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Questions tagged [stepper-motor]

A kind of motor that moves in steps.

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2 answers
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Difference between Brushless Motor and Stepper Motor

I think I understand the operating principles of a brushless motor and a stepper motor, but I'm a little confused about the difference. Is a brushless DC motor a very basic stepper motor? With ...
mrsoltys's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
38k views

Is it possible to drive a stepper motor greater than 1000 rpm?

How could I achieve this? What are the stepper motor facts and principless that I have to keep in mind to design a circuit to achive this goal? Are there any readymade/open source alternatives and ...
Kevin Boyd's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
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How is this design for a basic PCB pick and place?

I have zero experience with any serious mechanical design, but out of necessity and curiosity, I'm attempting to build a pick and place machine (for my hobby projects as well as low-volume PCB ...
Thomas E's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
10k views

Stepper Motor high frequency sound

I am using a stepper motor for a gantry setup. When I run the motor above certain speeds, in this case 4rev/sec, it produces a high frequency sort of whinny sound. It is a 4.5A motor and I am running ...
Geo P's user avatar
  • 271
11 votes
3 answers
5k views

Arduino Stepper Motor

How do use use an Arduino with a Stepper Motor?
littlebirdceo's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Does a stepper motor's error accumulate?

I am trying to understand the concept of stepper motor error. A typical Nema17 stepper takes 1.8 degree steps and has an accuracy of +/-5%. Consider the diagram below: In the diagram, 4 stepper ...
Feynman137's user avatar
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10 votes
6 answers
23k views

How do you minimize stepper motor vibration?

I'd like to run a stepper motor at a very smooth, constant speed, with minimal vibrations to both the mount holding it and its output. How do I drive the stepper motor so that speed remains constant, ...
Evan Krall's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
11k views

Why do we need a ramp for stepper motor?

I am a newbie and trying to understand how i can run a stepper motor. The concept i had in mind was that steppers need digital pulses to run, and i tried it out too. I was able to run the stepper i am ...
alexhilton's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
3k views

Bi-Directional Step up and Step down (3.3v <-> 5, etc)

So I've been reading a few threads here and on other forums. I understand there are various solutions for stepping down or up a voltage. What I have found are the LVC series shift regs that give a ...
cyphunk's user avatar
  • 602
10 votes
3 answers
9k views

Is it possible to determine load on a stepper motor when stopped

Is there a way that the torque on a stepper motor can be determined without some kind of additional force sensor. Additional electronics such as current shunts etc would be acceptable. I would like ...
Hugoagogo's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
9k views

How to achieve very accurate/fine rotation with motor

I am running an experiment where I need to rotate a lightweight dial (<5 grams, so very low torque requirement, and fairly slowly), but need to do very accurate, fine steps of 0.03 degrees. ...
boardbite's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
27k views

What is the difference between stepper motors and servomotors?

I am not sure I understand what the difference between a stepper motor and a servomotor is. Could someone explain this to me? Also how do these motors behave when they are paused or turned off, do ...
Razvi's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
3k views

Can I safely reduce a stepper motor's power consumption by applying a PWM to the driver's enable input?

I have a stepper motor driver breakout board based off the Allegro A4988 chip. I noticed that when the motor is static, it has much better holding torque than when moving. I have a battery operated ...
Faken's user avatar
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8 votes
4 answers
117k views

How to reverse rotation direction of stepper motor

Is it possible to reverse a stepper motor's direction of rotation by changing the polarities of its wires? I'm asking because I have two stepper motors connected to one single driver and mounted on ...
Aurimas Niekis's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
17k views

How to find out whether I have a unipolar or a bipolar stepper motor?

I have one stepper motor. There are six wires coming out of that. How can I find out weather I have a bipolar or a unipolar stepper motor? Note: Related, but not a duplicate: Unipolar and Bipolar ...
vijay's user avatar
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8 votes
6 answers
22k views

Smallest stepper motor (that one could buy)

I'm looking into embedding a stepper motor into a wearable device like a wrist watch. I've found these on digikey: http://www.nmbtc.com/pdf/motors/standard-pg/PG15S-D20-HHB9.pdf The resolution is ...
Padu Merloti's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
661 views

Easiest and cheapest way to get digital outputs from a computer to the real world

I need a number of digital outputs to connect my computer to the real world, however it seems that this job is not nearly as easy as I had hoped. I've looked into a number of different methods, ...
Faken's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
4k views

Unipolar and Bipolar Stepper motors

I would like to universal stepper motor driver circuit. Is it possible for one circuit to be able to drive unipolar and bipolar motors with only a firmware change or do they require much different ...
PICyourBrain's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
3k views

How do I choose an appropriately sized stepper motor?

My latest hare-brained project involves a stepper motor. But how do I know which stepper to choose? I'm adding a stepper to the lead screw of my lathe. It will be used for feeds and threads. For ...
Tony Ennis's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Inferring back emf from oscilloscope

I have this stepper motor with unknown back EMF / RPM. There are 200 steps/rev (i.e. 1.8deg step angle), and 8mH "phase inductance", but I'm not sure if that's enough to calculate back EMF. I hooked ...
abc's user avatar
  • 619
8 votes
1 answer
918 views

Induction voltage from a Stepper Motor

I have a stepper motor and I've noticed that when I turn the spindle with the motor lead wires touching each other, that the motor strongly resists my efforts to turn it. When the wires are not ...
user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
10k views

Why aren't Stepper motors used in closed-loop systems and PID control?

I know stepper motors are usually operated in open-loop systems. I'm curious to why they aren't usually part of closed-loop systems? Also why aren't PID control methods commonly used with stepper ...
user124757's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
519 views

Good motor supplier?

I'm looking to start a few different projects and stock up on some basic components - I was just wondering if anyone knows a good supplier of DC motors, stepper motors and servos? I'm in vicinity of ...
Sketchy Fletchy's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
51k views

How to connect a stepper motor with exactly 4 wires to Arduino?

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab Today I bought a stepper motor to play with, after 12 hours of struggling with it, I haven't been able to figure out how to connect it ...
hkoosha's user avatar
  • 235
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to solder micro stepper motor pins?

I have a hobby project where I would like to use micro stepper motors as shown in the picture below. However, as you might be able to see, the spacing between the pins is incredibly tiny and each pin ...
Kolban's user avatar
  • 319
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

Basic transistor wiring

I'm trying to control a stepper motor using transistors to switch the different phases (am I using the correct terminology?) on and off at the correct times. I'm going to use my Raspberry Pi to do ...
OdinX's user avatar
  • 801
7 votes
1 answer
4k views

In the world of bipolar stepper motors, what is dead time and blanking time?

I have a stepper driver documentation which speaks about dead time and blanking time, however I do not know what it means. L6470 dSPIN What is "Dead Time" and "Blanking Time" in relation to stepper ...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
24k views

smooth a motor movement

i have a stepper motor (controlled by an arduino) that moves some gears and a pulley. the problem is that the pulley jerks a lot: the movement begin and stop too much suddenly. to make the movement ...
nkint's user avatar
  • 963
7 votes
2 answers
36k views

Understanding how much power a stepper motor draws

I had a previous question describing a power management system where I was trying to power 7 stepper motors from a wall outlet (with switching power supplies and motor drivers). I realized during this ...
JDS's user avatar
  • 1,156
7 votes
3 answers
7k views

Stepper motor troubleshooting with Pololu DRV8825 Driver

I salvaged a bipolar stepper motor (QH4-4242), and a power supply from an old printer that I'd like to tinker with before scaling up to larger motors. With the limited knowledge about the stepper (...
Doug's user avatar
  • 71
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

FPGA to control NEMA stepper motor

Is it possible to control a NEMA Stepper motor directly from an FPGA without a separate Motor Driver Circuit? I have the following setup: TinyFPGA BX (https://tinyfpga.com) NEMA 17HS4401 (https://...
nthState's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
41k views

Transform pulses per second (PPS) to RPM

I have a stepper motor that turns at 5000 PPS and has a step angle of 1.8º. What would be the formula to transform these PPS into RPM?
Alvaro's user avatar
  • 200
6 votes
4 answers
19k views

How to interpret the stepper motor voltage requirement?

I have a 8HS11-0204S stepper motor and need to match a driver to it. HERE it says that the recommended voltage for driving it is 12-24V. But if you open the (feeble) DATASHEET, it says that the rated ...
I have no idea what I'm doing's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
11k views

Why use stepper/DC motor driver?

Why use or implement a DC/stepper motor controller? Is it not possible to connect the motor directly to an MCU output pin without the driver?
user3213767's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
1k views

Can I measure torque accurately by an electrical or electronic method?

I am a Btech. student from India. We have been given a project in which we have to design a micro-torsion testing device. We are planning to clamp the specimen and rotate one end by fixed angles ...
Atharva Kulkarni's user avatar
6 votes
6 answers
15k views

Stepper motors - stride angle?

I am interested in using one of these cheap stepper motors for one of my projects, but need a step angle of ~2°. I came across the 28BYJ-48 and noticed that it has a "stride angle" of 5.625°/64. What ...
capcom's user avatar
  • 5,862
6 votes
2 answers
6k views

Using back to back zener diodes to clip voltage spikes in bipolar stepper motor

I have a stepper motor driven by an Allegro A4983 stepper driver chip and in some cases the motor can be back driven even while being powered up. This leads to blown motor driver chips. Would I be ...
Faken's user avatar
  • 1,678
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Servo vs. stepper for camera mount

I would like to make a camera mount where it can rotate automatically around the Z axis, and also make a variable angle against the ground plane. The camera weighs about 500grams. Is a servo ...
titus's user avatar
  • 192
6 votes
5 answers
6k views

Stepper Motor acceleration profiles for short runs

I've done a fair bit of reading on stepper motors and acceleration. I had to wade through a lot of different strategies with a lot of calculations, including one which called for several candles, and "...
darrob's user avatar
  • 63
6 votes
2 answers
19k views

Stepper motor getting very hot: wrong driver or power supply?

I have built a simple driver circuit for an unipolar stepper motor, based on an ULN2003A. The schematic: The motor is a PM25L. Data sheet is here. It was salvaged from an old electric typewriter, ...
feralgeometry's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
4k views

How do you read newer HDD motors (DC/Brushless) into arduino? (like stepper motors)

We had a version of the HDDJ working with an arduino reading an old stepper motor (with 4 wires), then sending serial data to processing, using a midi library, and midiox + midiyoke. Having trouble ...
Allan's user avatar
  • 406
6 votes
4 answers
11k views

Bipolar stepper motor: What should the sequence timing be?

What I mean is, how long should a coil be energized before it's de-energized. Also how long should the coil stay de-energized before I power it in the reverse direction. Where can I find this timing ...
user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
10k views

Is there any way to determine the correct voltage for a stepper motor?

I recently bought a CNC mini-mill at an auction. It is fitted with steppers on the three axis. The X and Y are the same, and the Z is a bit smaller (physically). All the markings were removed from the ...
jkopel's user avatar
  • 1,132
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to calculate and measure motor constant for stepper motor?

I am working on a project using ST4118D30004 stepper motors and powerSTEP01 drivers. The ST4118D30004 is a bipolar stepper motor with 4 wire connection. While researching how to find the optimal ...
RHawkeyed's user avatar
  • 161
5 votes
3 answers
4k views

When driving stepper motors do I need to worry about back EMF?

When I've driven coils in the past (such as mechanical relays) I've had to put a diode to protect it against back EMF once turned off. Does that need to be done when driving stepper motors with a ...
Dean's user avatar
  • 8,388
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

How does the Linistepper, open source linear Stepper Motor Drive work?

I have been trying to get the Linistepper to work, however I can't seem the understand the working of the circuit. The circuit is here. The issues that I'm unclear about are: What are the ...
Kevin Boyd's user avatar
  • 1,971
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Create a robot arm using microcontroller

I am planning to create a robot arm using the MicroController. The robot arm should move from the angle of 0 degrees to 60 degrees. I am going to use this robot arm in my application to stop and ...
Puru's user avatar
  • 469
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

basic arduino question - do I need a 555 timer?

I have an Arduino (duemilanove) connected to a floppy disk drive and I can happily control the stepper motor using three pins on the ribbon cable to three digital pins of my Arduino (well 2 + the ...
jwbensley's user avatar
  • 581
5 votes
5 answers
1k views

Can a motor's movement be improved to any arbitrary resolution?

For a project that I'm working on, I need motor rotation at extremely small increments -- my desired resolution is about ~0.15 degrees per minimum rotation step. Of course, most motors of reasonably ...
boardbite's user avatar
  • 4,882
5 votes
4 answers
14k views

Generating pulse train of varying frequency on an FPGA

I am working on generating a pulse train to control a motor that accepts a pulse train as an input. Each pulse corresponds to a pre-set movement increment; I can set one pulse equal to 1/1000 degree (...
Engineero's user avatar
  • 199

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