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#Product Trends

Are stepper motors and brushless DC motors replacing brushed drives?

When Graham Fick first started work in the drives and controls industry, large parts of his work were dominated by brushed DC motors and basic speed control. Where exact speed requirements were needed this inevitably involved gearboxes and encoders (with complicated PID feedback loops). This complexity, and the low lifespan of these motors was increasingly seen as a source of frustration by many clients. However, in recent years, Graham has seen the cost of stepper and BLDC motors fall and adoption rates of these motors have increased.

Extra lifespan means lower lifetime cost

One of the reasons that increased numbers of people are turning to stepper motors is undoubtedly the extra control accuracy they offer, but many also prefer the additional lifespan. Graham highlights the fact that a typical brushed motor may operate for around 2000 hours but stepper motors (without any major radial load to damage bearings) can comfortably operate for 10000 hours. In complex applications where servicing can add significant costs this represents a major advantage.

New control options

Perhaps the biggest barrier to stepper motor adoption for many OEMs has been problems with control options. OEMs were faced with a choice between cheap Chinese imports with poor reliability and no follow up service or prohibitively expensive custom options. However, control options such as the Zikodrive S+ have changed this (www.zikodrive.com). Designed and manufactured in the UK and available with a range of off board hardware, the Zikodrive S+ offers high level microstepping control, custom programmability and can be supplied with programmer units so that users can easily change settings depending on their application. All of these advancements are continuing to reshape the options available to OEMs and are enticing increasing numbers of OEMs to replace brushed systems with either stepper motors or BLDC motors. Given, the falling costs and major technical advantages of these options this trend seems set to continue.

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  • Zikodrive motor controllers

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