Stepper motors divide rotation into steps using electromagnets and teeth on the gear. They are brushless and controlled by turning electromagnets on and off. There are three control mechanisms, and they require a constant power source. Adding more electromagnets can decrease vibration. They are commonly used in small, precise devices like CD drives and printers.
A stepper motor is an electrical device that divides the complete rotation of the motor into individual parts called steps. Generally these motors are brushless to favor synchronous rotation and operate without the input of an external source on the gear itself. They work through the use of electromagnets arranged in different positions around the shaft, each etched with teeth. These teeth correspond to the teeth that are positioned on the gear itself. As the gear rotates, one section engages the teeth of the first electromagnet, offsetting the teeth from the other electromagnets and repeating this action as it rotates.
The general principle of stepper motors is to relegate each rotation to a specific phase. Each phase of the stepper motor is controlled by turning the electromagnet on and off in a repeating pattern. This means that unlike direct current (DC) motors which use brushes and are voltage controlled, stepper motors only need to be loaded on the shaft itself.
In the design of the device, there are three types of stepper motor control mechanisms. One format uses a permanent magnet located within the rotor to control electromagnets by creating attraction and repulsion on the gear. Others use a magnetic control on the shaft itself and essentially pull the gear towards the shaft in the opposite fashion to the previous format. Yet another design is a combined technique, using magnetic reactions from both the gear and shaft.
Some of the negative characteristics of stepper motors make them highly unique in the field of motion control. First, a stepper motor driver requires a constant power source to operate. Also, the physics of the device means that as the speed of the gear increases, the effective torque decreases. This creates a situation where the engine starts to vibrate, which can only be controlled by adding a damper to the shaft itself. One way to mitigate this overall effect is to add more electromagnets to the system, which increases the number of steps and decreases vibration.
Most modern stepper motors are controlled via a computer system, which maintains correct positioning via digital commands. They can be designed much smaller than DC motors, due to the lack of voltage requirements on the gear itself. Examples of small stepper motors used in modern equipment include those in compact disc drives, computer printers, and other precisely controlled devices that require small, detailed actions to function properly.
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