Asteppermotor(orstepmotor)isabrushless,synchronouselectricmotorthatcandivideafull rotationintoalargenumberofsteps.Themotor'spositioncanbecontrolledprecisely,withoutany feedbackmechanism(seeOpenloopcontroller).Steppermotorsaresimilartoswitchedreluctance motors(whichareverylargesteppingmotorswithareducedpolecount,andgenerallyareclosed loopcommutated.

FundamentalsofOperation
SteppermotorsoperatedifferentlyfromDCbrushmotors,whichrotatewhenvoltageisappliedto theirterminals.Steppermotors,ontheotherhand,effectivelyhavemultiple"toothed" electromagnetsarrangedaroundacentralgearshapedpieceofiron.Theelectromagnetsare energizedbyanexternalcontrolcircuit,suchasamicrocontroller.Tomakethemotorshaftturn, firstoneelectromagnetisgivenpower,whichmakesthegear'steethmagneticallyattractedtothe electromagnet'steeth.Whenthegear'steetharethusalignedtothefirstelectromagnet,theyare slightlyoffsetfromthenextelectromagnet.Sowhenthenextelectromagnetisturnedonandthe firstisturnedoff,thegearrotatesslightlytoalignwiththenextone,andfromtheretheprocessis repeated.Eachofthoseslightrotationsiscalleda"step,"withanintegernumberofstepsmakinga fullrotation.Inthatway,themotorcanbeturnedbyapreciseangle.

Steppermotorcharacteristics
1.Steppermotorsareconstantpowerdevices. 2.Asmotorspeedincreases,torquedecreases. 3.Thetorquecurvemaybeextendedbyusingcurrentlimitingdriversandincreasingthedriving voltage. 4.Steppersexhibitmorevibrationthanothermotortypes,asthediscretesteptendstosnaptherotor fromonepositiontoanother. 5.Thisvibrationcanbecomeverybadatsomespeedsandcancausethemotortolosetorque. 6.Theeffectcanbemitigatedbyacceleratingquicklythroughtheproblemspeedsrange,physically dampingthesystem,orusingamicrosteppingdriver. 7.Motorswithagreaternumberofphasesalsoexhibitsmootheroperationthanthosewithfewer phases.

[edit]Openloopversusclosedloopcommutation
Steppersaregenerallycommutatedopenloop,ie.thedriverhasnofeedbackonwheretherotor actuallyis.Steppermotorsystemsmustthusgenerallybeoverengineered,especiallyiftheload inertiaishigh,orthereiswidelyvaryingload,sothatthereisnopossibilitythatthemotorwilllose steps.Thishasoftencausedthesystemdesignertoconsiderthetradeoffsbetweenacloselysized butexpensiveservomechanismsystemandanoversizedbutrelativelycheapstepper. Anewdevelopmentinsteppercontrolistoincorporatearotorpositionfeedback(eg.anencoderor resolver),sothatthecommutationcanbemadeoptimalfortorquegenerationaccordingtoactual rotorposition.Thisturnsthesteppermotorintoahighpolecountbrushlessservomotor,with exceptionallowspeedtorqueandpositionresolution.Anadvanceonthistechniqueistonormally

runthemotorinopenloopmode,andonlyenterclosedloopmodeiftherotorpositionerror becomestoolargethiswillallowthesystemtoavoidhuntingoroscillating,acommonservo problem. ADCmotorisanelectricmotorthatrunsondirectcurrent(DC)electricity.

DCMotors
ADCmotorisdesignedtorunonDCelectricpower.TwoexamplesofpureDCdesignsare MichaelFaraday'shomopolarmotor(whichisuncommon),andtheballbearingmotor,whichis(so far)anovelty.ByfarthemostcommonDCmotortypesarethebrushedandbrushlesstypes,which useinternalandexternalcommutationrespectivelytocreateanoscillatingACcurrentfromtheDC sourcesotheyarenotpurelyDCmachinesinastrictsense.

UniversalmotorsandserieswoundDCmotors
AwoundfieldDCmotorwiththefieldandarmaturewindingsconnectedinseriesiscalledeithera "serieswoundmotor"ora"universalmotor,"becauseofitsabilitytooperateonACorDCpower. TheabilitytooperateonACorDCpowerisbecausethecurrentinboththefieldwindingandthe armature(andhencetheresultantmagneticfields)willalternate(reversepolarity)atthesametime, andhencethemechanicalforcegeneratedisalwaysinthesamedirection. Thetorqueofaserieswoundoruniversalmotordeclinesslowlywithspeed.Althoughthiscanbe advantageousforsomeapplications,italsomeansthat,unloaded,themotormay"runaway"and speeduptothepointofmechanicalfailure.Howeverfactorssuchasexternalloadandinternal mechanicalresistancemayadequatelylimitthespeed. Operatingatnormalpowerlinefrequencies,universalmotorsareveryrarelylargerthanone kilowatt(about1.3horsepower).Universalmotorsalsoformthebasisofthetraditionalrailway tractionmotorinelectricrailways.Inthisapplication,tokeeptheirelectricalefficiencyhigh,they wereoperatedfromverylowfrequencyACsupplies,with25and16.7hertz(Hz)operationbeing common.Becausetheyareuniversalmotors,locomotivesusingthisdesignwerealsocommonly capableofoperatingfromathirdrailpoweredbyDC. AnadvantageoftheuniversalmotoristhatACsuppliesmaybeusedonmotorswhichhavesome characteristicsmorecommoninDCmotors,specificallyhighstartingtorqueandverycompact designifhighrunningspeedsareused.Thenegativeaspectisthemaintenanceandshortlife problemscausedbythecommutator.AsaresultsuchmotorsareusuallyusedinACdevicessuchas foodmixersandpowertoolswhichareusedonlyintermittently,andoftenhavehighstartingtorque demands.ContinuousspeedcontrolofauniversalmotorrunningonACiseasilyobtainedbyuseof athyristorcircuit,while(imprecise)steppedspeedcontrolcanbeaccomplishedusingmultipletaps onthefieldcoil.Householdblendersthatadvertisemanyspeedsfrequentlycombineafieldcoil withseveraltapsandadiodethatcanbeinsertedinserieswiththemotor(causingthemotortorun onhalfwaverectifiedAC). Universalmotorsgenerallyrunathighspeeds,makingthemusefulforappliancessuchasblenders, vacuumcleaners,andhairdryerswherehighRPMoperationisdesirable.Theyarealsocommonly usedinportablepowertools,suchasdrills,circularandjigsaws,wherethemotor'scharacteristics workwell.Manyvacuumcleanerandweedtrimmermotorsexceed10,000RPM,whileDremeland othersimilarminiaturegrinderswilloftenexceed30,000RPM.

Motordamagemayoccurduetooverspeeding(runningatanRPMinexcessofdesignlimits)ifthe unitisoperatedwithnosignificantload.Onlargermotors,suddenlossofloadistobeavoided,and thepossibilityofsuchanoccurrenceisincorporatedintothemotor'sprotectionandcontrol schemes.Insomesmallerapplications,afanbladeattachedtotheshaftoftenactsasanartificial loadtolimitthemotorspeedtoasafevalue,aswellasameanstocirculatecoolingairflowoverthe armatureandfieldwindings. "Universal"or"Serieswound"motorsgenerallyoperatebetterwithDCcurrent,buttheyhavethe abilitytooperatewithACcurrentaswell,makingthemveryversatileforabroadrangeof applications.However,thereislittletonomeanstocontrolthemotor'sspeedaccurately.Unlike inductionmotors,the"goal"ofthismotoristorunaloadatthehighestspeedpossible,whichhas specificadvantagesforappliancessuchasvacuumcleanersandblendersandsuch.Many automotivestartermotorsareeitherserieswoundorcompoundwoundmotorsbecauseofthehigh startingtorque.

[edit] Steppermotors
Mainarticle:Steppermotor CloselyrelatedindesigntothreephaseACsynchronousmotorsaresteppermotors,wherean internalrotorcontainingpermanentmagnetsoramagneticallysoftrotorwithsalientpolesis controlledbyasetofexternalmagnetsthatareswitchedelectronically.Asteppermotormayalsobe thoughtofasacrossbetweenaDCelectricmotorandarotarysolenoid.Aseachcoilisenergizedin turn,therotoralignsitselfwiththemagneticfieldproducedbytheenergizedfieldwinding.Unlike asynchronousmotor,initsapplication,thesteppermotormaynotrotatecontinuously;instead,it "steps"startsandthenquicklystopsagainfromonepositiontothenextasfieldwindingsare energizedanddeenergizedinsequence.Dependingonthesequence,therotormayturnforwardsor backwards,anditmaychangedirection,stop,speeduporslowdownarbitrarilyatanytime. Simplesteppermotordriversentirelyenergizeorentirelydeenergizethefieldwindings,leadingthe rotorto"cog"toalimitednumberofpositions;moresophisticateddriverscanproportionally controlthepowertothefieldwindings,allowingtherotorstopositionbetweenthecogpointsand therebyrotateextremelysmoothly.Thismodeofoperationisoftencalledmicrostepping.Computer controlledsteppermotorsareoneofthemostversatileformsofpositioningsystems,particularly whenpartofadigitalservocontrolledsystem. Steppermotorscanberotatedtoaspecificangleindiscretestepswithease,andhencestepper motorsareusedforread/writeheadpositioningincomputerfloppydiskettedrives.Theywereused forthesamepurposeinpregigabyteeracomputerdiskdrives,wheretheprecisionandspeedthey offeredwasadequateforthecorrectpositioningoftheread/writeheadofaharddiskdrive.Asdrive densityincreased,theprecisionandspeedlimitationsofsteppermotorsmadethemobsoletefor harddrivestheprecisionlimitationmadethemunusable,andthespeedlimitationmadethem uncompetitivethusnewerharddiskdrivesusevoicecoilbasedheadactuatorsystems.(Theterm "voicecoil"inthisconnectionishistoric;itreferstothestructureinatypical(conetype) loudspeaker.Thisstructurewasusedforawhiletopositiontheheads.Moderndriveshaveapivoted coilmount;thecoilswingsbackandforth,somethinglikeabladeofarotatingfan.Nevertheless, likeavoicecoil,modernactuatorcoilconductors(themagnetwire)moveperpendiculartothe magneticlinesofforce.)

Steppermotorswereandstillareoftenusedincomputerprinters,opticalscanners,anddigital photocopierstomovetheopticalscanningelement,theprintheadcarriage(ofdotmatrixandinkjet printers),andtheplaten.Likewise,manycomputerplotters(whichsincetheearly1990shavebeen replacedwithlargeformatinkjetandlaserprinters)usedrotarysteppermotorsforpenandplaten movement;thetypicalalternativesherewereeitherlinearsteppermotorsorservomotorswith complexclosedloopcontrolsystems. Socalledquartzanalogwristwatchescontainthesmallestcommonplacesteppingmotors;theyhave onecoil,drawverylittlepower,andhaveapermanentmagnetrotor.Thesamekindofmotordrives batterypoweredquartzclocks.Someofthesewatches,suchaschronographs,containmorethanone steppingmotor. SteppermotorswereupscaledtobeusedinelectricvehiclesunderthetermSRM(switched reluctancemachine)