Today's work uses printers, embroidery machines, engraving machines, dispensing machines, and other equipment driven by stepper motors for power. This is because stepper motors can have simple positioning control and large torque at low speeds. In practice, many equipment mechanical systems are unsuitable or need to run at high speed, and the motor works at a few hundred revolutions per minute to meet the application's requirements. In the positioning accuracy, heat and noise requirements are not very high in the application of the stepper motor is very suitable. This article will detail the pros and cons of the five drive methods for stepper motors.

1. Constant voltage drive.

Constant voltage drive means that during the operation of the motor winding, only one directional voltage is used to supply power to the winding, and multiple windings alternately provide voltage. This method is a relatively old drive method, now basically not used.

(1) Advantages: simple circuit, few components, control is also simple, relatively simple to achieve;

(2) disadvantages: must provide a large enough current triode to switch processing, stepper motor operation speed is relatively low, the motor vibration is relatively large, and heat generation. Since it is no longer used, so not much description.

2. High and low-voltage drive.

Due to the disadvantages mentioned above of constant voltage drive, the further development of technology, the development of new high and low voltage drives to improve some of the shortcomings of constant voltage drive, high and low voltage drive principle is that the motor movement to the whole step when the use of high-voltage control, the use of low-voltage control in the movement to the half-step, stopping is also the use of low-voltage to control.

(1) advantages high and low voltage control to a small extent to improve the vibration and noise, the first time the concept of subdivision control stepper motor, but also proposed to stop the current halved mode of operation;

(2) disadvantages: the circuit is a relatively complex constant voltage drive, the high-frequency triode characteristics required to improve the low-speed motor vibration are still relatively large, the heat is still relatively large, and now basically do not use this drive mode.

3. Self-excited constant-current chopper drive.

Self-excited constant-current chopper drive works by hardware design when the current reaches a certain set value through the hardware to turn off the current, and then turns to another winding energized current to a fixed current, and can be turned off through the hardware, and so on, to advance the stepper motor operation.

(1) Advantages: noise is greatly reduced, the speed is increased to a certain extent, and the performance is somewhat improved than the first two.

(2) disadvantages: the circuit design requirements are relatively high, the circuit anti-interference requirements are relatively high, easy to cause high frequency, burned drive components, and the performance requirements of the components are relatively high.

4. Current comparison chopper drive (the main technology used in the market today).

The comparison chopper drive is the stepper motor winding current value into a certain proportion of the voltage and D / A converter output to compare the preset value. The comparison results in controlling the power tube switch to control the winding phase current.

(1) Advantages: the characteristics of the motion control simulation sine wave, greatly improving performance, motion speed and noise are relatively small, can use a relatively high subdivision, is the currently popular control method;

(2) disadvantages: the circuit is more complex, the interference in the circuit is difficult to control and theoretical requirements match, easy to produce jitter, in the control of the formation of sinusoidal waveform peaks and valleys, easy to lead to high-frequency interference, which in turn leads to driving components heat or aging due to high frequency, which is also the main reason why many drivers are prone to red light protection when used for more than one year.

5. Submerged drive.

This is a new motion control technology. The technology is the premise of the current comparative chopper drive technology to overcome the shortcomings and innovation of a new drive method. Its core technology is the premise of the current comparison chopper drive increases the driving element heat and high-frequency suppression protection technology.

(1) advantages: both the advantages of the current comparison chopper drive, heat generation is particularly small, long service life;

(2) disadvantages: brand new technology, relatively high price, and each stepper motor and driver matching requirement are relatively strict.

The above is about the advantages and disadvantages of stepper motor five drive methods. If you need more detailed information, welcome to contact us!