 Title

Open Loop position control of stepper motor system

 Objectives
 To study the relationship between frequency of system and the period set-up in the
experiment.
 To propose analysis the performance of the stepper motor of the system between
period setting and actual time recorded.
 Abstract

In this lab report, the control system is designed using OPEN loop position Control of
stepper Motor System and Stepper Motor with model transfer function of the plant in
which rotation of motor is to be controlled and Time response and Frequency Response
analysis is done both theoretically and by simulation. At the end of the report, we will
found the analysis and relationship between frequency, period and time recorded.

1
 Introduction

Output,
Desired Angle
Controller Stepper Stepper Actual Angle
(MyRIO) Driver Motor

Figure 1: Block diagram of the Stepper Position control

A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC

electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position
can then be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any position
sensor for feedback (an open-loop controller), as long as the motor is carefully sized to the
application in respect to torque and speed. Brushed DC motors rotate continuously when DC
voltage is applied to their terminals. The stepper motor is known by its property to convert a
train of input pulses (typically square wave pulses) into a precisely defined increment in the
shaft position. Each pulse moves the shaft through a fixed angle.

Computer controlled stepper motors are a type of motion-control positioning system.

They are typically digitally controlled as part of an open loop system for use in holding or
positioning applications.

In the field of lasers and optics they are frequently used in precision positioning
equipment such as linear actuators, linear stages, rotation stages, goniometers, and mirror
mounts. Other uses are in packaging machinery, and positioning of valve pilot stages for fluid
control systems.

2
 Theory
When model of a system is generated, various techniques available for analysis. In
practice input signal or disturbance is not known. Thus for design purpose, standard input
is used. This can be justified because there is correlation exist between the system
response to the test signal and the system ability to perform under normal operating
system. The common test signals are as follows;

Stepper motors effectively have multiple "toothed" electromagnets arranged around a

central gear-shaped piece of iron. The electromagnets are energized by an external driver
circuit or a micro controller. To make the motor shaft turn, first, one electromagnet is given
power, which magnetically attracts the gear's teeth. When the gear's teeth are aligned to the
first electromagnet, they are slightly offset from the next electromagnet. This means that
when the next electromagnet is turned on and the first is turned off, the gear rotates slightly to
align with the next one. From there the process is repeated. Each of those rotations is called a
"step", with an integer number of steps making a full rotation. In that way, the motor can be
turned by a precise angle.

Nowadays, because miniaturized brushless motors are introduced in many

applications, new position sensors are being developed, such as a three branches vertical Hall

3
sensor. The connecting principle between the brushless motor and this sensor is reminiscent
of the miniaturized magnetic angular encoder based on 3-D Hall sensors. A permanent
magnet is fixed at the end of a rotary shaft and the magnetic sensor is placed below, and the
magnet creates a magnetic field parallel to the sensor surface. This surface corresponds to the
sensitive directions of the magnetic sensor. Three-phase brushless motors need three signals
with a phase shift of 120° for control, so a closed-loop regulation may be used to improve the
motor performance. Each branch could be interpreted as a half of a vertical Hall sensor and
are rotated by 120° in comparison to the other. Only a half of a vertical Hall sensor is used
since little space is available for the five electrical contacts (two for the supply voltage and
three to extract the Hall voltages). This sensor automatically creates three signals with a
phase shift of 120°, which directly correspond to the motor driving signals, to simplify the
motor control in a closed-loop configuration. A first alignment is between the rotor
orientation and the permanent magnet, and a second alignment is between the stator and the
sensor. This alignment will allow the motion information for the motor and the information
about its shaft angular position.

PROCEDURE

1. Myrio was connected to the computer.

2. Labview and this software were opened and will generate the block diagram for the
connection.
3. Make sure the wire connect and pin is in the correct ports and orders.

Figure: Schematic diagram of the circuit

4
4. For the first experiment the period was kept constant at 100 ms while the frequency
was set to 10000 hz.
5. Start the experiment and record time taken for the stepper motor to complete its cycle.
6. The experiment was repeated with 20000, 30000, 40000, 50000, 60000, 70000,
80000, 90000, 100000 hz.
7. Then for the next experiment, the frequency is kept constant and the period was set to
100 ms.
8. Start the experiment and record the time taken for the stepper motor to complete its
cycle.
9. The experiment was repeated with 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000
ms.

5
RESULT

Frequency T(period) Rotation( o ) Time (s)

10000 100 270 1.99
20000 100 540 3.9
30000 100 810 5.4
40000 100 1125 7.42
50000 100 1442 9.15
60000 100 1665 11.11
70000 100 1980 12.78
80000 100 2250 14.38
90000 100 2520 16.68
100000 100 3195 17.6

Table 1: Data for Experiment 1

Graph 1: Time vs Frequency

6
Frequency T(period) Rotation( o ) Time (s)
10000 100 270 1.99
10000 200 270 2.35
10000 300 270 3.16
10000 400 270 4.11
10000 500 270 5.31
10000 600 270 6.28
10000 700 270 7.2
10000 800 270 8.18
10000 900 270 9.24
10000 1000 270 9.98

Table 2: Data for Experiment 2

Graph 2: Time vs Period

7
 Muhammad Nabil Farhan bin Tajuddin
2017806792
EMD6M 3A

Discussion

One of the main advantages of stepper motors is that they are suitable for open-loop control.
Under open-loop control, the step motor is controlled by a pulse sequence with definite time
interval, and the feedback to the sensor and the corresponding electronic circuit are unneeded
in the control system. This kind of circuit is simple with low cost, so that the open-loop
control system of stepper motor can be widely used.
However, the open-loop control of the stepper motor cannot avoid the inherent disadvantages
of the stepper motor itself, that is, resonance, oscillation, step loss and difficult to achieve
high speed. On the other hand, it is difficult for the accuracy of open-loop control stepper
motor system to be higher than the classification and its positioning accuracy is relatively
low. Therefore, in the system with high requirement of accuracy and stability standards, the
closed loop control system should be adopted.

The closed-loop control of stepper motor can determine the phase transition with the rotor
position by using position feedback and (or) speed feedback, which can greatly improve the
performance of stepper motor.
In the closed-loop control system of the stepper motor, or the tracking and feedback with
specific accuracy, we should expand the range of working speed, improve the tracking and
positioning accuracy at a given speed, or get the speed limit and accuracy index limit.
Compared with the open-loop control performance, the closed-loop control performance of
the stepper motor has the following advantages:
1. With the increase of output torque, the speed of the two decreases in nonlinear form, but the
closed-loop control improves the torque frequency characteristic.
2. In the closed-loop control, the output power / torque curve can be improved. The reason is
that the motor excitation conversion is based on the rotor position information in the closed
loop condition. The current value depends on the motor load. Therefore, even in low speed
range, the current can also be fully converted to torque.
3. Under closed loop control, the efficiency torque curve is improved。

8
Based on graph, period versus time recorded, the higher the period of the stepper motor, the
more time need to in order to achieve particular rotation (angle of shaft), this probably
because the decreasing number of frequency created by the period in the graph.

Conclusion

Step motors find wide applications as an electrical actuator. It can be readily interfaced with a
computer and can be controlled for rotation at a very small angle, or a precisely determined
speed. Step motors nowadays can deliver large torque also. These are the reasons step motors
are gradually replacing conventional a.c. and d.c. motors in many cases. The constructions,
principles of operation and driving schemes used for step motor have been discussed in this
lesson. Both the open loop and close loop control schemes for position control of step motors
have been elaborated. The torque characteristics of a step motor is distinctly different from
conventional motors and nonlinear in nature.

9
MUHAMMAD NAFIE BIN NOR ASMADI
2017806732

Discussion

This experiment was conducted to investigate the performance of position control system
using stepper motor. As we can see from the experiment one which the period of pulses we
kept constant meanwhile the frequency was manipulated. The data shows that when the
frequency was set to 10000 hz with same period of pulse that is 100 ms, it will rotate to 270 o
with time taken of 1.99 s. When the frequency increases to 100000 hz with same period of
pulse 100 ms, the rotation of the stepper motor from its initial position are 3195 o with time
17.6 s. The graph shows that the increases of value of time for the stepper motor to complete
its rotation as the frequency increases. The speed of the stepper motor will be the same since
its period of pulse is same that is 100 ms. Next for experiment two are to test what happen to
the system when the ones that is kept constant are the frequency and the period of pulses are
the one that is manipulated. The data shows that at period of pulses of 100 ms with frequency
of 10000 hz, the stepper motor rotate at 270 o with time taken to complete its cycle 1.99 s. The
period of pulses is then increases to 1000 with the same frequency that is 10000 hz, the
stepper motor will rotate at 270 o with time taken to complete its cycle is 9.98 s. This graph
shows that the increases of the period of pulses will increase the time taken for the stepper
motor to complete its rotation.
During the experiment conducted, some error may be present such as parallax error. The
angle of rotation of the stepper motor are measured using protractor which means that it is not
the suitable tools to use for this experiments. Besides during taking reading of the stopwatch
there also may be error present which is the late or too early push the button of stopwatch to
taking its reading. This will lead to inaccurate data that had been obtain.

10
Conclusion

In conclusion, the objective of the experiment to investigate the performance of position

control system using stepper motor had achieved. It is concluded that the greater the
frequency value, the more the rotation of stepper motor, the higher the time for the stepper
motor to complete it cycle even though it have the same period of pulses. Moreover, the
higher the period of pulse for the same value of frequency will cause the increases in value of
time taken for the stepper motor to complete its cycle.

11
Muhammad Razlan Bin Ghazali
2017806762
Group 3A

Discussion

Based on the experiment, the control system is designed using OPEN loop position Control of
stepper Motor System and Stepper Motor with model transfer function of the plant in which
rotation of motor is to be controlled and Time response and Frequency Response analysis is
done both theoretically and by simulation.

Based on the graph with data that are obtained during conducting the experiment, the graph
show the performance of the current control loop by display the result in form of graph stepper
frequency versus period of pulse in millisecond as the angle rotation of the stepper motor for
certain frequency was recorded to analyses the performance of the control systems. For the first
experiment, the period of the pulse was constant with value of 100 millisecond. For the
frequency of 5000, the stepper motor rotate about 1442 degree, 10000 frequency rotate about
3195 degree. From this data obtained, the rotation angle was increasing when the frequency
was also increasing with the time taken for the rotation to stop will increase with linear rise
graph.

Next, to check the effect of the period of pulse for the stepper motor performance another
experiment is conducted. By using constant frequency of 10000, the period of the pulse used
was 100 until 10000 millisecond. The rotation angle of every period was 270 degree but the
time taken for the rotation to stop was different. If the period of the pulse is lower, the time
taken to stepper motor to stop rotate was faster.

12
Conclusion

In conclusion, from this experiment the objective of this experiment is to investigate the
performance of the position control system using stepper motor can be archieved. Several
data are able to be obtain that can be a guidance to analyze the performance of the control
system using stepper motor. For the frequency control, the higher the frequency, the higher
the rotation angle of the stepper motor. If the period of pulse is lower, the time taken for the
rotation to stop was faster. On the other hand, frequency and period of pulse both effect the
performance of the control system using stepper motor in different way. For this experiment,
we manage to achieve some of our objective because of some error happen.

13
MUHAMMAD HILMANUDDIN BIN MUZAKKIR 2017806734

DISCUSSION

A stepper motor is used to achieve precise positioning via digital control. The motor
operates by accurately synchronizing with the pulse signal output from the controller to the
driver. Stepper motors, with their ability to produce high torque at a low speed while
minimizing vibration, are ideal for applications requiring quick positioning over a short
distance.

In an open-loop controller, also called a non-feedback controller, the control action

from the controller is independent of the process output, which is the process variable that is
being controlled. It does not use feedback to determine if its output has achieved the desired
goal of the input command or process setpoint.

There are a large number of open loop controls, such as on/off switching of valves,
machinery, lights, motors or heaters, where the control result is known to be approximately
sufficient under normal conditions without the need for feedback. The advantage of using open
loop control in these cases is the reduction in component count and complexity. However, an
open-loop system cannot correct any errors that it makes or correct for outside disturbances,
and cannot engage in machine learning.

In open loop control, the control action from the controller is independent of the process
output or controlled process variable. A good example of this is a central heating boiler
controlled only by a timer, so that heat is applied for a constant time, regardless of the
temperature of the building. The control action is the switching on/off of the boiler, but the
controlled variable should be the building temperature, but is not as this is open-loop control
of the boiler, which does not give closed-loop control of the temperature.

An open-loop controller is often used in simple processes because of its simplicity and
low cost, especially in systems where feedback is not critical. A typical example would be an
older model domestic clothes dryer, for which the length of time is entirely dependent on the

14
judgement of the human operator, with no automatic feedback of the dryness of the clothes.
For example, an irrigation sprinkler system, programmed to turn on at set times could be an
example of an open-loop system if it does not measure soil moisture as a form of feedback.
Even if rain is pouring down on the lawn, the sprinkler system would activate on schedule,
wasting water.

Related to this experiment, a stepper motor is used for control of position. Sending it a
stream of electrical pulses causes it to rotate by exactly that many steps, hence the name. If the
motor was always assumed to perform each movement correctly, without positional feedback,
it would be open loop control. However, if there is a position encoder, or sensors to indicate
the start or finish positions, then that is closed-loop control, such as in many inkjet printers.
The drawback of open-loop control of steppers is that if the machine load is too high, or the
motor attempts to move too quickly, then steps may be skipped. The controller has no means
of detecting this and so the machine continues to run slightly out of adjustment until reset. For
this reason, more complex robots and machine tools instead use servomotors rather than
stepper motors, which incorporate encoders and closed-loop controllers.

However, open-loop control is very useful and economic for well-defined systems
where the relationship between input and the resultant state can be reliably modelled by a
mathematical formula. For example, determining the voltage to be fed to an electric motor that
drives a constant load, in order to achieve a desired speed would be a good application. But if
the load were not predictable and became excessive, the motor's speed might vary as a function
of the load not just the voltage, and an open-loop controller would be insufficient to ensure
repeatable control of the velocity.

15
CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, the experiment of open loop position control of stepper motor system has
been successfully conducted. Furthermore, able to investigate the performance of position
control system using stepper motor. Also, able to analyze and evaluate the performance of the
control system. Hence, the objectives of the experiment are positively achieved. A stepper
motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC electric motor that
divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can then be
commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any position
sensor for feedback (an open-loop controller), as long as the motor is carefully sized to the
application in respect to torque and speed.

16
MUHAMMAD SHAFRUL AIMAN BIN MOHD SHAIDI 2017631858

Discussion

Stepper motors are inherently open-loop devices. They don’t require feedback because
each pulse of current delivered by the drive equals one step of the motor (or a fraction of a step,
in the case of microstepping). And with small step sizes, or step angles, the motor’s position
can be determined very precisely without the need for a feedback device and complicated
control schemes. Based in this experiment, using stepper motor is a good choice for open loops
system. The process flow from this experiment is started from input data at controller (MyRIO),
then move to Stepper driver and exits as an output from Stepper motor. This process does not
include feedback. Also, as an open-loop system does not use feedback to determine if its
required output was achieved, it “assumes” that the desired goal of the input was successful
because it cannot correct any errors it could make, and so cannot compensate for any external
disturbances to the system.

After observation of the output, the experiment can carry forward by analyze and
evaluate the performance of the control system. The graph also had plotted from the recorded
data. Two graph exist, which is time versus frequency and time versus period. Both graph
displayed a directly proportional through both axis. At time versus frequency graph, setting
fixed period value of 100 period and frequency at 10000 Hz, the time took until 17.6 seconds.
As the rotation and frequency increase, the time also increases. For the time versus period
graph, the rotation fixed at 270 degrees. This graph took 9.98 seconds in time and 1000 period
length. As the time increases, the period also increases. The advantages of this type of “open-
loop motor control” is that it is potentially cheap and simple to implement making it ideal for
use in well-defined systems were the relationship between input and output is direct and not
influenced by any outside disturbances. Unfortunately this type of open-loop system is
inadequate as variations or disturbances in the system affect the speed of the motor. Then
another form of control is required.

17
Conclusion

Briefly, the open loop position of Stepper motor system had been investigate. The
performance of stepper motor is result in handling and operate the system. Thus, the
performance of this control system had also been analyze and evaluated. It results in directly
proportional graph data, so it stated as success experiment.

18
AMIER DANIAL BIN NOR AZIZI 2016218438

Discussion

Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller can be defined as a mechanism of control

loop feedback. The idea behind a PID controller is to read a sensor and then compute the desired
actuator output by calculating proportional, integral, and derivative responses and summing
those three components to compute the output.

A stepper motor or step motor or stepping motor is a brushless DC electric motor that divides
a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can then be commanded to
move and hold at one of these steps without any position sensor for feedback (an open-loop
controller), as long as the motor is carefully sized to the application in respect to torque and
speed.

As the data collected, a graph of Time vs, Period is made to represent it. From the graph, we
can observed that the time recorded increasing linearly to the period to complete
one cycle of 270°. From the formula : we can conclude that

frequency is inversely proportional to period.

Conclusion

Stepper motors are excellent for positioning applications. Stepper motors can be precisely
controlled in terms of both distance and speed simply by varying the number of pulses and their
frequency. We also learned relationship between frequency of system and the period set-up in
the experiment is inversely proportional and time is inversely proportional to period.

19