My latest research project requires a thin wire to be waved back and forth (somewhat like a metronome) through an angle that I wish to vary crudely - the resolution of almost any stepper would be fine (alright I confess this is marginally a robotics project). This is a zero torque application and a wide range of fast or slow steppers would probably do (each wave should take about 2 seconds with a pause to fill in time on each side). Power needs to be minimized (a watt or less) and cost and complexity should be low (there will be many) and the MTBF should be years of continuous operation.
Apparently many steppers can be operated directly from logic chips in a low torque application - ie at much lower than spec voltages (eg 5 instead of 17) and much lower current bringing the power consumption down to the desired 1 watt range. (see for example
Does anyone have personal experience with any stepper that ran continuously for years?
I initially thought there must be useful steppers for this purpose inside battery powered wall clocks, but when I took mine apart I discovered that it is just 1 chip 1 crystal 1 coil, 1 pm rotor and lots of gears (no wonder it didn't keep great time).
Thanks so much for any thoughts. Best wishes, Mark