•Single phase, full-step mode: where the motor is operated with

only one phase energized at a time.

•Dual phase, full-step mode: where the motor is operated with

two phases energized at a time. Dual phase full-step, provides
about 30% to 40% more torque than single phase full-step, but
does require twice the power from the driver power supply.
 Stepping Modes
•Half-Step Mode:
Half-step mode is alternating single and dual phase operation
resulting in steps one half the full-step size. A motor with 200 full
steps per revolution can do 400 steps per revolution with half
stepping.

•Micro-Step Mode:
In the micro-step mode, a motor's natural step angle can be
divided into much smaller angles. For example, a standard 1.8
degree motor has 200 steps per revolution. If micro-stepping is
set at 10 then each micro step would move the rotor 0.18 degrees
and there would be 2,000 steps per revolution.
 Advantages of Stepper Motors
•Can be driven open loop.
•Non-cumulative positional error with known limits.
•Responds to digital input signals.
•Mechanically simpler; requires little or no maintenance.
•High reliability.
•Can be repeatedly stalled without damage.
•Relatively rugged and durable.
•Inherently more failsafe than servo motors.
•The motor has full torque at standstill (if the windings are
energized).
•Excellent response to starting/stopping/reversing.
•A wide range of rotational speeds can be realized as the speed is
proportional to the frequency of the input pulses.
 Disadvantages of Stepper Motors
•Low efficiency, with an ordinary control system
•As friction loads increase, the undetected position error
increases (with open loop)
•Rough performance at low speeds unless a micro-step
drive is used
•Limited power output and size availability
•Limited ability to move large inertia loads
•Resonances can occur if not properly controlled.
•Not easy to operate at extremely high speeds.