stepper motor

Definition: Type of electric motor which rotates in discrete steps, with no intermediate positions possible i.e. it rotates a fraction of a 360! turn when the motor coils are activated. * Typically, consists of a number of magnets with gaps in between: the magnetic field forces the rotor to lie in certain positions. * Also called stepping motors. Unsung heroes of the Revolution: Part ... The stepper motor is the mythical little man in the machine whose tireless and mostly reliable operation drives camera film advances, camera shutters, zoom lenses and their covers, auto-focusing, scanner heads ... and the rest. In short, everything that needs precision movement these days is stepper driven. Interestingly, it is one of the few key modern technologies not invented in the US: the genius behind it was Japanese.

Previous Term: step-and-repeat  Next Term: step-up ring