Application Note March 2009

Stepper motor speed control

By: Wong Jih Kian HK2006-5159

Abstract

This application note is for novices who want a general guide showing how to control a stepper
motor speed. There is a great deal of information available about how these motors work and how
to use them to control the speed. Also, this application note is focus on stepper motors speed that
can be driven by microcontrollers with basic circuit added. This document includes basic
information needed to get started quickly that is simple and easy to implement.

Keyword: Stepper motor, microcontroller, speed control.

Introduction

A stepper motor is a brushless, synchronous electric motor that converts digital pulses into
mechanical shaft rotation from electrical current driven into the motor. Current pulses are
applied to the motor, and this generates discrete rotation of the motor shaft. Every
revolution of the stepper motor is divided into a discrete number of steps 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 which each pulse causes the motor to rotate a precise angle typically 1.8°,
and the motor's position can be controlled without any feedback mechanism. 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.

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 Speed control circuit diagram

This is a basic circuit diagram that controls the stepper motor speed with voltage
regulator 7805 and potential meter shown in figure 1. When vary the potential meter will
produce the analogue signal from 0.1V until 5V into microcontroller. In the
microcontroller, ADC converter will convert the analogue input to digital output in order
to decide the steeper motor speed. Figure 2 showing the output of the speed control
circuit when varied the potential meter.

Figure 1: Speed control circuit for stepper motor

Figure 2: Oscilloscope show the output of speed control

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 Connection between speed control circuit with microcontroller

The speed control circuit connected to PIN 2 of PIC16F877A that the analogue signal 0-
5V sends into microcontroller in order to convert to digital signal. The eight LED
connected from the PIN 33 to PIN 40 of PIC which will indicate the digital signal
changing from 00000000 to 11111111 when the potential meter was varied. The stepper
motor will connected to the PIN 19, PIN 20 and PIN 6 of PIC. Further more, stepper
motor MO-STEP-17PM-K508 work with stepper driver SD02A.

Figure 3: Connection between speed control circuit with microcontroller

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 Microcontroller Assemble code for Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC)

According an example below of a program that performs of ADC can be used to drive a
stepper motor. Simply cycling through the states sequentially and placing the state values
on port pins will cause a stepper motor to move. This is written in C.

SETUP_ADC
MOVLW B'10000000' ;FOSC/32
;CHANNEL 0
;ADC NOT ACTIVE
;ADC OFF
MOVWF ADCON0
CALL BANK1
MOVLW B'01000100' ;LEFT JUSTIFIED
;RA0, RA1, RA3 AS ADC
MOVWF ADCON1
CALL BANK0
RETURN
READ_ADC1
CALL BANK0
MOVLW B'10000001' ;CONFIGURE TO AN0
MOVWF ADCON0
MOVLW D'50'
MOVWF X1
DECFSZ X1
GOTO $-1 ;DELAY A WHILE
BSF ADCON0,2 ;START CONVERSION
BTFSC ADCON0,2 ;WAIT UNTIL ADC COMPLETED
GOTO $-1
MOVF ADRESH,W ;MOVE ADC VALUE TO WORKING REGISTER
BCF ADCON0,ADON ;OFF ADC MODULE
RETURN
READ_ADC2
CALL BANK0
MOVLW B'10001001' ;CONFIGURE TO AN1
MOVWF ADCON0
MOVLW D'50'
MOVWF X1
DECFSZ X1
GOTO $-1 ;DELAY A WHILE
BSF ADCON0,2 ;START CONVERSION
BTFSC ADCON0,2 ;WAIT UNTIL ADC COMPLETED
GOTO $-1
MOVF ADRESH,W ;MOVE ADC VALUE TO WORKING REGISTER
BCF ADCON0,ADON ;OFF ADC MODULE
RETURN
READ_ADC3
CALL BANK0
MOVLW B'10011001' ;CONFIGURE TO AN3
MOVWF ADCON0
MOVLW D'50'
MOVWF X1
DECFSZ X1
GOTO $-1 ;DELAY A WHILE
BSF ADCON0,2 ;START CONVERSION
BTFSC ADCON0,2 ;WAIT UNTIL ADC COMPLETED
GOTO $-1
MOVF ADRESH,W ;MOVE ADC VALUE TO WORKING REGISTER
BCF ADCON0,ADON ;OFF ADC MODULE
RETURN

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 Conclusion

Stepper motors speed control can be attributed in part to the various ways the motor can
be driven because of its compatibility with digital systems. Figure 4 below shows an
example block diagram of a system with stepper motors speed control, microcontroller,
stepper motor, and feedback. The feedback is not always needed but can still be provided
for precision assistance compare with DC motors because they have a harder time
making precision movements. Hence, it requires a circuit that can compensate for the risk
of drifting or overshooting a target position. Steppers can be found in printers, disk
drives, toys, cars, and other applications or products. It worked well in factories and
assembly environments applications such as robotic arms and precision assembly
controls.

Figure 4: Example System with Speed control, Microcontroller, Stepper Motor and
Feedback

References

1. Microchip, PIC16F87XA Data Sheet, 28/40/44-Pin Enhanced Flash

Microcontrollers

2. Matthew Grant, 16-Bit Automotive Applications, Microcontroller Division,

Freescale Semiconductor Application Note, Quick Start for Beginners to Drive a
Stepper Motor, AN2974 Rev. 1, 06/2005.

3. Clive L. Dym, Patrick Little, Engineering Design, Second Edition, John Wiley &
Sons Inc

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