SHORT PAPERS 745

REFERENCES
111 I. Y . Bar-Itzhack, “Strapdown g p o s in a back-t,o-back configura-
t.ion,” I E E E Trans. Aerospace a n d Electronic Systems. ~ 0 1 .4ES-4,
pp. Sil-Si3 Wovember 1968.
BroxmeGer, Inertial A-acigation Systems. New York: McGraw-
121 C .
1964.
;elson. “Understandinz an inert,ialrdatform,” J.Inst. -Val;inution,

Modeling and Simulation of a Stepping Motor

Fig. 1.
-PHASE-B-
>
Relative positions of stator phases.
Abstract-This short paper presents equations and mathematical
models of a variable-reluctancestepping motor. These models
can be used for the analysis and design of motorperformances
involving single or multiple stepping. The principle of operation
of the stepping motor is also discussed.

IXTRODUCTION

In recent years there has been growing interest in t.he application

of steppingmotorsincontrolsystems. The stepping mot.or has
manyapparentadvantages in posit.ioning controlapplications.
For inst.ance, t.he digital nature of its driving sequence permits
it to int,ellace wit.h many types of digitaltransducers, networks,
and computew with a minimum of interface hardware. The in-
herent holding torque characteristic of a stepping motor makes it
possible for open-loop operationwithoutexternal detent device.
However, there has not been a great deal of publication on t.he
subject of stepping m o t o q especially in the areas of mat.hematical
modeling and optimal control of the motor. O’Donahue [l] and
Kiebul-tz [ Z ] had developed some linear transfer functions for the
stepping mot,or. These linearized representations are inadequate
when the mot.or is used for precision positioning. The paper by
Fredrkcen [3]-[SI dealsmainly withthe optimal control of a
two-phase spchronous induction type stepping motor. Chang [i]
recently published some interest,ing results on the theoretical aspects
of a t,ype of variable-reluct,ance stepping motor.
A stepping mot.or is a. rotary electromechanical energy converter.
It delivers an output in t.he form of discrete angular displacements
when excited with prescribed electrical signals. In common termi-
nology it is a rotating machine which rotates in steps of fixed angles.
The input to such a machine is in t,he form of voltage steps.
The principle of operation of a variable-reluctance stepping
motor is essentially t,he same as that of a reluctance machine. It
therefore invariably has a slotted st.ator and rotor. The electrical
windings needed t,o set up the required magnetomotive force may
be housed on either the st,ator or the rotor or even both. It. is also
possible to have a permanent magnet in t.he rotor while the main
winding is housed on the stator [SI. There are normallyseveral
sets of windings present so that the magnetomot,ive force can be
established along different angular directions. The motor can also
be excited with a sequence of input pulses, in which case t.he out-
put is in the form of several steps. Stepping rates of several thou-
sand steps per second are not uncommon. With the proper alter-
nating signal most. steppingmotors can be made to rotate con-
Manuscript received March 3, 1969.
Theauthors ,are. xith the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Cniversity of Ilhnols. Urbana, 111.
Fig. 2. Torque curve for one phase.
tinuously. In t.hk case the machine operates as an ordinary induc-
tion or reluctance motor.
Exclusive of the old solenoid-ratchet t,ype stepper, most present-
day steppingmotors possess the features outlined previously. Many
different trademarks are
available commercially. The names
“reluctance type,” “synchronoustype,” and “unexcited synchro-
nous type,” are j u s t a few of the common ones.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE MOTOR
The speci6c motor used herefor iUust,ration is t.he variable-
reluct.ance steppingmotor SM-036 manufactured by the ‘A‘arner
Electric Brake & ClutchCompany. The rotor is unexcited and
consists of three separate sets of teeth mounted on the same shaft..
Each set is laminated and has ten teeth uniformly spaced. Toot,h
pit.ch is t.herefore 36” for all three sets. The teet.hon all three
port,ions of t.he rotor are perfect,ly aligned. The stator of the mot.or
also hasthreeseparate laminatedsections and each sect,ion has
eight. teeth. The tooth pitch on the stat.or is the same as that of the
rotor. A separate winding is provided on each stator section to
set up the necessary magnetomotive force. The teeth on one stator
phase are displaced 12 degrees with respect to those of t,he next
stator phase as shown in Fig. 1. Here the teeth of phase C of tl-e
statorare aligned nit,hthe corresponding rotor teeth.Theteeth
of phase A of the stator are displaced clockwise by 12” -cithre-
spect t.0 the teeth of phase C . The teeth of phase B of the stat,or
are dispiaced 12” clockwise with respect to those of phase A , or 12”
counterclochise with respect to those of phase C. When any one
phase of the windings is energized +th a dc signal, the ma.gnetc-
motive force developed will position the rotor such that t.he teeth
of the rotor section under the excited phase are aligned opposite
the teeth on the excited phase of t.he stator. This is the position or
minimum reluctanceand t,he motor is in the st,able equilibrium
position.
746 IEEE TRAXSACTIONS ON AUTOXATIC CONTROL, DECEMBEB 1969

If phase C is energized in Fig. 1, the rotor would be ( i n the

steadystate) posit,ioned as shown in the figure. It can also be
visualized from the same figure that, if the dc signal is switched to
phase A the rotor will rotate by 12", clockwise, and the rotor teet.h
d l be aligned opposite the teethof phase il of the stator.Continuing
in the same way, the input sequence CABCAB. will rotate the -.
motor c l o c k ~ ein steps of 12". Revelsing the input sequence will
reverse t,he direction of rotation. Fig. 3. Schematic represent.ation of one phase of the motor.
The steady-st.ate torque curve of each phase is approximately
as s h o m in Fig. 2. The zerc-degree line represents the axis of any
tooth of the energized stator phase. The nearest rotor tooth axis
will always lie wit.hin 18" on either side of this line. The arrows
on the curve indicate the direction of motion of the rotor. The
position a t f 1 8 ' represents an unstable equilibrium point, since
the slightest shift from this position d l send the motor straight
to 0".
! L
DEVELOPMENT
O F TEE hIATHEX4TIC9L hfODEL

The stepping motor is now t,reated from a single stepping view-

point, andthe equations which govern its performance mill be
derived.
Consider first the equation for the electrical circuit of the stator
windings. Let T7 be the applied voltage per phase, R the winding
resistance per phase, L ( e ) the winding inductanceper phase,
i thecurrent per phase, and 6' the angular displacement.. By
Kirchhoff's volt.age lam-,
V = Ri + (d/d.t)[iL(O)] = Ri + L ( 0 )( d i l d i ) + i ( d / d t ) L ( e )
= Ri + L ( 0 )( d i l d i ) + i ( d / d O ) L ( B )( d e l d t ) . (1)
The term L (6',di/d.t represents transformer electromotive force
or self-induced electromotive force, and i ( d L / d e ) (e) (de/&) repre-
sents the back EMF. It is assumed that theinduct.ance is a function
of the angular displacement e only.
The energy in the air gap can be mitten as
Fig. 4. Block diagram of one phase of the motor.
This torque equation has the same periodic variation wit.h e as t.he
static torque curves. By proper adjustment of X the torque ex-
pression of (9) can be made to represent the fundamentalfrequency
component. of theactual torque. If greater accuracy is desired,
higher harmonics in the inductance as well as in the torque can be
included. -4s a first approximationthis particular choice of inductance
is qt1it.e adequate, as indicated by experimental results.
Although the torque expression is given by (9), it has been found
experimentally that for a given angular position of t.he rotor the
torque variesdirectly as t.he current. Accordingly, the following
relationship can be substituted for the torque developed by t,he
motor:

m = +L(e)zl. (2) T = - E sin (loe) (10)

From elementary electromechanical energy conversion principles where K is adjustedto make this expression ident,ical withthe
[SI, the torque in a singly excited rotational system is given by fundamental component of the ercperimentally obtainedtorque.
E.rperiments have s h o m t h a t t h e torque expression in (lo), com-
T = (a/ae)[F(i,e)] (3) bined wiith the existing variat.ion of the inductance, gives very
where 8 ' is the energy of t.he system expressed exylicit.ly in t,erms
satisfactory simulation result,s.
of i a.nd e. Therefore, (3) is written An ex3ension of the model can now be made to the case when
initial conditions are present and also forthe mult.iple stepping
T = 1'2
2~ ( ~ / w c L ( ~ ) I . (4) operat.ions.
The parameters of each of the three wiudings are ident.ical except
This torqueis then applied to t.he rotor and its equation
of motion is for their angular dependences. Letthe origin be chosen as t.he
eqnilibrium position of phase A . Then the inductance and torque
T = Jr(d2B/dt2) + f r ( d t(?5/)d t ) for this phase are given by
where J , is t,he rotor inertia, and f, denotes the rotor frictional L.d = L1 + L2 COS (100) (11)
coefficient. It is assumed that J , also includes the effects of any
inertial load. Figs. 3 and 4 show t.he schematic representat.ion and Ta = -Kidsin(12)
(10s).
the block diagram for implementing ( l ) , (4),and (5). Phase B has its equilibrium point 12" ahead of the origin, and
At this point the form of the inductance L ( 8 ) is still undefined. phase C has its equilibrium point 12' behind the origin, assuming
I t is known that it varies from a maximum value L , at. the equili- that the sequence ABC represents forward motion. Therefore, the
brium point to a minimum value L,in midway bet,nwn two inductances and torques for phases B and C are
equilibrium points. As a first approximation, let t,he inductance of
one phase of the motor begiven by LB = L,+ ~2 COS [lo(e - 12) 1

L(e) = Ll + Ln COS (loe). (6) = + L?

L COS (loe - 120') (13)

The boundary values can be satisfied by choosing LI and Ln such L~ = L~ + L~ COS (loe + 1200)
(14)
that
L1 L2 = L ax + (7) TB = -kis sin (ioe - 120') (15)

L1 - Ln = Lmin. (8) Tc = -kicsin (ioe + 120"). (16)

Also, the torque generated by this is The electrical circuits of the t,hree phases are isolated and each
has its own set of governing equat,ions. The torques developed by
T = +?(dL/dO) = -Rzzsin (100).
(9) thethree phases, however, add algebraically andtheirreadtant
SHORTPAPERS
Fig. 5. Block diagram of t.he complete system.
acts on therotor. Therefore, t.he t.otal torque is given by
T = +
!i“~TB + Tc. (17)
The block diagram for the ent.ire motor system is s h o r n in Fig. 5.
Given the proper sequence of inputs, V A , VB, and V C , the model
developed mill provide the response of the motor to t.hese inputs.
COMPCTER SlNlJLATIOSS
For the single-stepping operation an analog computer is adequate
to simulate t-he performance of the motor using t.he block diagram
of Fig. 4. However, for multiple-stepping, the block diagram of
Fig. 5 should be used. Furthermore, in this case, since the three
phases of t,he motor are energized sequent.idy,andthe initial
conditions of the phases must. be matched at the snitchinginstants,
a digital computer is needed. TheIBM 360 continuoussystem
modeling program (CSMP) was found to be quit.e suitable for this
purpose. The model and the computer simulation are used for t.he
design of the t,ime-optimal control of the stepping motor.
COXCLUSIOSS
A mathematical model forcomputersimulation of single and
multiple
stepping
operations of a variable-reluctance stepping
motor has been developed. The model has been proved to be quite
accurate and versatile when it is implemented by the IBM 360
CSMP. Many pract.ica1application problems involving the stepping
motor have been solved using the development present.ed in this
paper.
REFEREKCES
111 J. P. O’Donahue, “Transfer function for a stepper mot,or,” Confro2
Engrg.. vol. 8. pp. 103-104. h-ovemher 1961.
121 R . E . vjeburtz, “Thestep motor-the nextadvanceincontrol
systems, I E E E T r a n s . Automatic ConlraZ, 3-01. AC-9. . . 9s-104,
DD.
January 1964.
[SI T . R . Fredriksen, “Closedloopstepping motor application,”Pre-
orints. . 1965 (Tror. N. Y.). DD. 531-538.
-- new^JACC demlopventsand’ ‘applications of theclosedloop
stepiing motor, Prepnnts. 1966 JACC (Seattle. Wash.).pp.767-775.
- , “Direct digital process control of stepping motors,” I B M J .
Res. D e t e b p . . v01. 11, March 1967.
__ “Applicat.ion of the closed-loop stepping motor,” I E E E Trans.
Aummatic Control:, vol. AC-13, pp. 464-474, ,October 1968.
S . S. L. Chang, An analysls of the stepping motor-what can i t
do.” Proc. 196s A-EC. DD. 36-41.
IS] P . ’ J . Lawrencz and L T A . Agu, “A new unexcitedsynchronous
machine,” Proc. I E E (London), vol. 110, no. 7. P. 1275, 1963.
191 A . E .F h g e r a l d ,and C . Eingsley, Jr., EEeclric Machinery. New
Pork: IvlcGraw-Hill, 1961.
747
Time-Optimal Control of a Stepping Motor
Abstmct-Time-optimal control for multiplestepping of a
variable-reluctance type stepping motor is discussed. A controller
with phase-position feedback is designed and built for theminimum-
time control of the motor. Experimental results showed that the
controlled motor is capable of travelingaprescribed number of
steps in near minimum time by the injection of one or two single
pulses and the proper adjustment of the lead angle of the feedback
sensors. High-speed responses such as 300 steps in 100 ms from
start
to stop have been achieved experimentally. E;: k%
INTRODUClrIOW
There has been some misconception that all one needs to make a
stepping motorwork is to apply a pulse train at its input.I n reality,
the control of a stepping motor is a complex subject. For instance,
a stepping motor which normally has a speed of several hundred
steps per second when controlled by an open-loop control scheme
can be made to run at speeds as high &s 10 000 steps per second
with a proper feedback control scheme.
The applications of a st.epping motor can generally be classified
into t.he following three categories:
1 ) Singk Stepping: The mot.or is required to advance one step
a t a time, within a prescribed time interval. Occasionally, oscillation
and overshoot are allowed. In stringent cases, t,he response should
be a deadbeat, and minimum time is desired.
2) Wdtipb Stepping:The motor is to travel a prescribed number
of steps in the shortestpossible time.
3) Constant Speed Drive (Slewing):The motor is to reach a
prescribed const,ant speed wit.hin a certain time interval.
I n this paper, the multiple stepping control problemsare discussed.
The model SM-048 motor manufactured by the Warner Electric
Brake & Clutch Company is used for the experiment. The motor
is of the variablereluctance type. It has 16 teeth in each of its
three phases. Therefore, t.he tooth pitch is 22.5”. Since there are
three phases, each step of the motor corresponds to 7.5”.
MULTIPLE STEPPING
It is apparent that repeating the single-stepping scheme would
not be time-optimal for multiple stepping operations. In principle,
a timeoptimal open-loop control for traveling a number of steps
can be obtained by applying a forward pulse sequence t o generate
ma.ximum positive torqueandthen at some spec& instant of
t,ime the pulse sequence is reversed in order that maximum nega-
tive torque is exerted on the motor shaft causing the motor to
stop at the desired position. However, an apparent difficulty arises
since a different control pulse scheme must be used for a different
desired h a 1 number of steppings. Furthermore, for an open-loop
control, the pulses must be applied at a predeterminedrate. If
the load on the motor changes or if all three phases of the motor
do not generate exactly the same amount of torque, the motor can
exhibitinstability due t.0 inaccurate switching. ThediEculty of
implement,ation and the instability problem can be overcome by
using a phase-positional feedback to determine the properphase
switching. A block diagram of the closed-loop control scheme is
shown in Fig. 1. The feedback sensors sense the position of the
motor and send out a pulse every 7.5” or one step. Fig. 2 shows the
position of t.he two photosensors relat.ive to theslot.ted disk mounted
on the motor shaft.
Manuscript receiwd March 3, 1969.
Theauthors are. withthe Department. of Electrical Engineering,
Uniremty of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.