Stepper motors require high current(500mA to about 6A, depending on their size and power rating) every microcontroller or a microprocessor can handle only 10mA max. So the stepper motor drivers are designed to switch high current or change its direction triggered by the input electrical signals of low current.
What is the function of a stepper driver?
The stepper motor converts a pulsing electrical current, controlled by a stepper motor driver, into precise one-step movements of this gear-like toothed component around a central shaft. Each of these stepper motor pulses moves the rotor through one precise and fixed increment of a full turn.
Which driver is used in stepper motor?
The most popular motor driver like ULN2003 is used in non-H-Bridge based applications. It is suitable for driving the stepper motor. This driver includes a Darlington pair that can handle the max current up to 500mA and the max voltage up to 50VDC.
Why do we put a drive between the microcontroller and stepper motor?
The main principle of these circuits is to rotate the stepper motor step wise at a particular step angle. The ULN2003 IC and the L293D Motor Driver are used to drive the stepper motor as the controller cannot provide current required by the motor.
Do stepper motors run on AC or DC?
However, stepper motors themselves function as ac motors (they are generally considered to be asynchronous machines) because even a dc input is converted to a square wave to drive the individual motor windings.
Can stepper motors run continuously?
Stepper motors fall somewhere in between a regular DC motor and a servo motor. They have the advantage that they can be positioned accurately, moved forward or backwards one ‘step’ at a time, but they can also rotate continuously.
Why do we use motor driver?
Motor drivers acts as an interface between the motors and the control circuits. Motor require high amount of current whereas the controller circuit works on low current signals. So the function of motor drivers is to take a low-current control signal and then turn it into a higher-current signal that can drive a motor.
What is the working principle of stepper motor?
The basic working principle of the stepper motor is the following: By energizing one or more of the stator phases, a magnetic field is generated by the current flowing in the coil and the rotor aligns with this field.