ROBOTICS

STUDENTS:
Fabricio Reyes M

A01670714

Contenido
Principles of motors.........................................................................................2
Difference between AC, DC, Servo, Stepper and RC Servo motors..................2
How do you size a motor?................................................................................5
EQUATIONS...................................................................................................5
Given a problema, how do you determine torque load?...............................6
What parameters do you need to solve for to size motor?...........................6
CONTROL.........................................................................................................6
What are speed curves?...............................................................................6
How do you control torque?..........................................................................7
How do you control speed?...........................................................................8
How do you control position?........................................................................8
Electronics.......................................................................................................9
What is the circuit to control a DC motor with a microcontroller?................9
What is the circuit to control a stepper motor with a microcontroller?.......10
What is the circuit to control an RC Motor with a microcontroller?.............11
Run through a hypothetical example based on one of the systems. Describe
the problem. Run through the calculations....................................................11
Find commercial components........................................................................13
Motors.........................................................................................................13
Drivers........................................................................................................14
Controllers..................................................................................................15
How do you connect these three...................................................................18
Bibliography......................................................................................................19

Principles of motors
A motor is a type of machine that is able to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy.
This is done by a magnetic field, created along a wire when a current goes through it. If this wire
is then placed alongside two magnets, then the temporary magnetism created by the magnetic
field will cause a force on the wire, causing it to rotate. [1]
Motors are vastly used, and can be found in cars, drills, fans, Blu-ray and DVD players, washing
machines, wind turbines and robots, among many other.

Figure 1 - Simplified diagram of an electric motor

Difference between AC, DC, Servo, Stepper and RC Servo

motors
To broadly differentiate motors, they can be categorized as AC and DC motors. The basic
difference between this to motors is the type of current that is applied to them. The AC motors
use an Alternating Current while the DC motors use a Direct Current.
Due to the armature construction, DC Motors have the capability of modifying their speed
according to the amount of voltage that is applied to them, making them highly useful in
applications where the motor speed has to be controlled externally. DC electric motors have
many moving parts, and are very expensive to replace, which is why they are now being replaced
for an AC alternative with a separate speed controller (variable frequency drives) [2].

Figure 2 - Pulse Width Modulated Variable Frequency Drive

There are many different types of motors branching from these two types, Electrical KnowHow
has a chart categorizing the different motors. [3]
A brushed DC motor is an internally commutated electric motor designed to be run from a direct
current power source. They are widely used in toys, and their main advantage is their
inexpensiveness, ease of use and vast amount of sizes. [3]

Figure 4 - Brushed DC Motor

Figure 3 - Different Types of DC Motors

Since brushed DC motors have several disadvantages, such as wear, sparks (explosions) and
noise produced from the brushes, the brushless DC motors have been gaining popularity, since
instead of having brushes for commutation, they are electronically commutated. Electrical
KnowHow offers a table showing the features of both types of DC motors. [4]
Induction motors are the most common motors used in equipment, they have no need of brushes,
since voltage is induced in the rotor. In Synchronous Motors, the rotor tries to line up with the
rotating magnetic field in the stator, and are often used in systems that use a lot of electricity.
Since Synchronous motors are more complex, they are not as widely used as Induction Motors.
[5] Finally, a linear motor is an unrolled version of a motor, so instead of producing a torque
force, it produces a linear force along its length. [6]

Figure 5 - Different types of AC motors

Among the AC and DC motors, we also

have the Servo, Stepper and RC Servo
motors:
Stepper Motors dont continually rotate
like usual motors, to be able to do this
continual rotation, you would need to
constantly turn on and off the coils for the
shaft to move. Stepper motors rotate in
steps, and each step is a fraction of a full
circle, in degrees. They are also
bidirectional. This can be seen in Error:
Reference source not found.
One of the primary advantage of this motor
against the others, is its capability of
maintaining a position.

Figure 6 - Servo Motor, Stepper Motor and RC Servo Motor

Figure 7 - Stepper Motor Operation (Half Step)

Servo motors and RC Servo motors, unlike Stepper motors, do not move in steps. Servo motors
have two cables, if attached to a power source it will start spinning. Servo motors are also
bidirectional and the speed depends on the amount of load the motor is on.
RC Servo Motors on the other hand, have 3 wires (+V, ground and control), the control signal is
a pulse of around 50 Hz, and the width of this pulse, commonly controlled via a PWM,
determines the position of the motor. [7]

How do you size a motor?

Properly sizing a motor to your needs is important for efficiency and energy savings. Motors are
most efficient when they are 90-95% loaded. If you under load a motor, energy is still being
wasted, there is no benefit in buying a big motor and just under loading it. On the other hand, if a
motor is overloaded, it will draw more current than what it was built for and thus, excess heat
will be produced, shortening the motors life and also causing some safety issues. [8]

EQUATIONS
In order to successfully accelerate a load, the motor must develop and maintain more torque than
what is required. This can be calculated by the following Formula [9]:
Inertia is the property where a body offers resistance to any change in its rest or motion state, and

in order to calculate it, the following formulas can be used [9]:

Once the torque has been determined, the brake horsepower can be found with the following
Formula [9]:

[13] http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=228478

Given a problema, how do you determine torque load?

The idea is to calculate the toque that a motor needs in order to move.
If the load increases then more torque is required.
First you have to calculate the necessary torque
T =Fd
Then, you have to express the speed wanted for the vehicular and calculate the angular speed.
V =d
Finally you can calculate the power needed for the system.
P=T
These equations are used in the practical problem resolved later.

What parameters do you need to solve for to size motor?

Max stator current

Max voltage supported
Nominal Voltage
Nominal angular speed with no load
Nominal angular speed max load
Time overheating
Max temperature supported

CONTROL
What are speed curves?
For a fixed voltage input from a battery, the speed of the motor is reduced as more load is added
to the shaft. When the motor cant move because of the load, the speed is zero, and the motor
produces a stall-torque (ST), which is the maximum. Also, the current drawn from the battery is
the maximum and the motor is heating. This should be avoided to preserve the energy of the
battery. On the other side, when there is no load, the motor moves freely at the maximum speed,
the no-load-speed (NLS). A balance between the two is called the operating point [10], and the
curves may change between motors.

Fig. 8 Speed Curve

http://elpaso.apogee.net/md/mfcttor.asp
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~aknigh/electrical_machines/induction/basics/trq_speed.html

How do you control torque?

Torque is proportional to the current applied to the DC motor, in direct proportion. This produces
the torque-current curve characteristic to each motor. To control the torque one needs to control
the current at a constant load.

Fig. 9 Torque vs Current

How do you control speed?

The speed in a motor can be regulated by using the PWM technique on the supply voltage. The
speed is in direct proportion to the duty cycle, being the maximum at 100% duty cycle. A closedloop control can be used to regulate the speed to a given reference, using a speed sensor
(tachometer, encoder), and a microcontroller. The encoder, for example, gives pulses of
electricity that contain all the information we need to implement a closed loop control. The
frequency of those pulses is directly proportional the the speed of rotation of the shaft (RPM) and
the number of those pulses correspond to the angular displacement of the shaft. [11]

Fig. 10 Feedback lose loop

http://www.me.ua.edu/me360/spring05/Notes/Topic17AC_Motor_Speed_and_Other_Motors_sv.pdf
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=618236
http://www.discovercircuits.com/DJ-Circuits/simplepwm2.htm

How do you control position?

To control position we can use the same principle that applies for speed, and use a closed-loop
control using an encoder as a sensor for the feedback. By counting the number of pulses it
generates, and number of slots of the encoder, we can know how many degrees has the motor
turned, which is its position. From there, a microcontroller can create a signal to move the motor
to the desired position.

Fig. 11 Potentiometer used as position sensor

Electronics
What is the circuit to control a DC motor with a
microcontroller?
To open-loop control a motor with a microcontroller an H-bridge is needed to provide the
negative voltages needed for the motor to go the opposite direction. As can be seen in the image
[12], the circuit needed is the connection between the H-bridge with the motor and the
microcontroller. It is important to note that the H-bridge provides the power to the motor trough
a different voltage source than the 5V needed for digital processing, because if they were the
same the high current could damage the digital systems. Having this connected is a simple matter
of programming the A and B pins to move the motor.

Fig12. MOTOR DC CIRCUIT

http://www.electronicsforu.com/electronicsforu/circuitarchives/view_article.asp?
sno=472&id=4687#.U_K5Evm-2Fw
http://electrosome.com/dc-motor-speed-control-pic-pwm/
http://lfymag.com/admin/issuepdf/Const-2.pdf

What is the circuit to control a stepper motor with a

microcontroller?
If bidirectional control is required, then you need to have the same number of H-bridges as coils
the stepper has. If no bidirectional rotation is needed then the circuit can be built with transistors
like this [13] for a 4-coil stepper motor, were the pins 3, 5, 7 and 9 are the outputs of a
microcontroller that go into hex-buffers:

Fig13. STEPPER MOTOR CIRCUIT

The simplest way to operate a stepper motor with a microcontroller is with the full step pattern
shown in the table. Each part of the sequence turns on only one transistor at a time, one after the
other. After the sequence is completed, it repeats infinitely until power is removed [13].
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

http://www.imagesco.com/articles/picstepper/03.html

What is the circuit to control an RC Motor with a

microcontroller?

Fig14. RC MOTOR CIRCUIT

A RC Servo motor needs energy (battery) and a PWM signal in order to control the position of
the motor.

Run through a hypothetical example based on one of the

systems. Describe the problem. Run through the
calculations.
PROBLEM:
There is a structure of an electrical wheel chair for people that need help to walk.
It has two DC motors but they do not know how to make it work.
SOLUTION:
It is necessary to implement two H-Bridges, one for each motor. There are chips that implements
tow H-Bridges in one package.
A microcontroller is to be used in this problem in order to capture signals form a Joystick and
send signals to the inputs of the H-Bridges.
A Battery is essential to make everything works.

Fig15. CIRCUIT SOLUTION FOR ELECTRICAL WHEEL CHAIR

Lets design a chair for 80Kg person max.
There are two motors so each one has to support 40Kg.
The radius wheel is 7cm
T =Fd

T , torque
F , force o r weight

d ,this case is radius

T =40 kg10

m
0.07 m
2
s

T =28 Nm

28 Nm is the torque for each motor.

V =d
V , speed

d , radius
, angular speed

For a desire speed of 0.5m/s

=
=

V
d

0.5
rad / s
0.07

=7,14 rad / s
P=T

T , torque
P , power

, angular speed
P=28 Nm7.14 rad /s

P=200 W
Thats the energy that the battery has to give to the system.

Find commercial components

Motors
DC MOTOR
POLULO MOTORS

Fig16. POLULO MICRO MOTORS

Micro metal gear motor
25D mm gear motor
37D mm gear motor
http://www.pololu.com/category/51/pololu-metal-gearmotors
SERVOMOTOR
Hi-Tech Motor

Fig17. RC MOTOR
HS-65HB
HS-65MG
http://hitecrcd.com/products/servos/micro-and-mini-servos/analog-micro-and-mini-servos

STEPPER MOTOR
NEMA17

Fig18. STEPPER MOTOR

2 Coils motor 3000 rmp max
http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/es/nid/203936

Drivers
DC MOTOR-STEPPER MOTOR
H-BRIDGE 298

Fig18. DC MOTOR DRIVER

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9670
NOTE1: L298N Driver controls 2 DC Motors or 1 stepper motor (2 coils)
NOTE2: Servo motors have controllers included so in order to make them move it is necessary a
PWM signal.

Controllers
PIC microcontrollers
PIC microcontrollers are finding their way into new applications like smart phones, audio
accessories, video gaming peripherals and advanced medical devices. Microchip provides
solutions for the entire performance range of 8-bit microcontrollers, with easy-to-use
development tools, complete technical documentation and post design-in support through a
global sales and distribution network.
http://www.microchip.com/pagehandler/en-us/family/8bit/

Fig19. PIC MicroController

Arduino microcontrollers
Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. It's
intended for anyone making interactive projects.
http://www.arduino.cc/

Fig20. Arduino Controller

AVR microcontrollers
With ease-of-use, low power consumption, and high level of integration in mind, Atmel AVR
8- and 32-bit microcontrollers complement Atmel's ARM microcontrollers and
microprocessors to deliver a unique combination of performance, power efficiency and design
flexibility.
http://www.atmel.com/products/microcontrollers/avr/default.aspx

Fig21. AVR controller

Overload and Overheat Protection

Fuses are used to protect circuits, motors and controllorers.
Capacitors parallel connected to amotor helps to reduce noise produced by motor movement.

Fig22. CERAMIC CAPACITOR

Fig23. FUSES

How do you connect these three

There is a 16F628A pic microcontroller that sends PWM signals to the inputs of the Hbridge
L298 in order to control a dc motor.
The L298 driver includes circuit protection with opto adopters. Thus design includes fuses for
overload protection and a capacitor connected to the motor to reduce noise in system.

http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/DCMotorControl
http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/H-Bridge/H-Bridge-1.html

Figure 1 - Simplified diagram of an electric motor.........................................................................1

Figure 2 - Pulse Width Modulated Variable Frequency Drive.........................................................1
Figure 3 - Different Types of DC Motors........................................................................................2
Figure 4 - Brushed DC Motor..........................................................................................................2
Figure 5 - Different types of AC motors..........................................................................................2
Figure 6 - Servo Motor, Stepper Motor and RC Servo Motor.........................................................3
Figure 7 - Stepper Motor Operation (Half Step).............................................................................3

Bibliography
[1] C. Woodford, "Electric motors," Explainthatstuff, 30 May 2014. [Online]. Available:
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/electricmotors.html. [Accessed 18 August 2014].
[2] R. Chamberlin, "Difference Between AC and DC Motors," Precision Electronic Industrial
Solutions, 23 May 2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.precision-elec.com/differencebetween-ac-and-dc-motors/. [Accessed 18 August 2014].
[3] Electrical KnowHow, "Classification of Electric Motors," Electrical KnowHow, 2013.
[Online]. Available: http://www.electrical-knowhow.com/2012/05/classification-of-electricmotors.html. [Accessed 18 August 2014].
[4] Electrical KnowHow, "Classification of Electric Motors Part II," Electrical KnowHow,
2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.electrical-knowhow.com/2012/05/classification-ofelectric-motors-part.html. [Accessed August 19 2014].
[5] Electrical KnowHow, "Classification of Electric Motors Part IV," Electrical KnowHow,
2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.electrical-knowhow.com/2012/05/classification-ofelectric-motors-part_22.html. [Accessed 19 August 2014].
[6] Electrical KnowHow, "Classification of Electric Motors Part V," Electrical KnowHow,
2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.electrical-knowhow.com/2012/05/classification-ofelectric-motors-part_24.html. [Accessed 19 August 2014].
[7] R. Arrick, "The Difference Between Stepper Motors, Servos and RC Servos," Arrick
Robotics, [Online]. Available: http://www.arrickrobotics.com/motors.html. [Accessed
August 22 2014].
[8] R. Barnett, "Determining Load Horsepower, Wiring, and Breaker Size for Safe and
Efficient Installations," Fluke, 2014. [Online]. Available:
http://www.fluke.com/fluke/caen/community/fluke-news-plus/ArticleCategories/PlantNews/how-to-properly-size-motors-for-given-load.htm. [Accessed 22 August 2014].
[9] DAE Systems, "How do I properly Size a Motor?," DAE Systems, [Online]. Available:
http://www.trinertia.com/pdf/How_do_I_Properly_Size_a_motor.pdf. [Accessed 22 August
2014].
[10] HyperPhysics, "DC Motors," HyperPhysics, [Online]. Available: http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/motdc.html. [Accessed 18 August 2014].
[11] Freescale, "Motor Principles," Freescale, 2014. [Online]. Available:
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?nodeId=0ST2BDF5DC55DC9.
[Accessed 18 August 2014].
[12] Electrical4u, "DC Motor or Direct Current Motor," Electrical4u, [Online]. Available:
http://www.electrical4u.com/dc-motor-or-direct-current-motor/. [Accessed 18 August
2014].