motor, stepper, and servo

MOTOR, STEPPER, AND SERVO

Motor


DC (Direct Current) Motors are two wire (power & ground), continuous rotation motors. When you supply power, a DC motor will start spinning until that power is removed. Most DC motors run at a high RPM (revolutions per minute), examples being computer cooling fans, or radio controlled car wheels!

The speed of DC motors is controlled using pulse width modulation (PWM), a technique of rapidly pulsing the power on and off. The percentage of time spent cycling the on/off ratio determines the speed of the motor, e.g. if the power is cycled at 50% (half on, half off), then the motor will spin at half the speed of 100% (fully on). Each pulse is so rapid that the motor appears to be continuously spinning with no stuttering!

Servo


Servo motors are generally an assembly of four things: a DC motor, a gearing set, a control circuit and a position-sensor (usually a potentiometer).

The position of servo motors can be controlled more precisely than those of standard DC motors, and they usually have three wires (power, ground & control). Power to servo motors is constantly applied, with the servo control circuit regulating the draw to drive the motor. Servo motors are designed for more specific tasks where position needs to be defined accurately such as controlling the rudder on a boat or moving a robotic arm or robot leg within a certain range.

Servo motors do not rotate freely like a standard DC motor. Instead the angle of rotation is limited to 180 Degrees (or so) back and forth. Servo motors receive a control signal that represents an output position and applies power to the DC motor until the shaft turns to the correct position, determined by the position sensor.

When a servo is commanded to move, it will move to the position and hold that position, even if external force pushes against it. The servo will resist from moving out of that position, with the maximum amount of resistive force the servo can exert being the torque rating of that servo.

Stepper

A stepper motor is essentially a servo motor that uses a different method of motorisation. Where a servo motor uses a continuous rotation DC motor and integrated controller circuit, stepper motors utilise multiple toothed electromagnets arranged around a central gear to define position.

The design of the stepper motor provides a constant holding torque without the need for the motor to be powered and, provided that the motor is used within its limits, positioning errors don't occur, since stepper motors have physically pre-defined stations.

Sumber https://www.modmypi.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-dc-servo-stepper-motors