Talk:Stepper motor

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[edit] Removed items

I removed the following text from the main page. Please feel free to readd it in a more coherent form.

> Stepper motor movements and speed are defined by which poles are on or off.

> Stepper motors are similar to DC Brush less motors due to the fact that they use poles in conjunction with magnetism.

> Hard drive motors can be "sort of" thought of as stepper motors because the servo must use some kind of pole system to know where the spindle is to send it to the chip. But they are not STEPPER Motors; they are a type of DC Brush less.

> Stepper motors have been used in micro machines.

> Stepper motors are kool.

kmccoy (talk) 01:53, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Things to add

I might get to these later...

  • Better description of why the voltage doesn't matter as much. (It matters only when you're trying to drive at high speed)
  • Resonance problems - from load, and also driving at some frequencies >>> This leads to more constant-motion applications than dynamic.
  • Load interia vs. rotor inertia - steppers only operate in a narrow range
  • 5 phase motors (I don't know much about these)

Anyone want to add schematics to show some of the things described? (the coils, the transistor drive)

Can u also add some data as to what will happen if two of the consecutive stators are simultaneously charged? 202.41.93.129 04:36, 21 March 2006 (UTC) AD

It increases torque some (maybe by 50% based on what I've read), and obviously doubles the power used. Dreadengineer (talk) 05:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I plan to play around with Inkscape, post the SVG code so you can improve it.

  • Usually I draw "comparisons". So I could compare coil arangments.
  • I can also try to draw an electric schematic.
  • I can draw a timing diagram, but that gets lengthy and is something the reader better clarifies on her/his own

Scheduled for this weekend, please give a note here, If you are already working on this.--Arnero 18:07, 5 May 2006 (UTC)


I added a physical description of how step motors work and some text to go with the figures; I thought it was kind of hard to get a basic idea of what step motors are from the page before. I also organized the unipolar vs. bipolar information.--Dreadengineer 09:17, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fundamentals of Operation

I changed the "Fundamentals of Operation" back to an earlier version, with a few edits. Stepper motors are very commonly used by hobbyists, so it's important to have an easily understood explanation of their operation. The previous explanation used terms such as external commutation, phases of a motor, magnetic reluctance, etc., all of which are valid, but are unnecessary for a basic understanding of fundamentals of operation. They should go in a different section, and the "Fundamentals" section should give a quick, basic understanding of how steppers work.Dreadengineer 05:22, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Images

The images that illustrated stepping had been removed with the note that they were "wrong." I'm assuming this meant that the images are not the same as the actual construction of stepper motors. But the images are effective at communicating the basic idea of how stepper motors work. Also, they are not very different from motor construction; see the "hybrid" image on this page: http://www.ams2000.com/stepping101.html or this one: http://www.sapiensman.com/step_motor/. It's true that the images don't illustrate that parts of the stator on both sides of the rotor will be energized, but adding that would add confusion to the picture and is unnecessary to explain the principle of operation. We can discuss it here if anyone disagrees. Dreadengineer (talk) 05:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)


Also, I'm not sure of the value of the last image on the page, which talks about motor configuration and says "everything is combineable." It's not clear what is illustrated by the image; it seems pulled from a page that talked about it in more detail. Does anyone think it adds value? Dreadengineer (talk) 05:48, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Switch reluctance drives

hello,

Do SRD's bear any similarity to stepper motors as i tried looking for them on wikipeida and all i got was stepper motor.

Hre is a site that has a little info on SRD's

Switch reluctance drives[1]

many thanks

wouse101 (82.3.201.199)

A "switched reluctance motor" is one type of stepper motor. A "switched reluctance drive" is the drive electronics or an adapted to that form of stepper motor or the entire drive system, electronics and motor.
Atlant 15:55, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comparison recommended

I recommend that the following sections be added:

   Juxtaposition with other brushless DC motors
   Juxtaposition with other electric motors

[edit] 1930 Step-by-step motors

I found a Naval Electrical Pocket Book from 1933 at a car-boot sale, and was surprised to learn that step-by-step motors were used as early as the 1930s for setting the firing elevation and deflection on battle ships:

[2]

The device was electro-mechanical and human operated. They even did half-stepping. Should there be a History section in here? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.58.97.242 (talk) 16:41, 15 January 2007 (UTC).

It could have a history section; other motor articles don't, though. Motor technology in general has been around for a long time. Dreadengineer 05:22, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why is Microstepping/Halfstepping not covered?

I'm not very familiar with the subject or I would attempt to add a section or is there a reason there is nothing in the article regarding half stepping? Thorney 05:58, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

One important and popular application of stepper motors is in electronic (quartz) watches and clocks with an analogue face. The motor is used to drive the 'second hand' in steps of 1 second.-

[edit] Spam

A link to electojects.com has been repeatedly added to Stepper motor, Electric motor and Brushless DC electric motor by Special:Contributions/217.53.109.235, Special:Contributions/82.201.156.201, Special:Contributions/217.53.107.168, Special:Contributions/217.53.16.164, and others.

The link in question is registered to Abdoh Ali Mohamed, Hay Swesri, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.[3]

I wonder if the four IP addresses listed above have any connection... Naw, couldn't be. [4][5][6][7] Egypt is a big country. Must be a coincidence.

I'm going to start patrolling wikipedia for any links to electojects.com or redirects to it and deleting them on sight. If they come back, I'll move to blacklist the address. Mdsummermsw (talk) 18:07, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I saw the website electojects.com/motors and I wonder why you consider it a spam. It has many tutorials on electric motors including stepper. It is informative website (regrading of ads) from my point of view. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.205.193.74 (talk • contribs) 18:15, December 28, 2007
Let's get real. You didn't just "see" that website. [8] That link has been removed dozens of times from about a dozen articles by numerous editors who have identified it as spam. Here's why: Wikipedia:Spam#External_link_spamming. By the way, awardspace.com is next. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 18:49, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
Why it is a spam, IF it is a relevant and useful for readers, then it shouldn't be removed. - —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.205.193.111 (talk • contribs) 19:00, December 28, 2007
I'm sorry, annonymous editor from Egypt, that is incorrect. Please read Wikipedia:Spam#How_not_to_be_a_spammer (heck, read all of WP:SPAM). Also consider registering for an account. It seems that all of your contribs so far have been bare links to electojects.com and awardspace.com (I'm looking for others as well). Registering an account would keep all of your contributions under one name so that we might be able to see any contributions to actual content that you make. If your intentions are merely to drive traffic to your sites, though, this would unmask that as well. If you truly only intend to be helpful, as you claim, registering is your logical move. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:11, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

The awardspace.com link is from the same source. [9] [10]. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:01, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Why it is a spam, IF it is a relevant and useful for readers, then it shouldn't be removed.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.205.193.111 (talk • contribs) 19:09, December 28, 2007
Don't work like bots.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.205.193.111 (talk • contribs) 19:14, December 28, 2007
Please sign your additions to talk pages. End all of your comments with ~~~~ and it will add your username or IP address and the time. Thanks. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:17, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok, then we should put a link in one article only (the most relevant). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.205.193.111 (talk) 19:25, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
That's not how it works. The link must belong in the article according to policy. It does not. So out it goes.
So far today, I've removed that link from Repulsion motor‎, Motor controller, Electronic speed control‎, Reluctance motor‎, Unipolar motor‎, Induction motor‎, DC motor‎, Synchronous motor‎, Electrostatic motor‎, Linear motor‎, AC motor‎, Electric motor‎, Brushless DC electric motor and Stepper motor. I'll run a full search shortly.
I strongly suspect the only contributions you have made to wikipedia are those links to your websites (and, perhaps, others). If this is not the case, please tell me what other contributions you have made.
Until then, I will continue removing these isolated spam links. Then I'll be removing your awardspace.com one as well. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:33, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
Add Synchronous condenser and Motor to the list. The last one is a dead ringer. The page is a disamb, and the link does not help with that! - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:39, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
Do what you think it is right and good for wiki. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.205.193.111 (talk) 19:45, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. Same to you. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:50, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I have now removed the same user's links to her/his other site at awardspace.com from Stepper motor, Electric motor, Motor controler, DC motor, Brushed DC Electric Motor, Electrostatic motor, Motor and -- the kicker -- Stepper which has no relationship to the rest, other than the name. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 20:03, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

This website (electojects.com/motors) is helpful, you havn't to remove it.217.53.108.172 (talk) 22:56, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

You've already said that, annonymous editor from Egypt. Do you have a new argument? - Mdsummermsw (talk) 14:02, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

An additional comment on this issue has been added to Talk:Electric_motor#Spam. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 13:31, 31 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Clock Motor

I have just taken a quartz clock to pieces and the motor in it has a permanent magnet rotor and a long U shaped stator with a coil around it: the ends of the U nearly touch the rotor. Why does it go around only one way in half turn steps each second? there is no mechanical ratchet. Also, this type of stepper motor is not described in the article. --83.105.33.91 (talk) 10:48, 22 April 2008 (UTC)