STM17 Integrated Steppers - NEMA 17 Integrated Drive+Motor with Multiple Control Options

STM integrated steppers are drive+motor units, fusing step motor and drive components into a single device. This space-saving design eliminates wiring and saves on cost over conventional motor and drive solutions.

The STM17 integrated steppers combine high torque NEMA 17 step motors with a sophisticated, 2.0 A/phase (peak-of-sine) step motor drive. Power to the drive, located at the rear of the motor, must be supplied by an external DC supply. Applied Motion offers compatible 24 and 48 volt DC power supplies for exactly this purpose.

All STM17 integrated steppers are RoHS and CE compliant.

Control Options:

The STM17 integrated steppers come with the choice of four control options: R, S, Q, and C.

• The “R” control option means the drive operates in step & direction control mode. This includes step (pulse) & direction and CW/CCW pulse (pulse-pulse) signal types. The R control option is designed for use with an external controller that provides one of these pulse signal types.
• The “S” control option means the drive can operate in the following control modes: step (pulse) & direction, velocity (oscillator), and streaming serial commands (SCL). (STM17 integrated steppers do not support operation with the Applied Motion 4-axis and 8-axis SiNet Hubs).
• The “Q” control option means the drive can operate in all of the same control modes as the S option, plus the ability to run a Q program stored in non-volatile memory. Q programs are created using Applied Motion’s Q Programmer™ software, which provides powerful commands for motion, I/O, conditional processing, multi-tasking, math functions, and more.
• The “C” control option means the drive is designed to operate on a CANopen communication network and conforms to Can in Automation (CiA) DS301 and DSP402 specifications. C versions support Profile Position, Profile Velocity, and Homing modes, as well as the ability to run stored Q programs via Applied Motion-specific CANopen objects.

STM17 integrated steppers with the S, Q or C control option are setup and configured using Applied Motion’s ST Configurator™ software. The R control option requires no software for setup; these units are set up using on-board dip switches.

Encoder Option:

Optional 1000-line (4000 count/rev) incremental encoders are available for STM17 steppers.

On units with the S, Q or C control option the encoder is housed inside the same enclosure as the drive electronics, providing protection from dust and debris. The addition of the encoder means the stepper can perform special functions not available otherwise. Stall Detection notifies the system as soon as the required torque is too great for the motor, which results in a loss of synchronization between the rotor and stator, also known as stalling. Stall Prevention actually prevents stalling of the step motor by dynamically adjusting motor speed to maintain synchronization of the rotor to the stator under all conditions. This unique feature allows step motors to operate in a much broader range of applications than previously available to step motors, such as torque-control applications. The Stall Prevention feature also performs static position maintenance, which maintains the position of the motor shaft when at rest.

The optional encoder available for units with the R control option is mounted externally to the drive enclosure, and the functionality available to the user is defined solely by the external controller used.

Inputs/Outputs:

All STM17 integrated steppers come with 3 digital inputs that accept signals of 5-24 VDC. On S, Q and C versions these inputs can be used for connecting pulse & direction signals, end-of-travel limit switches, jog switches, quadrature encoder signals, PLC outputs, sensors, or many other signal types. On R versions the first two inputs are used for the step pulse signals and the third input is used to enable/disable motor power.

All STM17 steppers come with 1 digital output. On S, Q and C versions this output can be defined as a fault output, a motion output, or as a general purpose output, and can be connected to PLC inputs, counters, lights, relays, or other devices. On R versions this output is used to signal a drive or motor fault.

Units with the S, Q and C control options also come with 1 analog input (not available on R versions). This analog input accepts 0-5 VDC and can be used for velocity and position control.

Communication Ports:

STM17 integrated steppers with the S and Q control options are available with either RS-232 or RS-485 ports for programming and serial communications. For single-axis applications where no serial networking is required the RS-232 option is recommended. For applications where communications over a serial network are required the RS-485 option is recommended. Units with the C control option come with an RS-232 port for programming and a CANopen port for network communications. Units with the R control option do not have any communication ports.