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Steppers as rotary sensors

I

Iman Habib

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi guys.

I've been thinking a bit about steppers as incremental rotary sensor today.

I guess its pretty simple to use them as sensors by just continuously
normalizing the signal and sampling voltage change (looking for highs and/or lows)
But that would only work well if the shaft moved at acceptable speed.
I think that to slow movements would not induce any worthwhile signal.

So my question is.

Would it not be possible to instead induce a small (small enough so the stepper
wont try to move) current through the coil, sample the signal strength that comes
back when the field collapses and calculate the position of the stepper between
the "teethes". Or are there any strange irregularities in stepper coils that would
prohibit me from effectively doing this or some other problems that might occur?

Of course there would be somewhat of a problem if the stepper shaft
was moving at the same time so I guess this kind of measurement would
only work at standstill or when the shaft is moving very slowly (right?).

Anyone out there that has links to sites related to this idea or has any
personal experience regarding this. I cant seem to find any websites
covering this matter.

regards
/iman
 
D

default

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi guys.

I've been thinking a bit about steppers as incremental rotary sensor today.

I guess its pretty simple to use them as sensors by just continuously
normalizing the signal and sampling voltage change (looking for highs and/or lows)
But that would only work well if the shaft moved at acceptable speed.
I think that to slow movements would not induce any worthwhile signal.

So my question is.

Would it not be possible to instead induce a small (small enough so the stepper
wont try to move) current through the coil, sample the signal strength that comes
back when the field collapses and calculate the position of the stepper between
the "teethes". Or are there any strange irregularities in stepper coils that would
prohibit me from effectively doing this or some other problems that might occur?

Of course there would be somewhat of a problem if the stepper shaft
was moving at the same time so I guess this kind of measurement would
only work at standstill or when the shaft is moving very slowly (right?).

Anyone out there that has links to sites related to this idea or has any
personal experience regarding this. I cant seem to find any websites
covering this matter.

regards
/iman

I don't think you have to worry about slow speed operation. I used a
stepper to generate a signal for another stepper to use as its drive
(using steppers as a "selsyn" system - turn one shaft the driven shaft
turns the same amount at a remote location - with two identical
steppers or a ratio with different step angles)

Anyhow I used an LM324 to sense the coils on the pickup stepper and
couldn't turn the signal stepper so slow that the remote wouldn't
follow.

I'll post my circuit on the alt.binaries.schematics.electronic if the
posting gods will allow it. Use the part on the "input side" to get
your sensing output.

It'll take an hour to scan and post it.
 
M

Mike Harding

Jan 1, 1970
0

And there's a lot of us! You have probably posted this message
to a couple of million people - maybe more?

Was it really necessary to post to:
alt.engineering.electrical,aus.electronics,sci.electronics.components,sci.electronics.basics,sci.electronics.design
?

Why not try just one group to start with?

Mike Harding
 
B

Bill Sloman

Jan 1, 1970
0
Iman Habib said:
Hi guys.

I've been thinking a bit about steppers as incremental rotary sensor today.

I guess its pretty simple to use them as sensors by just continuously
normalizing the signal and sampling voltage change (looking for highs and/or > lows) But that would only work well if the shaft moved at acceptable speed.
I think that to slow movements would not induce any worthwhile signal.

So my question is.

Would it not be possible to instead induce a small (small enough so the
stepper won't try to move) current through the coil, sample the signal
strength that comes back when the field collapses and calculate the position > of the stepper between the "teeth". Or are there any strange irregularities > in stepper coils that would prohibit me from effectively doing this or some > other problems that might occur?

Of course there would be somewhat of a problem if the stepper shaft
was moving at the same time so I guess this kind of measurement would
only work at standstill or when the shaft is moving very slowly (right?).

Anyone out there that has links to sites related to this idea or has any
personal experience regarding this. I cant seem to find any websites
covering this matter.

About the only way I can see you getting useful position information
out of a stationary stepper motor would be by measuring the
inductances of the two sets of coils.

You could do this with very low AC currents, so it wouldn't generate
any torque. You couldn't use particularly high frequencies - the coils
are going to go self-resonant not too far above the maximum stepping
rate, and the iron path losses will become crippling in the same sort
of range - but you should be able to work something out.

There are motor-like parts designed for this sort of job, called
"synchros"

http://www.incon.com/products/prs/1292-ks.htm

shows an example. Analog Devices used to sell integrated circuits
specifically designed for decoding the outputs of these devices, but
I've not had any occasion to check on the status of these parts in
recent years.
 
A

Alan

Jan 1, 1970
0
Iman Habib said:
Hi guys.

I've been thinking a bit about steppers as incremental rotary sensor today.

I guess its pretty simple to use them as sensors by just continuously
normalizing the signal and sampling voltage change (looking for highs and/or lows)
But that would only work well if the shaft moved at acceptable speed.
I think that to slow movements would not induce any worthwhile signal.


Even at slow speed as in single step, there is a breakaway function
and snapping to the new position. Don't really expect you could do it
that it couldn't be sensed, short of having a 3 foot long lever on the
shaft so that you could move it VERY slowly accurately against it's
internal magnetic field.

Also, use a high voltage stepper. A 24 V stepper turned will put
something out even if you turn it very slowly. Should be very hard to
get a non-detect.

Alan
 
R

Rod Speed

Jan 1, 1970
0
And there's a lot of us! You have probably posted this
message to a couple of million people - maybe more?

In your dreams...
Was it really necessary to post to:
alt.engineering.electrical,aus.electronics,sci.electronics.components,sci.electronics.basics,sci.electronics.design
?

It does make a lot of sense to do that.
Why not try just one group to start with?

Because its much more efficient to include that lot instead.
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
And there's a lot of us! You have probably posted this message
to a couple of million people - maybe more?

Was it really necessary to post to:
alt.engineering.electrical,aus.electronics,sci.electronics.components,sci.electronics.basics,sci.electronics.design
?

Why not try just one group to start with?

Mike Harding

It really puzzles me when people get so bent out of shape at
cross-posting....

ALL the experts don't hang out on a single group.

A *good* news-reader, such as Agent, handles cross-posting with grace,
only showing you the post ONCE.

What's your problem? Using an MShit program as a reader... maybe
Outhouse Excuse?

...Jim Thompson
 
R

Rod Speed

Jan 1, 1970
0
It really puzzles me when people get
so bent out of shape at cross-posting....

Just the usual mindless ranting about any change.
ALL the experts don't hang out on a single group.
Indeed.

A *good* news-reader, such as Agent, handles cross-posting
with grace,only showing you the post ONCE.

Or automatically marking it as read in all
the groups its posted to when its first read.
What's your problem?

Ear to ear dog shit, basically.
Using an MShit program as a reader... maybe Outhouse Excuse?

It handles cross posting just as elegantly as Agent.

And doesnt turn you into a rabid bigot to boot.;
 
F

Frank Bemelman

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rod Speed said:
Mike Harding said:
[snip]
Why not try just one group to start with?

Because its much more efficient to include that lot instead.

For the OP perhaps. My ISP won't post my reply, bounces it back
to me, yelling that crossposting is not allowed to >3 groups.
So I have to remove a couple of newsgroups, to post it.

Of course, people can change provider, can change newsreaders,
can move from dial-up accounts to cable/dsl etc.

In the meantime, it's not a such bad idea to limit crossposting.

But I also see people grab a stack of 15 tissues at McDonalds(tm).
Efficient to them, no doubt, and free, so why bother.

Jim Thomson has the same attitude, always posts to 4 newsgroups.
Crossposts when the temperature in Arizona changes. It charactarizes
the person.
 
M

Mike Harding

Jan 1, 1970
0
Nothing in there says that any of the crossposting is inappropriate, fool.

Illiterate as well as stupid!

Mike Harding
 
J

John G

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike Harding said:
fool.

Illiterate as well as stupid!

Mike Harding
I do not always agree with Rod and sometimes he is a bit intolerant but
could you please explain what is wrong with "Cross Posting".
It is better than multiple posting and that is explained in YOUR reference
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/crospost.html

Even Outlook Express handles cross posts quite reasonably.
Wot's Your Real Problem?
 
R

Rod Speed

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike Harding said:
Illiterate as well as stupid!

Even you should be able to bullshit your way out of your
predicament better than that pathetic effort, fuckwit.
 
D

default

Jan 1, 1970
0
(snip)
About the only way I can see you getting useful position information
out of a stationary stepper motor would be by measuring the
inductances of the two sets of coils.

You could do this with very low AC currents, so it wouldn't generate
any torque. You couldn't use particularly high frequencies - the coils
are going to go self-resonant not too far above the maximum stepping
rate, and the iron path losses will become crippling in the same sort
of range - but you should be able to work something out.

There are motor-like parts designed for this sort of job, called
"synchros"

http://www.incon.com/products/prs/1292-ks.htm

shows an example. Analog Devices used to sell integrated circuits
specifically designed for decoding the outputs of these devices, but
I've not had any occasion to check on the status of these parts in
recent years.

You will never get "absolute" position information (turn it on and it
tells you how many degrees the shaft is relative to "north") but it is
easy to get relative information. With my synchro, the position was
very accurately reflected in the drive motor. As long as no one turned
the drive motor deliberately, it would show just what the driven motor
was doing.

There's all kinds of shaft encoders, the simplest is just a series of
lines on a disc to pick up rotational speed, a stepper could easily
handle that task. A stepper just as easily goes one further, it puts
out two phases so it can tell which direction the shaft is turning in.
(or, more correctly, if the direction has changed).

If one is a hobbyist and cost is a consideration, or just fooling
around with an idea, steppers are interesting devices. Where else can
you get an off the shelf alternator that puts out a few watts at slow
rotational speeds, for instance? Priced a full fledged synchro system
recently? Even surplus 400 cycle aircraft synchros aren't used much
these days, shipboard 120/60 cycle ones are practically museum pieces.
I built my stepper synchro for less than $10. Solve a problem
inexpensively and get to tinker with it is how I relax - Working on
someone else's 8 million dollar project and I buy better and more
costly hardware.
 
D

default

Jan 1, 1970
0
Even at slow speed as in single step, there is a breakaway function
and snapping to the new position. Don't really expect you could do it
that it couldn't be sensed, short of having a 3 foot long lever on the
shaft so that you could move it VERY slowly accurately against it's
internal magnetic field.

Also, use a high voltage stepper. A 24 V stepper turned will put
something out even if you turn it very slowly. Should be very hard to
get a non-detect.

Alan
You're right. My first attempt was to input the stepper to a
darlington transistor with no amplification - the stepper had to turn
at some speed before the 1.2 volts the darlington needed was met.

Second attempt was to bias the darlington's just shy of conduction -
worked but as ambient temperature increased, the darlingtons would
work in the linear range and self heat.

Third attempt was with an op amp, and it is so sensitive that it is
hard to imagine anything moving so slowly that it wouldn't catch it.
And like you said, the natural cogging action of the stepper will
cause it to jump ahead when the magnetic field between steps is
overcome (assuming there's just a little slop in the linkage between
the turning shaft and the stepper shaft).

Turning it by hand with a knob on the shaft, I couldn't move it so
slowly that the op amp wouldn't detect it. Geological events might
move slowly enough that a stepper won't detect them - for that we have
lasers and mirrors.
 
M

Michael Black

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike said:
It's not just a matter of newsreaders. Cross-posting is usually the
result of someone who can't be bothered to figure out the most appropriate
newsgroup, so they shotgun across a bunch of somewhat related ones:
alt.engineering.electrical,
aus.electronics,
sci.electronics.components,
sci.electronics.basics,
sci.electronics.design

I can say outright that if it's posted to basics, it doesn't belong
in design, or vice versa. If you are a beginner, then you aren't ready
for design, and if you can design, then you've gone past the basics.

And then, let's post to a two other hierarchies, just because they exist.
While I can see someone post to the Australian newsgroup, because they live
there and are among familiar people, I don't see the point if they are posting
to some other newsgroup. And if the original poster is not in Australia,
then the only reason they've posted there is because they saw the "electronic"
in the newsgroup name and decided to post there. That happens a lot with
cross-posting, people search for pertinent newsgroups using a keyword,
and then don't bother checking the newsgroups before they post.

And while I have no idea what alt.engineering.electrical is supposed to
be for, electrical invokes an image of motors and light switches and
things that Tesla, Edison, and Westinghouse worked with. A stepper is
nominally an electrical rather than electronic item, but I'd unless someone
is discussing making stepper motors, I'd place them in the electronic realm
since they virtually all the time require

Another key point against cross-posting is that it can often result
in unrelated issues, such as this, because someone has jumped into
some existing groups at the same time. People who don't normally talk
together are suddenly interacting, but without the interaction of
other things to temper the discussion. So if a discussion is kept to
one newsgroup, if someone says something that I'd consider outrageous,
I might think twice about saying something because I know some common
points that I have with that poster, and maybe even I realize that
I'll have to live with that person in the newsgroup in the future.
That's not the case when suddenly "people from other newsgroups" are
in the familiar newsgroup. This guy is an idiot for cross-posting.
The only real thing I know about him is that he's cross-posted; I
don't even know which, if any, of the newsgroups he posted to
is the one he regularly hangs out in.

Michael
 
D

default

Jan 1, 1970
0
It's not just a matter of newsreaders. Cross-posting is usually the
result of someone who can't be bothered to figure out the most appropriate
newsgroup, so they shotgun across a bunch of somewhat related ones:
alt.engineering.electrical,
aus.electronics,
sci.electronics.components,
sci.electronics.basics,
sci.electronics.design

I can say outright that if it's posted to basics, it doesn't belong
in design, or vice versa. If you are a beginner, then you aren't ready
for design, and if you can design, then you've gone past the basics.

And then, let's post to a two other hierarchies, just because they exist.
While I can see someone post to the Australian newsgroup, because they live
there and are among familiar people, I don't see the point if they are posting
to some other newsgroup. And if the original poster is not in Australia,
then the only reason they've posted there is because they saw the "electronic"
in the newsgroup name and decided to post there. That happens a lot with
cross-posting, people search for pertinent newsgroups using a keyword,
and then don't bother checking the newsgroups before they post.

And while I have no idea what alt.engineering.electrical is supposed to
be for, electrical invokes an image of motors and light switches and
things that Tesla, Edison, and Westinghouse worked with. A stepper is
nominally an electrical rather than electronic item, but I'd unless someone
is discussing making stepper motors, I'd place them in the electronic realm
since they virtually all the time require

Another key point against cross-posting is that it can often result
in unrelated issues, such as this, because someone has jumped into
some existing groups at the same time. People who don't normally talk
together are suddenly interacting, but without the interaction of
other things to temper the discussion. So if a discussion is kept to
one newsgroup, if someone says something that I'd consider outrageous,
I might think twice about saying something because I know some common
points that I have with that poster, and maybe even I realize that
I'll have to live with that person in the newsgroup in the future.
That's not the case when suddenly "people from other newsgroups" are
in the familiar newsgroup. This guy is an idiot for cross-posting.
The only real thing I know about him is that he's cross-posted; I
don't even know which, if any, of the newsgroups he posted to
is the one he regularly hangs out in.

Michael
Hi Mike
How do you feel about off topic rants posted to five newsgroups?

Just joking . . .
 
D

daestrom

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rod Speed said:
Nothing in there says that any of the crossposting is inappropriate, fool.

Well, it does mention that 'should never be used indiscrimenately.' and
'Avoid cross-posting to groups that are branches of the same sub-hierarchy,
that is don't cross-post to adjacent newsgroups.' Like, oh, maybe
'sci.electronics.components, sci.electronics.basics, and
sci.electronics.design.'

But as cross-posts go, this thread is pretty 'nice'. It started
electrical/electronic in nature and is limited to groups that have that
frame of mind.

The really nasty ones are political posts to science and engineering groups
like the recent rash of them by 'Your Special Friend' and his related names.
Or the obvious virus trolls and porno spam. But hey, I'm a big boy, I can
ignore them. Even with MS Outlook Express, it isn't very hard to do.

daestrom
 
R

Rod Speed

Jan 1, 1970
0
Well, it does mention that 'should never be used indiscrimenately.'

Yes, but that clearly wasnt done with the original post.
and 'Avoid cross-posting to groups that are branches of the same
sub-hierarchy, that is don't cross-post to adjacent newsgroups.'

Thats a stupid proscription.
Like, oh, maybe 'sci.electronics.components,
sci.electronics.basics, and sci.electronics.design.'
But as cross-posts go, this thread is pretty 'nice'.

Yep, it clearly is doing what that FAQ recommends.
It started electrical/electronic in nature and is
limited to groups that have that frame of mind.
Precisely.

The really nasty ones are political posts to science and engineering groups
like the recent rash of them by 'Your Special Friend' and his related names.
Or the obvious virus trolls and porno spam. But hey, I'm a big boy, I can
ignore them. Even with MS Outlook Express, it isn't very hard to do.

Completely trivial, actually.
 
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