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What is a stepper motor

Internal structure of stepper motor
Printed circuit board (PCB)
How stepper motor works?
Types of stepper motor

A brushless, synchronous motor which

divides a full rotation into a no. of steps
It rotates in discrete step angles
They are manufactured with steps per
revolution of 12, 24, 72, 144, 180, 200
resulting in stepping angles of 30, 15, 5,
2.5, 2 and1.8 degrees per step
It can be controlled with or without
feedback

The stator also contains teeth which are

electromagnetic in nature.
Every tooth is surrounded by a coil. Depending
on the polarity of the current supplied in the
coil, the tooth can be made to behave like N or
S poles.

The rotor is made up of a permanent magnets

core with two soft iron discs with teeth on the
periphery.
The number of teeth decides the step angle of
the motor.
The teeth on the front disk form the
permanent magnetic south poles whereas the
teeth on the rear disk form the permanent
magnet north poles.

The overall structure looks like a pair of gears

stick to each other.
The alignment of the teeth is done in such a
manner that the teeth on one disc are
positioned between the space in the two
consecutive teeth on the other disc and vice
versa.

A Stepper motor has a stator and a rotor.

The rotor has a permanent magnet attached to
it.
The stator is made up of coils as shown in the
above image.
There are eight coils in this motor.
Every coil in the motor behaves as an
electromagnet, when they are energized by
electrical pulses.

Aprinted circuit board(PCB) mechanically

supports and electrically connects electronic
components
It is a board that has lines and pads that
connect various points together.
A PCB allows signals and power to be routed
between physical devices.
Solder is the metal that makes the electrical
connections between the surface of the PCB
and the electronic components.
Being metal, solder also serves as a strong
mechanical adhesive.

The PCB has five wires which are connected

with the coils.
Every pair of alternate coils is connected
together.
PCB has five output wires four wires each
connected with two alternate coils and one for
common wire.

Stepper motors work on the principle of

electromagnetism.
Astepper motor rotates in distinct steps
whereeach step is a fraction of a full circle.
Stepper motors are driven with pulses and
one set of pulses can move the stepper
motor by one step only.
There is a soft iron or magnetic rotor shaft
surrounded by the electromagnetic stators.
The rotor and stator have poles which may
be teethed or not depending upon the type
of stepper.

When the stators are energized the rotor

moves to align itself along with the stator
This way the stators are energized in a
sequence to rotate the stepper motor

By construction the step motors come into

three broad classes:
1.Permanent Magnet Stepper
2.Variable Reluctance Stepper
3.Hybrid Step Motor

The rotor and stator poles of a permanent

magnet stepper are not teethed
Instead the rotor have alternative north and
south poles parallel to the axis of the rotor
shaft.

When a stator is energized, it develops

electromagnetic poles.
The magnetic rotor aligns along the
magnetic field of the stator.
The other stator is then energized in the
sequence so that the rotor moves and
aligns itself to the new magnetic field.
This way energizing the stators in a fixed
sequence rotates the stepper motor by
fixed angles.

The resolution of a permanent magnet

stepper can be increased by increasing
number of poles in the rotor or increasing
the number of phases.

The variable reluctance stepper has a

toothed non-magnetic soft iron rotor.
When the stator coil is energized the rotor
moves to have a minimum gap between the
stator and its teeth.

The teeth of the rotor are designed so that

when they are aligned with one stator they
get misaligned with the next stator.

Now when the next stator is energized, the

rotor moves to align its teeth with the next
stator.
This way energizing stators in a fixed
sequence completes the rotation of the step
motor.

The resolution of a variable reluctance

stepper can be increased by increasing the
number of teeth in the rotor and by
increasing the number of phases.

A hybrid stepper is a combination of both

permanent magnet and the variable
reluctance.
It has a magnetic teethed rotor which better
guides magnetic flux to preferred location in
the air gap.

The magnetic rotor has two cups. One for

north poles and second for the south poles.
The rotor cups are designed so that that the
north and south poles arrange in alternative
manner.

The Hybrid motor rotates on same principle

of energizing the stator coils in a sequence.