Technology

Stepper motors are electric motors and are comparable with synchronous motors. The rotor is designed as a permanent magnet, while the stator consists of a coil package. In contrast to synchronous motors, stepper motors have a large number of pole pairs. In a minimum control configuration, the stepper motor is moved from pole to pole, or from step to step.

Stepper motors have been around for many years. They are robust, easy to control, and provide high torque. In many applications, the step counting facility saves expensive feedback systems. Even with the increasingly widespread use of synchronous servomotors, stepper motors are by no means "getting long in the tooth". They are considered to represent mature technology and continue to be developed further in order to reduce costs and physical size, increase torque and improve reliability.