3. For a belt-driven printer mechanism, we will use a NEMA 17 stepper motor with a step angle of 1.8° with

full-step drive. Our initial selection is the Minebea K044U with a 24 Volt supply and chopper driver set to

1.2 A. An expensive DC Servomotor is used during system development to run the exact desired velocity

profile for the print head. The DC motor has a torque constant of 35 mNM/A.

a. We measure the average steady-state current of 2.3 A during the print operation. What is the

maximum safe speed for the selected stepper to be used for production?

b. The DC Servo also measures a peak acceleration current of 4 A. With the existing mechanism, the

print speed is set at 300 rpm at the driving motor. Can the selected stepper system be directly

commanded to start at the desired speed?