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D'
command pulses are applied to it in the high speeds.
1
proper sequence. The motors rotation has
6
several direct relationships to these applied
2
Open Loop Operation
C
input pulses. The sequence of the applied
C'
5
pulses is directly related to the direction of One of the most significant advantages
3
motor shafts rotation. The speed of the
4
of a stepper motor is its ability to be
motor shafts rotation is directly related to accurately controlled in an open loop
B'
the frequency of the input pulses and the system. Open loop control means no
length of rotation is directly related to the feedback information about position is A'
control, making the motor simpler are attracted to the energized stator N N
1
has some advantages such as very low in many different applications. Some
inertia and a optimized magnetic flow of these include printers, plotters,
path with no coupling between the highend office equipment, hard disk
two stator windings. These qualities drives, medical equipment, fax
N S N S
N
are essential in some applications. machines, automotive and many more.
N S
2
torque output produced by the motor increase the number of steps per
is proportional to the intensity of the revolution of the motor, or in other
magnetic flux generated when the words to provide a smaller basic (full 8 1
7
winding is energized. step) stepping angle. The permanent S
The basic relationship which 2
magnet stepper motor contains an Phase A S 6 N Rotor N
defines the intensity of the magnetic equal number of rotor and stator pole
flux is defined by: 3
pairs. Typically the PM motor has 12 5 4
3
Torque
The excitation sequences for the The displacement angle is deter-
Unstable
above drive modes are summarized in mined by the following relationship:
TH Region Table 1.
In Microstepping Drive the X = (Z 2) sin(Ta Th) where:
Ta
currents in the windings are
Angle O continuously varying to be able to Z = rotor tooth pitch
A Oa B C
break up one full step into many Ta = Load torque
Stable Unstable Stable smaller discrete steps. More
Point Point Point information on microstepping can be Th = Motors rated holding torque
found in the microstepping chapter. X = Displacement angle.
Figure 7. Torque vs. rotor angular
position. Therefore if you have a problem
Torque vs, Angle with the step angle error of the loaded
Characteristics motor at rest you can improve this by
Torque The torque vs angle characteristics of changing the stiffness of the motor.
a stepper motor are the relationship This is done by increasing the holding
TH2 torque of the motor. We can see this
between the displacement of the rotor
and the torque which applied to the effect shown in the figure 5.
TH1 rotor shaft when the stepper motor is Increasing the holding torque for a
TLoad energized at its rated voltage. An ideal constant load causes a shift in the lag
stepper motor has a sinusoidal torque angle from Q2 to Q1.
vs displacement characteristic as
shown in figure 8.
Angle O Positions A and C represent stable Step Angle Accuracy
O1 O2
Figure 8. Torque vs. rotor angle position at equilibrium points when no external One reason why the stepper motor has
different holding torque. force or load is applied to the rotor achieved such popularity as a position-
shaft. When you apply an external ing device is its accuracy and repeat-
force Ta to the motor shaft you in ability. Typically stepper motors will
In Full Step Drive you are ener- essence create an angular have a step angle accuracy of 3 5%
gizing two phases at any given time. displacement, a. This angular of one step. This error is also non-
The stator is energized according to displacement, a, is referred to as a cumulative from step to step. The
the sequence AB A B A B lead or lag angle depending on wether accuracy of the stepper motor is
AB and the rotor steps from position the motor is actively accelerating or mainly a function of the mechanical
1 3 5 7 . Full step mode decelerating. When the rotor stops precision of its parts and assembly.
results in the same angular movement with an applied load it will come to Figure 9 shows a typical plot of the
as 1 phase on drive but the mechanical rest at the position defined by this positional accuracy of a stepper motor.
position is offset by one half of a full displacement angle. The motor
step. The torque output of the develops a torque, Ta, in opposition to Step Position Error
unipolar wound motor is lower than the applied external force in order to The maximum positive or negative
the bipolar motor (for motors with the balance the load. As the load is position error caused when the motor
same winding parameters) since the increased the displacement angle also has rotated one step from the previous
unipolar motor uses only 50% of the increases until it reaches the holding position.
available winding while the bipolar maximum holding torque, Th, of the Step position error = measured step
motor uses the entire winding. motor. Once Th is exceeded the motor angle - theoretical angle
Half Step Drive combines both enters an unstable region. In this
wave and full step (1&2 phases on) region a torque is the opposite Positional Error
drive modes. Every second step only direction is created and the rotor The motor is stepped N times from an
one phase is energized and during the jumps over the unstable point to the initial position (N = 360/step angle)
other steps one phase on each stator. next stable point. and the angle from the initial position
The stator is energized according to
the sequence AB B A B A
A B B AB A and the
rotor steps from position 1 2 3 Table 1. Excitation sequences for different drive modes
4 5 6 7 8. This results
in angular movements that are half of Normal
those in 1- or 2-phases-on drive Wave Drive full step Half-step drive
modes. Half stepping can reduce a Phase 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
phenomena referred to as resonance A
which can be experienced in 1- or 2- B
phases-on drive modes. A
B
4
is measured at each step position. If Torque vs, Speed Positional
the angle from the initial position to Characteristics Angle Accuracy
the N-step position is N and the The torque vs speed characteristics are
Deviation
error is N where: the key to selecting the right motor
N = N - (step angle) N. and drive method for a specific
application. These characteristics are
The positional error is the difference dependent upon (change with) the
of the maximum and minimum but is motor, excitation mode and type of Theoretical
usually expressed with a sign. That driver or drive method. A typical
Position
is: speed torque curve is shown in
positional error = 12(Max - Min) figure9.
To get a better understanding of Hysteresis
Error
this curve it is useful to define the
Hysteresis Positional Error different aspect of this curve. Figure 9. Positional accuracy of a stepper
The values obtained from the measure-
motor.
ment of positional errors in both Holding torque
directions. The maximum torque produced by
the motor at standstill. Torque
Holding Torque
Mechanical Parameters, Pull-In Curve Pull-out
Load, Friction, Inertia The pull-in curve defines a area refered Torque
The performance of a stepper motor to as the start stop region. This is the Curve
system (driver and motor) is also maximum frequency at which the Pull-in
Torque Slew
highly dependent on the mechanical motor can start/stop instantaneously, curve
parameters of the load. The load is with a load applied, without loss of Region
defined as what the motor drives. It is synchronism. Start-Stop Region
typically frictional, inertial or a Speed
Max Start Rate P.P.S.
combination of the two. Maximum Start Rate Max Slew Rate
Friction is the resistance to motion The maximum starting step frequency
due to the unevenness of surfaces with no load applied. Figure 10. Torque vs. speed characteristics
which rub together. Friction is of a stepper motor.
constant with velocity. A minimum Pull-Out Curve
torque level is required throughout The pull-out curve defines an area
the step in over to overcome this refered to as the slew region. It defines The shape of the speed - torque
friction ( at least equal to the friction). the maximum frequency at which the curve can change quite dramatically
Increasing a frictional load lowers the motor can operate without losing syn- depending on the type of driver used.
top speed, lowers the acceleration and chronism. Since this region is outside The bipolar chopper type drivers
increases the positional error. The the pull-in area the motor must which Ericsson Components produces
converse is true if the frictional load is ramped (accelerated or decelerated) will maximum the speed - torque
lowered into this region. performance from a given motor. Most
Inertia is the resistance to changes motor manufacturers provide these
in speed. A high inertial load requires Maximum Slew Rate speed - torque curves for their motors.
a high inertial starting torque and the The maximum operating frequency of It is important to understand what
same would apply for braking. In- the motor with no load applied. driver type or drive method the motor
creasing an inertial load will increase The pull-in characteristics vary also manufacturer used in developing their
speed stability, increase the amount of depending on the load. The larger the curves as the torque vs. speed charac-
time it takes to reach a desired speed load inertia the smaller the pull-in teristics of an given motor can vary
and decrease the maximum self start area. We can see from the shape of the significantly depending on the drive
pulse rate. The converse is again true curve that the step rate affects the method used.
if the inertia is decreased. torque output capability of stepper
The rotor oscillations of a stepper motor The decreasing torque output as
motor will vary with the amount of the speed increases is caused by the
friction and inertia load. Because of fact that at high speeds the inductance
this relationship unwanted rotor oscil- of the motor is the dominant circuit
lations can be reduced by mechanical element.
damping means however it is more
often simpler to reduce these
unwanted oscillations by electrical
damping methods such as switch from
full step drive to half step drive.
5
Single Step Response and Stepper motors can often exhibit a
phenomena refered to as resonance at Angle
Resonances
The single-step response character- certain step rates. This can be seen as a
istics of a stepper motor is shown in sudden loss or drop in torque at cer-
figure 11. tain speeds which can result in missed
O
When one step pulse is applied to a steps or loss of synchronism. It occurs
stepper motor the rotor behaves in a when the input step pulse rate coin-
manner as defined by the above curve. cides with the natural oscillation
The step time t is the time it takes the frequency of the rotor. Often there is a Time
motor shaft to rotate one step angle resonance area around the 100 200
t T
once the first step pulse is applied. pps region and also one in the high
This step time is highly dependent on step pulse rate region. The resonance Figure 11. Single step response vs. time.
the ratio of torque to inertia (load) as phenomena of a stepper motor comes
well as the type of driver used. from its basic construction and there-
Since the torque is a function of the fore it is not possible to eliminate it
displacement it follows that the accel- completely. It is also dependent upon
eration will also be. Therefore, when the load conditions. It can be reduced
moving in large step increments a by driving the motor in half or micro-
high torque is developed and stepping modes.
consequently a high acceleration. This
can cause overshots and ringing as
shown. The settling time T is the time
it takes these oscillations or ringing to
cease. In certain applications this
phenomena can be undesirable. It is
possible to reduce or eliminate this
behaviour by microstepping the
stepper motor. For more information
on microstepping please consult the
microstepping note.