Stepper Motor
Overview
A stepper motor (or step motor) is a brushless, electric motor that can divide a full rotation into a large number of steps. The motor's position can be controlled precisely without any feedback mechanism (see Open-loop controller), as long as the motor is carefully sized to the application.
How They Work
Gecko Drives Tutorial
Good start.
Voltage
Running steppers at higher voltage produces more torque. 20x rated voltage is ok. [1]
Gecko Drives Tutorial
Good start.
Voltage
Running steppers at higher voltage produces more torque. 20x rated voltage is ok. [2]
Lifetime
The typical lifetime for a stepper motor is 10,000 operating hours. This approximates to 4.8 years; given the stepper motor operates one eight-hour shift per day. The lifetime of a stepper motor may vary in regards to user application and how rigorous the stepper motor is run.[3]
See Also
- Open Source Stepper Motor
- Stepper Motor Controller
- Rotary Encoder
- Open Source Stepper Motor Controller
- Open Source Stepper Motor Controller Problem Statement
- Torch Table Bill of Materials
- Motor
- Wikipedia: Stepper Motor
- [4]
- Stepper Overview Youtube Video
Torque Tests
Test 1
This test used Nema17 stepper motors driven by A4988 driver boards http://reprap.org/wiki/Stepper_torque
Summary: All motors perform well at speeds < 100 revs/min. Dynamical torque starts to drop off at speeds higher than 300 rev/min. The higher the rated current and the lower the inductance, the better the performance at high speeds.
inside a stepper motor
- http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=6748.0
- http://www.robotgear.com.au/Cache/Files/ProductImageOriginals/676_The%20inside%20of%20a%20bipolar%20stepper%20motor.jpg
- http://www.bg-cnc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/631.jpg
- http://www.designworldonline.com/articles/5409/267/New-Stepper-Motors-Beat-Corrosion-Without-Seals.aspx
- https://www.cdli.ca/courses/isys1205/unit02_org05_ilo07/b_activity.html
- http://electronics-control.info/Stepper_types.htm
- http://electronic-schematic.blogspot.com/2011/04/circuit-for-driving-stepper-motors.html
- http://www.cibomahto.com/2008/02/thing-a-day-day-20-dissecting-stepper-motors/
Types of Stepper Motors
- 17PM-K402 - Hybrid 2 and 4 phase - 6 volts rated - [5] - RAMPS wouldn't run it.
- 12 V rated - [6] - RAMPS wouldn't run it