Types of Stepper Motors

 There are few types of stepper motors:

 Unipolar motor
 Bipolar motor
 Variable Reluctance motor
 Permanent Magnet motor
 Hybrid motor
 Unipolar Motor

 Two windings per phase, one for each direction

of current.
 A magnetic unipolar stepper motor requires only
one power source.
 It has logically pole that can be reversed without
switching the direction of current.
 The commutation circuit can be made very
simple for each winding using a single transistor.
 There are three leads per phase and six leads
for a typical two phase motor.
Unipolar Motor (Cont..)

Fig-1: Unipolar Motor

 Bipolar Motor

 Bipolar motors require two power sources.

 They have logically a single winding per phase.
 The current in a winding needs to be reversed in
order to reverse a magnetic pole, so the driving
circuit must be more complicated.
 There are two leads per phase.
 Because windings are better utilized, they are
more powerful than a unipolar motor of the
same weight.
Bipolar Motor (Cont..)

Fig-2: Bipolar Motor

 Variable Reluctance Motor

 Variable Reluctance (VR) motors have a soft

iron multiple rotor and a wound stator.
 They generally operate with step angles from
5 degrees to 15 degrees at relatively high step
rates, and have no detent torque.
 Variable Reluctance Motor (Cont..)

 When phase A is energized, four rotor

teeth line up with the four stator teeth
of phase A by magnetic attraction.
 In the next step A is turned off and
phase B is energized, rotating the
rotor clockwise 15 degrees.
 Continuing the sequence, C is turned on next
and then A again.
 Counter clockwise rotation is achieved when the
phase order is reversed.
 Permanent Magnet Motor

 Permanent magnet motors has permanent

magnet rotors with no teeth, and are
magnetized perpendicular to the axis.
 In energizing the four phases in
sequence, the rotor rotates as it is
attracted to the magnetic poles.
 Permanent Magnet Motor (Cont..)

 The motor take 90 degree steps as the windings

are energized in sequence ABCD.
 PM's generally have step angles of 45 or 90
degrees and step at relatively low rates, but
they exhibit high torque and good damping
characteristics.
 Hybrid Motor

 Combining the qualities of the VR and the PM,

the hybrid motor has some of the desirable
features of each.
 They have high detent torque
and excellent holding and
dynamic torque, and they
can operate at high stepping
speeds.
 Normally, they exhibit step angle
of 0.9 to 5 degrees.
 Hybrid Motor (Cont..)

 Bi-filar windings are generally supplied, so that a

single-source power supply can be used .
 If the phases are energized one at a time, in the
order indicated, the rotor would rotate in
increments of 1.8 degrees.
 This motor can also be driven two phases at a
time to yield more torque, or alternately one
then two then one phase, to produce half steps
or 0.9 degree increments.
 Motor Stepping

 There are three commonly used excitation

stepping modes:

 Full-step

 Half-step

 Micro-step
 Full-Step

 This is the usual method for driving the motor.

Both phases are always on.
 Each stepping covers 90 degree
of rotation.
 In single phase full-step excitation
the motor is operated with only one
energized phase at-a-time.
 This mode should only be used
where torque and speed performance are not
important.
Full-Step (Cont..)
 Full-Step (Cont..)

 In dual phase full-step excitation the motor is

operated with two energized phase’s at-a-time.
 This mode provides good torque and speed
performance with a minimum of resonance
problems.
Full-Step (Cont..)
 Half-Step

 Half-step excitation is alternate single and dual

phase operation resulting in steps one half the
normal step size.
 Each step completes 45 degree of rotation.
 Motors can be operated over a wide range of
speeds.
Half-Step (Cont..)
Half-Step (Cont..)
 Micro-Step

 In the micro-step mode, a motor's natural step

angle can be divided into much smaller angles.
 Typically, micro-step modes range from divide-by-
10 to divide-by-256.
 This mode is only used where smoother motion or
more resolution is required.
 Step Angle Calculation

 The number of degrees a rotor will turn per step

is called step angle.
 It is denoted by s.
 It is calculated by
Step angle, s =360°/S
where S=m*Nr
m=number of phases
Nr=number of rotor teeth
 Step Angle Calculation (Cont..)

 For this motor,

m=3
Nr=4
so S=3*4=12
Step angle,
s =360°/12
=30° per
Fig-6: Cross Section of Stepper Motor
step
Working Procedure of Unipolar Motor

Fig-7:Single Phase
 Working Procedure of Unipolar Motor
(Cont..)

 Four voltage sources are connected using wire

to the stators of motors through transistors.
 Current goes to the stators through coil.
 As a result a magnetic field is created at the at
the charging pole.
 For magnetism the charging pole attract the
permanent magnet of the motor.
 Working Procedure of Unipolar Motor
(Cont..)

 Though there are four voltages sources with

stepper motor there can be 8 input combination.
 In the previous figure input combination
highlighted is 0001 i.e. inputs comes through
first wire.
 Corresponding pole becomes charged and
attracts the magnetic pole to it.
 The right sided picture shows the position of the
magnet.
Working Procedure of Unipolar Motor
(Cont..)

Fig-8: Dual Phase

 Working Procedure of Unipolar Motor
(Cont..)

 In the previous figure input combination

highlighted is 1010 i.e. inputs comes through
second & fourth wires.
 Corresponding poles become charged and
attract the magnetic pole to them.
 Though both charging poles attract the magnet,
the magnet positions in the middle of them
which is shown in the right sided figure.
Working Procedure of Unipolar Motor
(Cont..)

Fig-9: Working procedure of Unipolar Motor.

 Interfacing with Computer

Fig-10:Interfacing a unipolar stepper motor with computer using

parallel port
 Interfacing with Computer (Cont..)

 ULN2003:
 The ULN2003 is a monolithic high voltage and
high current Darlington transistor arrays.
 It consists of seven NPN Darlington pairs that
features high-voltage outputs with common-
cathode clamp diode for switching inductive
loads.
 The collector-current rating of a single
Darlington pair is 500mA.
 High-voltage outputs: 50V
 Interfacing with Computer (Cont..)
 ULN2003:
 The ULN2003 has a 2.7kW series base resistor for
each Darlington pair for operation directly with TTL
or 5V CMOS devices.
 Interfacing with Computer (Cont..)

 25 –pin parallel port:

Fig: Pin Configuration of 25-pin parallel port

 Variants of Stepper Motor

 Small Stepper Motor - PM20S

 Small Compact Size.
 Good Torque Characteristics.
 Step Angle: 18°.

 Ideal for small projects and robots.

 Dimensions: 20mm Wide, 14mm High .
 Variants of Stepper Motor (Cont..)

 Small Stepper Motor - PM25S

 Good output characteristics .

 Step Angle: 7.5°.

 Ideal for small projects and robots.

 Dimensions: 25mm Wide, 12.5mm High.

 Variants of Stepper Motor (Cont..)

 Small Stepper Motor - MP24GA

 High Torque .
 Superior running quietness and stability .

 Step angle: 7.5°, 4 Phase, 12Vdc, Unipolar .

 Dimensions: 24mm Wide, 20mm High .

 Used in car mirror controls and automated door
windows .
 Variants of Stepper Motor (Cont..)

 Medium Stepper Motor - PM35S

 High Output Torque .

 Step angle: 7.5°, 4 Phase, 24Vdc, Unipolar .

 Dimensions: 35mm Wide, 15.5mm High .

 Easy to drive with accurate step control .
 Used in printers, scanners and small toys .
 Variants of Stepper Motor (Cont..)

 Large Stepper Motor - M55SP-1

 High Output Torque.
 Heavy duty for large applications.
 Dimensions: 55mm diameter, 23mm high.

 Step Angle 7.5°, 48 Steps, 24Vdc, Unipolar type.

 Ideal for use in cutting machines and large robots.

 Advantages of Stepper Motor

 A high accuracy of motion is possible, even

under open-loop control.
 Large savings in controller costs are possible
when the open-loop mode is used.
 Because of the incremental nature of command
and motion, stepper motors are easily adaptable
to digital control applications.
 No serious stability problems exist, even under
open-loop control.
 Low power requirement.
 Disadvantages of Stepper Motor

 They have low torque capacity compared to DC

motors.
 They have limited speed (limited by torque
capacity and by pulse-missing problems due to
faulty switching systems and drive circuits).
 They have high vibration levels due to stepwise
motion.
 Large errors and oscillations can result when a
pulse is missed under open-loop control.
 Applications of Stepper Motor

 Factory Automation:
 X-Y plotters, laser processors, electric discharge
processors, NC machines, sewing machines, etc.

 Semiconductor fabrication equipment:

 Wafer processing devices, wafer conveyors, IC
bonders, dicing machines, IC inspection devices,
etc.

 Automation and labor-saving devices:

 ATMs, ticket machines, postal sorters, laboratory
systems, bill counters, vending machines, etc.
 Applications of Stepper Motor (Cont..)

 Medical equipment:
 Analytical instruments, blood pumps, centrifuges,
spectrographs, etc.

 Office automation:
 Copiers, faxes, word processors, printers, optical
and magnetic disk devices, etc.