As a crucial component of transmission and control systems, motors are among the most familiar industrial control components. There are many types of motors, including servo motors, stepper motors, and geared motors. Today, we'll explain in detail the differences between servo motors and ordinary motors.
Servo motors are widely used in various control systems. They convert input voltage signals into mechanical outputs on the motor shaft, driving the controlled components to achieve control objectives. Servo motors inherently emit pulses; therefore, for each rotation angle, they emit a corresponding number of pulses, precisely controlling the motor's rotation and achieving accurate positioning. Servo motors are further divided into DC and AC types; currently, the vast majority of servo motors are AC permanent magnet synchronous servo motors or DC brushless motors.
A stepper motor is an open-loop control unit that converts electrical pulse signals into angular or linear displacement. When a stepper driver receives a pulse signal, it drives the stepper motor to rotate a fixed angle in a set direction. We can control the amount of angular displacement of the motor by controlling the number of pulses, thereby achieving precise positioning; at the same time, we can control the speed and acceleration of the motor by controlling the pulse frequency, thereby achieving speed regulation.
By now, many readers may have realized that the main difference between servo motors and ordinary motors is that servo motors can achieve precise control, turning exactly as instructed, while ordinary motors turn when powered on and stop when power is off. They have low torque and no feedback, and are generally used for control applications where precision is not required.
Can a servo motor replace a regular motor? The answer is yes, a servo motor can replace a regular motor because their basic functions are the same. When using it, simply set the servo motor driver to speed mode. However, this is generally not recommended because servo motors are more expensive and have a more sophisticated structure; using them as regular motors would be wasteful. They should generally only be used temporarily in urgent situations.
