INTRODUCTION

A stepper motor is a brushless, synchronous electric motor that converts

digital pulses into mechanical shaft rotation. Unlike a brushless DC
motor which rotates continuously when a fixed DC voltage is applied to
it, a step motor rotates in discrete step angles and the motor must be
sent a separate pulse for each step. The stepper motor can only take one
step at a time and each step is the same size. Since each pulse causes the
motor to rotate a precise angle, typically 1.8, the motor's position can be
controlled with or without any feedback mechanism. The Stepper
Motors therefore are manufactured with steps per revolution of 12, 24,
72, 144, 180, and 200, resulting in stepping angles of 30, 15, 5, 2.5, 2, and
1.8 degrees per step. As the digital pulses increase in frequency, the step
movement changes into continuous rotation, with the speed of rotation
directly proportional to the frequency of the pulses. Step motors are
used every day in both industrial and commercial applications because
of their low cost, high reliability, high torque at low speeds and a simple,
rugged construction that operates in almost any environment.

WHEN TO USE A STEPPER MOTOR

A stepper motor can be a good choice whenever controlled movement is
required. They can be used to advantage in applications where you need
to control rotation angle, speed, position and synchronism. Because of
the inherent advantages listed previously, stepper motors have found
their place in many different applications. Some of these include
printers, plotters,highend office equipment, hard disk drives, medical
equipment, fax machines, automotive and many more.

STEPPER MOTOR CHARACTERISTICS

1. Stepper motors are constant power devices.
2. As motor speed increases, torque decreases. Most motors exhibit
maximum torque when stationary, however the torque of a motor when
stationary (holding torque) defines the ability of the motor to maintain a
desired position while under external load.
3. The torque curve may be extended by using current limiting drivers
and increasing the driving voltage (sometimes referred to as a 'chopper'
circuit; there are several off the shelf driver chips capable of doing this in
a simple manner).
4. Steppers exhibit more vibration than other motor types, as the
discrete step tends to snap the rotor from one position to another (called
a detent). The vibration makes stepper motors noisier than DC motors.
5. This vibration can become very bad at some speeds and can cause
the motor to lose torque or lose direction. This is because the rotor is
being held in a magnetic field which behaves like a spring. On each step
the rotor overshoots and bounces back and forth, "ringing" at its
resonant frequency. If the stepping frequency matches the resonant
frequency then the ringing increases and the motor comes out of
synchronism, resulting in positional error or a change in direction. At
worst there is a total loss of control and holding torque so the motor is
easily overcome by the load and spins almost freely.
6. The effect can be mitigated by accelerating quickly through the
problem speeds range, physically damping (frictional damping) the
system, or using a micro-stepping driver.
7. Motors with a greater number of phases also exhibit smoother
operation than those with fewer phases (this can also be achieved
through the use of a micro-stepping driver).

OPEN LOOP COMMUNICATION

One of the most significant advantages of a stepper motor is its ability
to be accurately controlled in an open loop system. Open loop control
means no feedback information about position is needed. This type of
control eliminates the need for expensive sensing and feedback devices
such as optical encoders. Your position is known simply by keeping
track of the input step pulses. Stepper motor systems must thus
generally be over engineered, especially if the load inertia is high, or
there is widely varying load, so that there is no possibility that the motor
will lose steps. This has often caused the system designer to consider the
trade-offs between a closely sized but expensive servomechanism
system and an oversized but relatively cheap stepper.

HOW A STEPPER MOTOR WORKS ???

Stepper motors work on the principle of electromagnetism. There is a
soft iron or magnetic rotor shaft surrounded by the electromagnetic
stators. The rotor and stator have poles which may be teethed or not
depending upon the type of stepper. When the stators are energized the
rotor moves to align itself along with the stator (in case of a permanent
magnet type stepper) or moves to have a minimum gap with the stator
(in case of a variable reluctance stepper). This way the stators are
energized in a sequence to rotate the stepper motor.

TYPES OF STEPPER MOTOR

By construction the step motors come into three broad classes :
1.

Permanent Magnet Stepper

2.

Variable Reluctance Stepper

3.

Hybrid Step Motor.

1.

PERMANENT MAGNET STEPPER MOTOR

The rotor and stator poles of a permanent magnet stepper are not
teethed. Instead the rotor have alternative north and south poles parallel
to the axis of the rotor shaft. When a stator is energized, it develops
electromagnetic poles. The magnetic rotor aligns along the magnetic
field of the stator. The other stator is then energized in the sequence so
that the rotor moves and aligns itself to the new magnetic field. This way
energizing the stators in a fixed sequence rotates the stepper motor by
fixed angles. The resolution of a permanent magnet stepper can be
increased by increasing number of poles in the rotor or increasing the
number of phases.

2.

VARIABLE RELUCTANCE STEPPER MOTOR :

The variable reluctance stepper has a toothed non-magnetic soft iron

rotor. When the stator coil is energized the rotor moves to have a
minimum gap between the stator and its teeth.The teeth of the rotor are
designed so that when they are aligned with one stator they get
misaligned with the next stator. Now when the next stator is energized,
the rotor moves to align its teeth with the next stator. This way
energizing stators in a fixed sequence completes the rotation of the step
motor. The resolution of a variable reluctance stepper can be increased
by increasing the number of teeth in the rotor and by increasing the
number of phases.

3.

HYBRID STEPPER MOTOR :

The hybrid stepper motor is more expensive than the PM stepper motor
but provides better performance with respect to step resolution, torque
and speed. Typical step angles for the HB stepper motor range from 3.6
to 0.9(100 400 steps per revolution). The magnetic rotor has two cups.
One for north poles and second for the south poles. The rotor cups are
designed so that that the north and south poles arrange in alternative
manner. The Hybrid motor rotates on same principle of energizing the
stator coils in a sequence. The hybrid stepper motor combines the best
features of both the PM and VR type stepper motors. The rotor is multitoothed like the VR motor and contains an axially magnetized concentric
magnet around its shaft. The teeth on the rotor provide an even better
path which helps guide the magnetic flux to preferred locations in the
airgap. This further increases the detent, holding and dynamic torque
characteristics of the motor when compared with both the VR and PM.

ROTATING MAGNETIC FIELD

When a phase winding of a stepper motor is energized with current a
magnetic flux is developed in the stator. The direction of this flux is
determined by the Right Hand Rule which states: If the coil is
grasped in the right hand with the fingers pointing in the direction of
the current in the winding (the thumb is extended at a 90 angle to the
fingers), then the thumb will point in the direction of the magnetic

field. Figure below shows the magnetic flux path developed when
phase B is energized with winding current in the direction shown. The
rotor then aligns itself so that the flux opposition is minimized. In this
case the motor would rotate clockwise so that its south pole aligns with
the north pole of the stator B at position 2 and its north pole aligns with
the south pole of stator B at position 6. To get the motor to rotate we can
now see that we must provide a sequence of energizing the stator
windings in such a fashion that provides a rotating magnetic flux field
which the rotor follows due to magnetic attraction.

STEPPING MODES
There are FOUR stepping modes of a stepper motor. The stepping
mode refers to the pattern of sequence in which stator coils are
energized.
1.

Wave drive (One phase ON at a time)

2.

Full drive (Two phase ON at a time)

3.

Half drive (One and two phase ON at a time)

4.

Microstepping (Continuously varying motor currents)

TORQUE GENERATION
The torque produced by a stepper motor depends on several factors.
The step rate
The drive current in the windings
The drive design or type
In a stepper motor a torque is developed when the magnetic fluxes of
the rotor and stator are displaced from each other. The stator is made up
of a high permeability magnetic material. The presence of this high
permeability material causes the magnetic flux to be confined for the
most part to the paths defined by the stator structure in the same fashion
that currents are confined to the conductors of an electronic circuit. This
serves to concentrate the flux at the stator poles. The torque output
produced by the motor is proportional to the intensity of the magnetic
flux generated when the winding is energized.
The basic relationship which defines the intensity of the magnetic flux is
defined by:

H = (N i) L , where N = The number of winding turns

i = current
H = Magnetic field intensity
L = Magnetic flux path length
This relationship shows that the magnetic flux intensity and
consequently the torque is proportional to the number of winding turns
and the current and inversely proportional to the length of the magnetic
flux path. From this basic relationship one can see that the same frame

size stepper motor could have very different torque output capabilities
simply by changing the winding parameters.

TORQUE V/S SPEED CHARACTERISTICS

The torque vs speed characteristics are the key to selecting the right
motor and drive method for a specific application. These characteristics
are dependent upon (change with) the motor, excitation mode and type
of driver or drive method. A typical speed torque curve is shown in
figure. To get a better understanding of this curve it is useful to define
the different aspect of this curve.
i)

Holding torque :- The maximum torque produced by the motor

at standstill.

ii)

Pull-In Curve :- The pull-in curve defines a area refered to as

the start stop region. This is the maximum frequency at which
the motor can start/stop instantaneously, with a load applied,
without loss of synchronism.

iii)

Maximum Start Rate :- The maximum starting step frequency

with no load applied.

iv)

Pull-Out Curve :- The pull-out curve defines an area refered to

as the slew region. It defines the maximum frequency at which
the motor can operate without losing synchronism. Since this
region is outside the pull-in area the motor must ramped
(accelerated or decelerated) into this region.

v)

Maximum Slew Rate :- The maximum operating frequency of

the motor with no load applied.

The pull-in characteristics vary also depending on the load. The larger
the load inertia the smaller the pull-in area. We can see from the shape
of thecurve that the step rate affects the torque output capability of
stepper motor The decreasing torque output as the speed increases is
caused by the fact that at high speeds the inductance of the motor is the
dominant circuit element. The shape of the speed torque curve can
change quite dramatically depending on the type of driver used.

STEPPER MOTOR ADVANTAGES

1. The rotation angle of the motor is proportional to the input pulse.
2. The motor has full torque at standstill (if the windings are energized).
3. Precise positioning and repeatability of movement since good stepper
motors have an accuracy of 3 5% of a step and this error is non
cumulative from one step to the next.
4. Excellent response to starting/stopping/reversing.
5.Very reliable since there are no contact brushes in the motor. Therefore
the life of the motor is simply dependant on the life of the bearing.
6. The motors response to digital input pulses provides open-loop
control, making the motor simpler and less costly to control.
7. It is possible to achieve very low speed synchronous rotation with a
load that is directly coupled to the shaft.
8. A wide range of rotational speeds can be realized as the speed is
proportional to the frequency of the input pulses.

STEPPER MOTOR DISADVANTAGES

1. Resonances can occur if not properly controlled.
2. Not easy to operate at extremely high speeds.

APPLICATIONS
Computer-controlled stepper motors are one of the most versatile forms
of positioning systems. They are typically digitally controlled as part of
an open loop system, and are simpler and more rugged than closed loop
servo systems.
Industrial applications include high speed pick and place equipment
and multi-axis CNC machines, often directly driving lead screws or
ballscrews. In the field of lasers and optics they are frequently used in
precision positioning equipment such as linear actuators, linear stages,
rotation stages, goniometers, and mirror mounts. Other uses are in
packaging machinery, and positioning of valve pilot stages for fluid
control systems.
Commercially, stepper motors are used in floppy disk drives, flatbed
scanners, computer printers, plotters, slot machines, image scanners,
compact disk drives and many more devices.

CONCLUSION
The choice of a step motor depends on the application's torque and
speed requirements. One reason why the stepper motor has achieved
such popularity as a positioning device is its accuracy and repeatability.