Stepper Motor
Stepper motor is a brushless, synchronous electric motor that converts digital pulses into mechanical shaft rotation. Its normal shaft motion consists of discrete angular movements of essentially uniform magnitude when driven from sequentially switched DC power supply.
Stepper motor is a digital input-output device. It is particularly well suited to the type of application where control signals appear as digital pulses rather than analog voltages. One digital pulse to a stepper motor drive or translator causes the motor to increment one precise angle of motion. As the digital pulses increase in frequency, the step movement changes into continuous rotation.
Some industrial and scientific applications of stepper motors include robotics, machine tools, pick and place machines, automated wire cutting and wire bonding machines, and even precise fluid control devices.
How does a stepper motor work?
Every revolution of the Nema34 stepper motor is divided into a discrete number of steps, in many cases 200 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.
Since each pulse causes the motor to rotate a precise angle, typically 1.8°, 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.
Stepper 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.
What are the three types of stepper motor?
- Active rotor: permanent magnet step motor (PM)
- Reactive rotor: variable reluctance stepper motor (VR)
- Combination of VR and PM: Hybrid stepper motor (HY)
What are the advantages of stepper motor?
- Life of The Stepper Motor
If we examine the construction of the stepper motor, we will see that there is no friction in the moving parts except this bearing, so this is the reason the Nema34 stepper motor survives for a long time. But again, motor use matters. The life of any motor depends on how we use the motor. More rigorous use of the motor can affect the life of the motor.
- Holding Torque Of The Stepper Motor
Holding Torque of any motor is a really important parameter. It should be as high as possible.
Holding Torque is the motor's ability to maintain its original position after energizing the motor windings, even when a large amount of force is applied to the shaft of the motor.
It is also known as the stand stall torque of the motor. On top of this, the stepper motor has another capability that keeps the rotor in the same position when no current flows through the winding and this is called the Detent Torque of the motor.
- Maintenance Cost Of The Stepper Motor
Unike other motors, this type of motor will not increase your expenses on maintenance costs and the reason for this is that the stepper motor is a brushless type of motor. Unlike other motors, in this motors, you do not need to change the brush repeatedly. And so we can say that the this type of motor has a low maintenance cost.
- Repeatabiity Of The Stepper Motor
This is one of the best features of the stepper motor. The stepper motor has the abiity to return to its original position after completing a full detour. This feature of this type of motors makes them more accurate and most useful motors in applications where precise speed is the priority.
- Excelent Low Speed Torque
Stepper motors produce high torque at ow speed. This makes it more suitable for applications where high torque is required with high precision
- Cost And Compexity Of The Stepper Motor
If you are ooking for a motor that controls the object more accurately then this is the best option for you. As we discussed, the stepper motor operates on an open-loop system, which means, unlike other motors, the stepper motor does not require an encoder and this makes the stepper motor less complex and inexpensive than other motors.
Does the Nema34 stepper motor need a stepper motor driver?
The choice of a stepper motor depends on the application's torque and speed requirements. Use the motor's torque-speed curve (found in each drive's specifications) to select a motor that will do the job.Every stepper motor controller in the Omegamation line shows the torque-speed curves for that drive's recommended motors. If your torque and speed requirements can be met by multiple stepper motors, choose a controller based upon the needs of your motion system- step/direction, stand-alone programmable, analog inputs, microstepping- then choose one of the recommended motors for that controller.
The recommended motor list is based on extensive testing by the manufacturer to ensure optimal performance of the stepper motor and controller combination.
Where do we use stepper motor?
The current market demand for hybrid stepping motors is still very large. They are widely used in various automation equipment such as engraving machines, laser machines, CNC machine tools, textile and garment machinery, medical equipment, measuring equipment, electronic processing equipment, packaging machinery and equipment. On the instrument. Hybrid stepping motor is a stepping motor designed by combining the advantages of permanent magnet and reactive. It is divided into two-phase, three-phase and five-phase. The two-phase step angle is generally 1.8 degrees, the three-phase step angle is generally 1.2 degrees, and the five-phase step angle is generally 0.72 degrees.
The rotor of the hybrid stepping motor is magnetic, so the torque generated under the same stator current is greater than that of the reactive stepping motor, and its step angle is usually smaller. Therefore, economical CNC machine tools generally need to use a hybrid Type stepping motor drive. However, the structure of the hybrid rotor is more complex, the rotor inertia is large, and its speed is lower than that of the reactive stepping motor.