Dr.

Adel Gastli

Electromechanical Systems & Actuators

STEPPER MOTORS

ROTATING IN STEPS

Dr. Adel Gastli

Stepper Motors

CONTENTS
Introduction Components Types of Stepper Motors
Variable Reluctance Permanent Magnet Hybrid Linear

Applications

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Stepper Motors

INTRODUCTION
Stepper motors are highly accurate pulse-driven motors that change their angular position in steps, in response to input pulses from digitally controlled systems. The stepper motor makes a step for each applied pulse. The size of the step (step angle) depends on the type and design of the stepper motor. The input pulses to the stepper motor must be in a proper sequence with acceptable frequency and must provide the phase windings with sufficient current. Typical applications of stepper motors requiring incremental motion are printers, disk drives, robotics, X-Y plotters.
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COMPONENTS

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Stepper Motors

TYPES OF STEPPER MOTORS

Variable Reluctance Variable Reluctance VR VR Permanent Permanent Magnet Magnet Hybrid Hybrid

Single stack Single stack SSVR SSVR

Multi-stack Multi-stack MSVR MSVR

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Stepper Motors

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE MOTORS

Principle of Alignment Pieces of highly permeable materials such as iron, situated in an ambient medium of low permeability such as air in which magnetic field is established, experience mechanical forces that tend to align them in such a way to minimize the reluctance of the system
Ferromagnetic pieces
F

F
Magnetic flux lines

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Stepper Motors

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stack Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

Construction: A basic circuit configuration of a fourphase, 2-pole, single-stake, variable reluctance stepper motor is shown in the figure. When the winding on a certain phase is excited (energized) the rotor will rotate, seeking alignment with the excited phase winding, such that maximizing the inductance of that phase. This position is the stable equilibrium position of rotor where the net torque is zero.
Dr. Adel Gastli Stepper Motors

SA SB SC SD

4-phase, 2 pole SSVR

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stake Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

Modes of operation: This figure shows the mode of operation for a 45 step in clockwise direction. The winding are energized in the sequence A, A+B, B, B+C, and so forth and the sequence is repeated.
Ia Ia A B C R
45o

A
B

Ia

D C

D C

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Stepper Motors

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stack Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

Reversing rotations direction: The direction of rotation can be reversed by reversing the sequence of switching the windings, that is, A, A+D,D, D+C, etc. Multi-pole rotor construction is required in order to obtain smaller step sizes.
Ia A

D C

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Stepper Motors

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VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stack Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

3-phase, 4-pole VR Motor

A A B C 0 C B Y X A
Phases 1, 2 and 3 are energized in sequence making the rotor rotating in steps of 30o.
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X Y

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stack Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

Cycle 1 A 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 Phase B 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 C 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 Position o 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360

A B Y C X A A B C
12

X Y

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Stepper Motors

Unipolar

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Stepper Motors

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VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stack Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

This figure shows a single stack variable reluctance stepper motor with the following design parameters:
Number of phases; m=3 Number of stator poles; Ns=12 Number of stator poles / phase; X=Ns/m (i.e the windings on 4 stator poles are connected in series to form one phase). - X must be even number - X =12/3=4 Number of rotor poles; Nr =16
SSVR motor with 16 rotor poles

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Stepper Motors

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VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Single-Stack Variable Reluctance (SSVR)

Step angle calculation Stator pole pitch;

S =

360 360 = = 30 12 NS

Rotor pole pitch; r =

360 360 = = 22.5 Nr 16

Step angle; S = S r = 30 22.5 = 7.5 or S = Relation between m , N S , N r :

S = S r 360 360 360 = mN r N S N r

360 360 = = 7.5 m N r 3 16

N r = N S (1
Dr. Adel Gastli Stepper Motors

1 ) = NS X m
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VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Multi-Stack Variable Reluctance (MSVR)

Construction: Multi-stack variable-reluctance motors are widely used to give smaller step sizes. The motor is divided along its axial length into magnetically isolated sections stacks, and each of these sections can be excited by a separate winding. The figure shows a three stack arrangements.
Dr. Adel Gastli Stepper Motors

3-stack VR stepper motor

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VARIABLE RELUCTANCE (Contd) Multi-Stack Variable Reluctance (MSVR)

Principle of Operation: The stator of each stack consists of Npoles and each pole has a number of teeth x and carries a phase winding. The teeth on the different stator stacks are misaligned. The rotor stacks have number of teeth equals to stator teeth number but they are aligned.

Tooth pitch =

360 Tooth pitch 360 360 , Step size = = = , No of steps / rev. = = x.N x N x.N
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PERMANENT MAGNET STEPPER MOTOR (PMSM)

Construction: The permanent magnet stepper motor has a stator construction similar to that of the single-stack variable-reluctance type, but the rotor is made of a permanent magnet material. The figure shows a 2-pole permanent stepper motor. The rotor poles align with two stator pole according to the winding excitation.
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2-Pole PMSM

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PMSM (Contd): Full Step Motor

This animation demonstrates the principle for a stepper motor using full step commutation. The rotor of a permanent magnet stepper motor consists of permanent magnets and the stator has two pairs of windings. Just as the rotor aligns with one of the stator poles, the second phase is energized. The two phases alternate on and off and also reverse polarity. There are four steps.
Stepper Motors Dr. Adel Gastli http://www.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/train_ref_material/MOTORSTEPTUT.html 19

PMSM (Contd): Full Step Motor

One phase lags the other phase by one step. This is equivalent to one forth of an electrical cycle or 90. This stepper motor is very simplified. The rotor of a real stepper motor usually has many poles. The animation has only ten poles, however a real stepper motor might have a hundred.
Stepper Motors Dr. Adel Gastli http://www.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/train_ref_material/MOTORSTEPTUT.html 20

PMSM (Contd) Full Step Motor

These are formed using a single magnet mounted inline with the rotor axis and two pole pieces with many teeth. The teeth are staggered to produce many poles. The stator poles of a real stepper motor also has many teeth. The teeth are arranged so that the two phases are still 90 out of phase.

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http://www.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/train_ref_material/MOTORSTEPTUT.html

Stepper Motors

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PMSM (Contd): Half Step Motor

This animation shows the stepping pattern for a half-step stepper motor. The commutation sequence for a half-step stepper motor has eight steps instead of four. The main difference is that the second phase is turned on before the first phase is turned off.

Dr. Adel Gastli

http://www.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/train_ref_material/MOTORSTEPTUT.html

Stepper Motors

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PMSM (Contd): Half Step Motor

Both phases can be energized at the same time so the rotor is held in between the two full-step positions.
Interleaving the two sequences will cause the motor to half-step

A half-step motor has twice the resolution of a full step motor. It is very popular for this reason.
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PMSM (Contd): Control Circuit

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Stepper Motors

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Clockwise rotation

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Stepper Motors

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Anticlockwise Rotation

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PMSM (Contd): Bipolar

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PMSM (Contd): More Steps

On the left, there are 8 magnets, but only 4 circuits. Sequencing through the four circuits gives half of a rotation. One more run through the sequence completes the rotation. This setup requires that both ends of the compass needle be north-seeking. On the right, the same 4 circuits energize 16 magnets. This setup requires 16 steps (4 repetitions of a 4-step cycle) to complete one rotation. In actual practice, just four control wires can provide just about as many steps as you might want. One of the characteristics of a given stepper motor is the number of steps necessary to make a complete circle, usually expressed as number of degrees per step.
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PMSM (Contd): Direction Control

Since computers are great at turning things on and off, let's look at the four electromagnet circuits as a computer might see them.
A B C D Comment

1 0 0 0 take a step clockwise 0 1 0 0 another step clockwise 0 0 1 0 another step clockwise 0 0 0 1 another step clockwise 0 0 0 1 Wait right here! 0 0 1 0 Take a step back.

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Stepper Motors

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PMSM (Contd): One More Example

PMSMs have the following properties: Permanent Magnet Stepper Motors (PMSMs) are restricted to step sizes (the range 30 to 90 degrees). PMSMs have higher inertia and therefore slower acceleration than Variable-Reluctance Stepper Motors. PMSM produces more torque per ampere stator current than VariableReluctance Stepper Motors. This figure shows 4-phase (8-stator poles) PMSM in which step angle = 45
4-phase PMSM
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HYBRID STEPPER MOTOR

A hybrid stepper motor in which the rotor has an axial permanent magnet at the middle and ferromagnetic teeth at the outer section is shown in the figure. A hybrid stepper motor combines the characteristics of both PMSM and VR Stepper Motors. Hybrid motors have a small step length (typically 1.8).

Hybrid stepper motor

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Stepper Motors

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HYBRID STEPPER MOTOR (Contd)

Torque producing capability for a given motor volume is greater in the hybrid than in the variable reluctance motor, so the hybrid is a natural choice for applications requiring a small step length and high torque, but hybrid stepper motor is more expensive than the variablereluctance-type stepper motor.

Hybrid stepper motor

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Stepper Motors

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Linear Stepper Motor

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Stepper Motors

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APPLICATIONS
Computer Peripherals
Application Floppy Disc Printer Printer Printer Printer Printer Tape Reader Plotter Plotter
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Use position magnetic pickup carriage drive rotate character wheel paper feed ribbon wind/rewind position matrix print head index tape X-Y-Z positioning paper feed

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Stepper Motor Applications (Contd)

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Stepper Motors

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APPLICATIONS (Contd)
Business Machines
Application Card Reader Copy Machine Banking Systems Banking Systems Typewriters (automatic) Typewriters (automatic) Copy Machine Card Sorter Use position cards paper feed credit card positioning paper feed head positioning paper feed lens positioning route card flow

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Stepper Motors

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APPLICATIONS (Contd)
Process Control
Application Carburetor Adjusting Valve Control Conveyor In-Process Gaging Assembly Lines Silicon Processing I. C. Bonding Laser Trimming Liquid Gasket Dispensing Mail Handling Systems
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Use air-fuel mixture adjust fluid gas metering main drive parts positioning parts positioning I. C. wafer slicing chip positioning X-Y positioning valve cover positioning feeding and positioning letter
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APPLICATIONS (Contd)
Machine Tool
Application Milling Machines Drilling Machines Grinding Machines Grinding Machines Electron Beam Welder Laser Cutting Lathes Sewing Use X-Y-Z table positioning X-Y table positioning downfeed grinding wheel automatic wheel dressing X-Y-Z positioning X-Y-Z positioning X-Y positioning X-Y table positioning

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APPLICATIONS (Contd)
STEPPING MOTOR/GEARHEAD ROBOTICS ASSEMBLY

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APPLICATIONS (Contd)

CNC Machines
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APPLICATIONS (Contd)

CNC Machines

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Stepper Motors

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APPLICATIONS (Contd)

This motor is very much like the other stepper motors mentioned above, except that it is 2D and very small
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