Stepper Motor and its

Control
Module 1
• This motor called “stepper” due to its behavior, that it moves in
steps. This machine can be classified as a Reluctance Motor or
sometimes as a Permanent Magnet Motor, and one of its types is
the Hybrid Stepper Motor due to the mixing between the usage of
cores of reluctance type and permanent magnet type in the
construction of its rotor.
• Hence, there are three types of this motor: The Variable
Reluctance type, The Permanent Magnet Type, and The Hybrid
Type.
• But as it is well known that both of the PMM and RM can move in
steps when their stator winding composed of salient poles and fed
by DC voltage through electronic switches.
• So, what is new in this type of machines?
The main idea of manufacturing this type of motor, is the load
requirements in the following applications:
1. Printers.
2. Plotters.
3. High-end office equipments.
4. Hard disk drives.
5. Medical equipments.
6. Fax machines.
7. Automotive.
8. Robotics.
9. And many more.

Now you have to think about the common requirements of

these equipments! It is clear that they need a machine able to
furnish the following:

• Ease to control rotation angle, speed, position and

• An open loop control drives.
• Accurate, precise, reliable and repeatability of movement
drives.

The above requirements lead to create the stepper motor.

Hence, this motor is a new technology (but not a new idea)
machine. It has special characteristics to be used in such
applications.

In order to study this machine, its construction and principle

of operation must be studied.
 The Construction of
Stepper
As it mentioned before Motor
that there are three types of this
motor:

Variable Reluctance (VR) Motor:

• It composed of a soft iron
multi-toothed rotor and salient
wound stator.
• When the stator windings are
energized with DC current the
poles become magnetized.
• Rotation occurs when the rotor
teeth are attracted to the
energized stator poles.
Multi-stack
variable-reluctance motor
• MULTISTACK VARIABLE RELUCTANCE STEPPER
MOTOR
• These are used to obtain smaller step sizes,
typically in the range of 2° to 15°
A multistack (or m-stack) variable reluctance stepper motor can be
considered to be made up of ‘m‘identical single stack variable
reluctance motors with their rotors mounted on a single shaft.
The stators and rotors have the same number of poles (or teeth) and
therefore same pole (tooth) pitch.
For an m-stack motor, the stator poles (or teeth) in all m stacks are
aligned, but the rotor poles (teeth) are displaced by 1/m of the pole
pitch angle from one another.
All the stator pole windings in a given stack are exited
simultaneously and, therefore the stator winding of each stack forms
one phase.
Thus the motor has the same number of phases as number of stacks.
Figure .shows the cross section of a three stack (3-phase) motor
parallel to the shaft
In each stack, stator and
rotors have 12 poles
(teeth). For a 12 pole
rotor, thus the value of Nr
= 12
Pole pitch Tp= 360/Nr=30°
The rotor poles (teeth) are
displaced from each other
by 1/3rd of the pole pitch
or 10°.
When the phase winding
A is excited the rotor teeth
of stack A are aligned with
the stator teeth as shown
in the figure below
When phase A is de-energized and phase B is excited the rotor
teeth of stack B are aligned with stator teeth.
The new alignment is made by the rotor movement of 10° in
the anticlockwise direction.
Thus the motor moves one step (equal to ½ pole pitch) due to
change of excitation from stack A to stack B.
The figure below shows the position of the stator and rotor
teeth when the phase B is excited
Next phase B is de-energized and phase C is excited.

The rotor moves by another step 1/3rd of pole pitch in the

anticlockwise direction.
Another change of excitation from stack C to stack A will once more
align the stator and rotor teeth in stack A. however during this
process (A → B → C → A) the rotor has moved one rotor tooth
pitch


• Stepper motor requires sequencers

and driver to operate.
• Sequencer generates sequence for
switching which determines the
direction of rotation and mode of
operation.
• Driver is required to change the flux
direction in the phase windings.
• PERMANENT-MAGNET STEPPER
MOTORS
stator construction similar to that of the single stack
variable reluctance motor.
The rotor consists of permanent magnet poles of high
retentivity steel and is cylindrical in shape.
The concentrating windings on diametrically opposite
poles are connected in series to form a two phase
winding on the stator.
The rotor poles align with the stator teeth depending
on the excitation of the winding.
The figure below shows 4/2
Pole Permanent Magnet
Stepper Motor
• Working

Assume the rotor is in the position shown with the

south end up.
When field coil 1(A) is energized, the south end of the
rotor is attracted to coil 1(A) and moves toward it.
Then field coil 1(A) is de-energized, and coil 2(B) is
energized. The rotor pulls itself into alignment with
coil 2(B).
Thus, the rotor turns in 90° steps for each successive
excitation of the field coils
• Detent torque
• When no power is applied to the windings, a small
magnetic force is developed between the permanent magnet
and the stator.
• This magnetic force is called a residual, or detent torque .

• Holding Torque-
• Amount of torque required to move the rotor one full step with
stator energized.
• An important characteristic of the PM stepper motor is that it can
maintain the holding torque indefinitely when the rotor is stopped.
When the windings are excited in the sequence A - B – A’ – B’ --- the rotor
will be drive-in clockwise direction.
The sequence A+, B+, A–, B–, A+ is followed by the clockwise movement
of the rotor and for the anticlockwise movement, the sequence becomes A+
B–, A–, B+, A+.
The permanent magnet rotor with large number of poles is difficult to
make, therefore, stepper motors of this type are restricted to large step size
in the range of 30 to 90⁰.
PM stepper motors offer many features compared to variable
reluctance type such as
Higher inertia and consequently lower acceleration (deceleration) rates.
Larger step sizes, ranging from 30° to 90° compared to step sizes as low as
1.8° forvariable reluctance stepper motors.
Generate higher torque per ampere of stator currents than variable
reluctance stepper motors
• The motor operates in 3 different modes of
operation
• 1) Single phase ON mode
• 2) 2-phase ON mode
• 3) Micro-stepping mode
• Single phase ON mode

2-phase ON
mode
• TERMINOLOGIES USED IN STEPPER MOTOR
Step angle (θs or β)
It is the angular displacement of rotor of a stepper motor for every pulse of
excitation given to the stator winding of the motor.

Resolution
It is the number of steps per revolution. It is denoted as S or Z.
Z=360/(Θs)

Stepping Rate
The number of steps per second is known as stepping rate or stepping
frequency
Hold Position
It corresponds to the rest position when the stepper motor is excited or
energized
Detent Position
It corresponds to rest position of the motor when it is not excited.
Stepping error: (Actual Step angle – Theoretical Step Angle)/Theoretical
Step angle
 Hybrid Stepper Motor
Construction of permanent magnet motors becomes
very complex below 7.5 degrees step angles.

Smaller step angles can be realized by combining the

variable reluctance motor and the permanent magnet
motor principles.

Such motors are called hybrid motors (HB), which

give much smaller step angles, as small as 0.9 degrees
per step
 Stator
The stator construction is similar to the permanent magnet
motor.
They are often slotted to increase the no.of rotor teeth.

Rotor
Rotor is cylindrical and magnetized like the PM motor with
multiple teeth like a VR
motor.

The teeth on the rotor provide a better path for the flux to
flow through the preferred locations in the air gap.
This increases the detent, holding, and dynamic torque
characteristics of the motor compared to the other two
types of motors.
Hybrid motors have a smaller step angle compared to the
permanent magnet motor, but they are very expensive
• Working
Rotation of a hybrid stepping motor is produced with
the same control method as a permanent magnet
stepping motor, by energizing individual windings in a
positive or negative direction.
When a winding is energized, a north and south pole
are created, depending on the polarity of the current
flowing.
These generated poles attract the permanent poles of
the rotor and the finer metal rotor teeth.
The rotor moves one step to align the offset
magnetized rotor teeth to the corresponding energized
windings.
• Advantages
1) Achieves small step sizes with a simpler
magnetic structure.
2) Compared to VR stepper motor, requires
less excitation to achieve a given torque
3) Develops good detent torque
 Characteristics of Stepper motor
Static Characteristics
The characteristics relating to stationary motors are
called static characteristics
It is divided into two characteristics.
(i)Torque Angle curve (ii) Torque current curve
 T/θ characteristics (Torque Angle curve)
• The stepping motor is first kept stationary at a rest
(equilibrium) position by supplying a current in a
specified mode of excitation, say, single-phase or two
phase excitation.
• If an external torque is applied to the shaft, an angular
displacement will occur.
• The relation between the external torque and the
displacement may be plotted as in Fig.
• Torque current curve
• A typical torque curve for a stepper motor is shown in Fig.

Detent torque (TD): It is the maximum load torque

which the un-energized stepper motor can withstand
slipping. Detent torque is due to magnetism, and is
therefore available only in permanent magnet and hybrid
stepper motor. It is about 5-10 % of holding torque.
• Holding Torque (TH)-
It is the maximum load torque which the
energized stepper motor can withstand without
slipping from equilibrium position.
If the holding torque is exceeded, the motor
suddenly slips from the present equilibrium
position and goes to the static equilibrium position
At displacements larger than θM, the static torque
does not act in a direction towards the original
equilibrium position, but in the opposing direction
towards the next equilibrium position.
• 2)Dynamic characteristics
• The characteristics relating to motors which are in motion (It is in running)
or about to (run) start are called dynamic characteristics

There are two modes of operation

a)Start-Stop mode
Also called as pull in curve or single stepping mode.
In this second pulse is given to the stepper motor only after the rotor
attained a steady or rest position due to first pulse.
The region of start-stop mode of operation depends on the torque
developed and the stepping rate or stepping frequency of stepper motor.
Pull in torque
It is the maximum torque developed by the
stepper motor for a given stepping rate in the
start-stop mode of operation without losing
synchronism.

Pull in range
It is the maximum stepping rate at which the
stepper motor can operate in start-stop mode
developing a specific torque (without losing
synchronism). This range is also known as
response range of stepping rate for the given
torque T
The range is known as slewing range.

Pull in rate (FPI)

It is the maximum stepping rate at which the
stepper motor will start or stop without losing
synchronism against a given load torque T.
• b) Slewing mode
n start –stop mode the stepper motor always operate in synchronism and the
motor can be started and stopped without losing synchronism.
In slewing mode the motor will be in synchronism, but it cannot be started or
stopped without losing synchronism
To operate the motor in slewing mode first the motor is to be started in start stop
mode and then to slewing mode.
Similarly to stop the motor operating in slewing mode, first the motor is to be
brought to the start stop mode and then stop
 Pull out torque
It is the maximum torque developed by the stepper motor for a
given stepping rate in the slewing mode without losing
synchronism

Pull out rate (FPO)

It is the maximum stepping rate at which the stepper motor will
slew, without missing steps, against load torque T.

Synchronism
This term means one to one correspondence between the
number of pulses applied to the stepper motor and the number of
steps through which the motor has actually moved.

Mid frequency resonance

The phenomenon at which the motor torque drops to a low value
at certain input pulse frequencies.
 Windings in Stepper Motors
• Unipolar Winding
• Bipolar Winding
 Bipolar Winding
• It is 2 phase 4 pole stepper Motor
• With the given switching circuit motor can be
operated in One phase ON, two phase ON,
half step mode
Single Phase ON mode
Two Phase ON mode
Half step Mode
 Unipolar Winding

No of switching
devices can be
reduced
 Theory of Torque Prediction:
• (i) Flux linkages
• Fig. shows Magnetic circuit
• The stator consists of magnetic core with two pole arrangement stator
core carries a coil rotor is also made up of ferrous material. The rotor core
is similar to a two salient pole machine. Let the angle between the axis of
stator pole and rotor pole be 0.
• Case I: Angular displacement = 0degree
• The air gap between stator and rotor is very small. Therefore, the
• reluctance of the magnetic path is least.
• Due to minimum reluctance, the inductance is maximum (Lmax)
• Case II: = 45degree
• In figure (b), in this only a portion of rotor poles cover the stator
• poles. Reluctance of the magnetic path is more than case I. Due to
• which the inductance becomes less than Lmax
• Case II: = 90degree
• The air gap between the stator and rotor has maximum values.
• Reluctance has maximum value yielding minimum inductance (Lmin)
• Variation in inductance with respect to the angle between the stator
• and rotor poles is
• Derivation of reluctance torque:
 Open loop control
Any physical system does not automatically
correct the variation in its output is called
Or control system which output quantity has
no effect upon input quantity
The open-loop stepper motor has no feedback signal and
only executes in sequence. On the contrary, the
closed-loop stepper motor feedback signal, according to
the signal, the stepper motor driver takes corresponding
action measures or signal feedback to the PLC, and the
PLC decides the next program processing.
 Open loop control
• DRIVE SYSTEM
• The stepper motor is a digital device that needs binary
(digital) signals for its operation
• Depending on the stator construction two or more phases
have to be sequentially switched using a master clock
pulse input.
• The clock frequency determines the stepping rate, and
hence the speed of the motor.
• The control circuit generating the sequence is called a
translator or logic sequencer.
• The fig shows the block diagram of a typical control
circuit for a stepper motor.
 Dc Supply

Power
Logic Amplifi M
controll
controller er
er
consists of a input controller, logic sequencer, power driver and
essential protective circuits for current and voltage limiting.
This control circuit enables the stepper motor to be run at a desired
speed in either direction.
The power driver is essentially a current amplifier, since the
sequence generator can supply only logic but not any power.

Input Controller
Governs the number of step command pulses and their timings
Provides an output signal which is suitable as the input signal to
sequencer

Logic Sequencer
Logic circuit which controls the excitation of the winding
sequentially responding to step command input Composed of shift
registers , logic gates NAND or NOR etc.
Truth tables for logic sequencer also
given for both the directions
Motor Driver
Output signal of logic sequencer transmitted to input terminals of power drives or
motor drives.
These circuits are needed to ensure fast decay of current through the winding when
it is turned off.
When the switch is turned off a high voltage builds up to Ldi/dt and this voltage
may damage the switch.
Methods of suppressing this spike voltage and protecting the switch are

(a) Diode suppressor

If a diode is put in parallel with the winding in the polarity as shown in fig. a
circulating current will flow after the transistor is turned off, and the current will
decay with time.
In this scheme, no big change in current appears at turn off, and the collector
potential is the supply potential E plus the forward potential of the diode.
This method is very simple but a drawback is that the circulating current lasts for a
considerable length of time and it produces a braking torque
(b)Diode-Resistor suppressor
A resistor is connected in series with the diode as shown
in fig to damp quickly the circulating current. The
voltage VCE applied to the collector at turn-off in this
scheme is
VCE=E+IRS+VD
Where E= supply potential
I= Current before turning off
Rs-resistance of suppressor resistor
VD-forward potential of diode
A high resistance RS is required to achieve a quick
current decay, but this also results in a
higher collector potential VCE, thus a transistor with a
high maximum voltage rating is
necessary
Zener diode suppressor
In this zener diodes are often used to connect in series with the ordinary
diode as shown in fig. Compared with preceding two cases zener diode
which provides negative bias causes the current to decay more quickly after
turn off.
However zeners are signal diodes, rather than power diodes.
Their power dissipation is limited to 5w. Consequently, this suppressor can
be used for very small instrument stepper motors of typical size 8 to 11.
Comparison of effects of
various suppressor schemes
 Drive circuit
There are two main drive circuits for stepper motors, namely;
Uni-polar and Bi-polar drive circuits.

Uni-polar Drive Circuit

Fig. Presents a schematic diagram for a uni-polar drive circuit.
his circuit is suitable for three phase variable reluctance
stepper motors.
Each phase winding of the motor is controlled by a separate
drive circuit with a transistor as its controllable power
switch.
All drive circuits are energized by the same DC source.
The transistor (power switch) of each winding has two
modes of operation as follows:
 On Mode:
When sufficiently high base current flows through the transistor base it turn ON and acts
ideally like a short circuit.
Consequently, the supply voltage will be applied across the phase winding and the external
resistor (Rext) connected in series with the phase winding.
The DC source magnitude is adjusted to produces the rated phase current when the switch is
turned ON.
The phase winding inductance is very large and consequently results in slow rate of building
the phase winding current that might result in unsatisfactory operation of the stepper motor at
high stepping rates. Therefore, the external resistance is connected in series with the phase
winding to reduce the time constant

OFF Mode:
In this mode, the base drive current of the transistor is removed and the switch is turned OFF
and acts as an open circuit.
The phase winding current will continue to flow through the freewheeling path formed by the
freewheeling diode (Df) and the freewheeling resistance (Rf).
During this mode of operation, phase current decays in the OFF mode circuit with a net OFF
Mode circuit time constant
The energy stored in the phase inductance during the ON mode is dissipated in the OFF mode
circuit resistances during the switch turn OFF period
Bi-polar Drive Circuit
Fig. presents a schematic diagram for one phase of
a bi-polar drive circuit.
This circuit is suitable for permanent magnet or
hybrid stepper motors.
Each phase winding of the motor is controlled by a
separate drive circuit with a transistor as its
controllable power switch.
All drive circuits are energized by the same DC
source. Each two transistors (power switches) of
each phase winding are turned ON simultaneously.
Two modes of operation occur as follows
▪ T1 and T2 are in the On Mode:
This is done by injecting sufficiently high base current through their bases
simultaneously.
Each transistor acts ideally like a short circuit.
Consequently, the current will flow as indicated by the solid line in Fig.The
inductor is then energized.
D3 and D4 are in the On Mode:
This mode follows the switching OFF of T1 and T2.
In this mode, the phase winding current cannot change its direction or decay to zero
instantaneously after turning OFF of T1 and T2 because of the phase winding
inductances.
Thus the current continue to flow through of D3 and D4 as indicated by the dotted
line in Fig. The inductor discharges and the energy is returned back to the DC
source.
A reverse flow of current in the phase windings and hence a reverse direction of
rotation of the motor can be achieved by activating T3 and T4.
When T3 and T4 are turned OFF the freewheeling path will provided through D1
and D2.
• The bi-polar circuit is characterized by,
Higher efficiency than the uni-polar drive circuit as part
of the stored energy in the phase winding returns back to
the DC source during the power switches turn OFF
mode.
Fast decaying of the freewheeling current as the inductor
discharge through the phase winding resistance, phase
external resistance and the DC source.
No freewheeling resistance is required.
More power switches (devices) than the uni-polar drive
circuit.
More expensive than the uni-polar drive circuit.
Most of the large stepper motors types (> 1 kW) are
driven by the bi-polar drive
circuit including variable reluctance types
Chopper Drive Circuit
• This drive circuit - illustrated in its unipolar form in Fig- has a
high supply voltage which is applied to the phase winding
whenever the current falls below its rated value.
• If the phase excitation signal is present, the base drive for
transistor T2 is controlled by the voltage Vc dropped across
the small resistance Rc by the winding current.
• At the beginning of the excitation interval the transistor T1 is
switched on and the base drive to T2 is enabled.
• As the phase current is initially zero there is no voltage across
Vc and the transistor T2 is switched on.
• The full supply voltage is therefore applied to the phase
winding
The phase current rises rapidly until it slightly exceeds its rated value (I).
Consequently the control voltage is Rc I+ve and this is sufficient to switch off transistor
T2.
There is now no voltage applied to the phase winding and the current decays around a
path which includes T1, Rc and diode D1.
This current path has a small resistance and no opposing voltage, so the decay of current
is relatively slow.
As the resistance Rc is still included in the circuit the winding current can be monitored
and when the control voltage has fallen to Rc I-ve the transistor T2 is switched on again.
The full supply voltage is applied to the winding and the current is rapidly boosted to
slightly above rated.
This cycle is repeated throughout the excitation time, with the winding current
maintained near its rated value by an 'on-off' closed-loop control.
At the end of the excitation interval both transistors are switched off and the winding
current freewheels via diodes D1 and D2.
The current is now opposed by the supply voltage and is rapidly forced to
zero.
A high proportion of the energy stored in the winding inductance at turn-off
is returned to the supply and therefore the system has a high efficiency.
The chopper drive incorporates more sophisticated control circuitry, e.g. the
T2 base drive requires a Schmitt triggering of the control voltage Vc to
produce the transition levels.
If these levels are not well-separated the transistor T2 switches on and off
at a very high frequency, causing interference with adjacent equipment and
additional iron losses in the motor.
However the chopper drive does have the advantage that the available
supply voltage is fully utilized, enabling operation over the widest possible
speed range, and the power losses in forcing resistors are eliminated, giving
a good system efficiency
 Closed loop control
• Control system in which the output has an
effect upon the input quantity in order to
maintain desired output value
• Closed loop control of stepper motor
Need for closed loop control
The major disadvantage of the open loop scheme is that
in case of a missed pulse, there is no way to detect it
and correct the switching sequence.
A missed pulse may be due to malfunctioning of the
driver circuit or the pulse generator.
This may give rise to erratic behavior of the rotor.
In this sequel the closed loop arrangement has the
advantage over open loop control, since it does not
allow any pulse to be missed and a pulse is send to the
driving circuit after making sure that the motor has
rotated in the proper direction by the earlier pulse sent
• New command for exciting is given only after previous command
is fulfilled
• The second step takes less time and so on…thus step duration
varies as step advances.
• The number of sensors is equal to no of switching devices for
exciting the phase winding independently.
• Depending on the direction of rotation and step required, the
phases are switched on
• A logic translator is used to accomplish this function.
• The signal from translator are obtained from a comparator.
• The comparator compares the number of steps motor required to
move through the actual no of steps completed, the count which is
available from discriminator and OR gate,
• The translator feeds the base/gate drive circuits of semiconductor
power switching devices after sufficient amplification.
Microprocessor Based Control of
Stepper Motor
• Depending on the input stepping rate and direction
commands, for every pulse received, the
microprocessor goes to look-up table of sequence for
exciting the stator winding stored in EPROM and and
outputs the next step as a word on PPI parallel ports.
• PPI(Programmable peripheral interface)is interfaced to
the stator winding (to contol the motor/postion of
motor)
• The opt isolator protects the microprocessor from
fault like short ckt, open ckt and transient in power
system.
APPLICATION OF STEPPER MOTOR:
The main application of stepper motor may be divided into the following groups.
• 1. Instrumentation applications.
• 2. Computer peripherals & Office equipment‘s.
• 3. Numerical control of machine tools and robotics.
• 4. Applications in semiconductor technology.
• 5. Space vehicles and satellites.
• 6. Electro medical and
• 7. Miscellaneous applications.
. Instrumentation application:
▪ This involve low torque applications such as
▪ Quartz watches.
▪ Synchronized clocks.
▪ Camera shutter operations.
. Stepper motor application in computer peripherals:
This involve medium torque, high performance and high volume application such as
▪ Dot matrix and line printers.
▪ Graph plotters.
▪ Floppy disk drives
▪ Digital X-Y plotters.
▪ Magnetic tape drives.
▪ Paper tape drives
 Machine tool applications:
This involve high torque application such as
Numerical control system for milling machine ,X-Y tables and index table. Home use and
industrial sewing machines.

Application in semiconductor technology:

Stepper motors used in high vacuum. Goniometer-An instrument used to determine crystalline
structure.
Electron beam micro fabricator.

Stepper motor used in space vehicles and satellites.

Robotics.
Electro medical applications:
X-ray machines. Radiation therapy units. Ultra sound scanner

Miscellaneous applications:
Nuclear reactors.
Heavy industry applications.
Automatic focusing mechanism in camera
 Assignment Questions
1. Define the term step angle.
2. Give the classification of stepper motor
3. Define slewing.
4. Draw the typical static characteristics of a stepper
motor
5. Explain the construction and operation of VR
stepper motor. Also explain about micro stepping.
6. With a neat block diagram explain
microprocessor control of stepping motor.