Stepper Motor Driving Patterns

Stepper Motor Driving Patterns

http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slva767a/slva767a.pdf

4.2 Full-Step OperationThe full-step mode of operation is the most commonly used way to drive a stepper motor, as it hasimproved torque over the wave drive method and constant torque relative to the half-step method. Thewave drive mode would likely be used in applications where increased torque is required.For this mode of operation, two phases of the motor are activated simultaneously to provide an additionalattractive force relative to the wave drive method, while still maintaining the resolution of the wave drivemethod. Figure 11 and Figure 12 describe the step pattern required for the full-step method, whileFigure 13 provides a pictorial representation of the motor steps. Depending on the motor, each step in thesequence will rotate a defined angular distance. Figure 13 represents a motor with 4 steps per revolution,but many common stepper motors will have 32 or 64 steps per revolution; furthermore, others can haveeven higher precision. Each step for the motor in Figure 13 spins the motor 90°. Note that the full-stepmethod has the stator attracted to a space between each of the phases that are activated, as opposed tothe wave drive method where the stator is attracted directly to the activated phase. Because the stator isattracted to a space between two phases, there is a point where the two phases are pulling in oppositedirections. As a consequence the full-step method does not provide torque twice that of the wave-drivemethod (despite twice the power consumption), but rather more equivalent to 1.4x the wave drive method.Figure 11. Full-Step Logic Table Figure 12. Full-Step Timing DiagramFigure 13. Full-Step Motor Coil Sequen