An advantage of a stepper motor is it can achieve accurate position control without position feedback.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not specified
• D. Only with encoders

Answer: (A)

Stepper motors move in fixed angular increments, so the control system can predict position by simply counting how many steps have been commanded. This makes open-loop position control feasible: you don’t need a feedback sensor to know where you are, as long as the motor doesn’t miss steps due to overload or unexpected load changes. In well-behaved, predictable loads, the commanded step count maps directly to a known position, which is why this is considered an advantage.

However, keep in mind that accuracy hinges on not skipping steps. If torque limits are exceeded, or the load varies unexpectedly, the rotor can stall or slip, and the actual position will deviate from the commanded position. In such cases, feedback like encoders would be needed to ensure true position accuracy.