Re: Microstepping vs. stepping noise

Hi,

There are 3 noise sources with step motors.

1. Low speed resonance. If you are using a full step or half step
drive, it will make a lot of noise at speeds below 1 rev per second.
Microstepping will cure this.

2. High speed noise. All step motors make a characteristic "whine" at
speeds above 10 revs per second. There is nothing that can be done
about this except to sound insulate the motor. This can seriously
comprimise the motor's ability to shed heat.

3. Drive induced noise. This can be particularly irritating as it is
a hissing and/or squealing sound. The cause is audible sub-harmonics
from interaction between two free-running oscillators. Our drive
cannot generate this type noise because it a clocked, synchronous
design; both pulse-width modulators are phase locked.

Mariss

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "Scott Holmes" <norgasm@h...> wrote:
> At the office we're currently working on a machine that uses a
single
> stepper motor to move a good-sized chunk (7-8 Kg) of tooling on a
linear
> slide with a 5tpi leadscrew. The stepper driver is a full-step
unit and the
> tooling emits a conciderable noise (this is to be used in a
laboratory
> environment where operators can be overly sensitive to this sort of
thing).
> We've tried mechanically isolating the motor from the tooling with
gaskets
> (which has worked for us with a servo-drive), but with unremarkable
results.
> It seems to me that the noise being produced by a different
mechanism calls
> for a different solution. I'm wondering how microstepping drivers
ie. Gecko
> compare for noise level, or harshness. What have you observed?
I've never
> had an opportunity to work with microsteppers myself, but it weems
to make
> sense to me. Any thoughts?
>
> Scott Holmes