ST Life.augmented

Stepper motor - Unipolar drive

In a unipolar motor, all stator windings share a common terminal, and the free terminal of each winding is connected to a separate power switch and the current is allowed to flow in one direction through the motor windings.

A stepper motor driver typically works in switch mode and includes a current control circuit allowing the current in the windings to be controlled in such a way that it follows a predetermined profile. In half- and full-step modes, the current profile is rectangular, while in micro-step mode it is nearly sinusoidal.
An array of switches is sufficient to drive unipolar stepper motors

Design Support


Technical Documentation

Application Notes

Description Version Size
AN2385: Power dissipation and its linear derating factor, silicon limited drain current and pulsed drain current in MOSFETs
1.6 627 KB
AN468: Constant/current chopper drive ups stepper/motor performance
1.2 102 KB
AN469: Using the L6506 for current control of stepping motors
1.4 1,434 KB
AN470: The L297 stepper motor controller
1.1 169 KB
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