You have a project that needs something to move. Should you use a stepper motor or a servo motor? [Matthias] has an opinion, and you can hear his thoughts in the video below. One tip we’ll take away from the video: when working with motors, shoot some high-frame-rate video and slow it down to see what’s really happening.

The initial tests looked fine at normal speed. But increasing the frame rate and decreasing the playback speed showed some very interesting things like how much each motor was overshooting. The ability to control this sort of thing is a key differentiator for these kinds of motors.

In addition to a regular stepper, he also looks at a closed-loop stepper, which has some benefits and drawbacks, too, of course. The motors with the encoders were sensitive to magnetic fields, for example.

There is plenty to see in the video, but the bottom line is that your choice of motor will depend on a lot of interlocking factors including how fast you need, how much torque you require, and your desired accuracy. You could probably have guessed that but it is still very illustrative to see them on the bench and get a feel for just how these motors work and how to solve some common issues with them.

If you want to learn more about stepper motors, you are on the right site. Servos, too.