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Motion Control
Round-Up
News and Views from the World
of Automation.
November, 2007
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| Dear Reader, |
| Late November is a wonderful time of year for enjoying the company of
family and friends. The cool, sunny weather invites us for
outdoor activities, but a warm fire at night is still welcome.
This past Thanksgiving, like harvest festivals around the world,
reminds us how lucky we are to have food, shelter and the warmth of our
family. Enjoy this time of year and take a moment to enjoy this
month's newsletter. At BEI we wish you all the best this time of
year. |
| Something's in the Air |
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Early in the year I promised that we would have a lot of new products
and features up our sleeves. So far, in 2007 we've expanded the
resolution of our L15 to over 40,000 cycles per turn, added metric size 58mm
encoders to our product line, introduced a new diagnostic and
troubleshooting guide and created the ES series of IP67 encoders that don't
require a mechanical coupling - just to name a few.
Now we're introducing a whole new way of installing and operating
encoders for real-time control. We call it our SwiftComm(tm) wireless
encoder interface. Using a patent-pending algorithm for signal processing
you can now send incremental encoder signals to your controller wirelessly
up to 1000 feet (300m) away.
Your encoder connects directly to the NEMA 4 sealed transmitter box
while the receiver is wired directly into your control
cabinet. Installation couldn't be simpler. Not only do you save
the time and expense of wiring, the secure frequency-hopping algorithm, fast
transmission speed and proprietary, encrypted communication ensures a
robust, reliable signal.
Click on the link below. You can check our FAQ's, download a
specification sheet and start seeing the difference that wireless sensing
and control can have for you. Give us a call at 1-800 ENCODER and get
yours on order today.
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| A Seasoned Traveler |
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 "Our business in life is
not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits."
"Keep your fears to
yourself but share your courage with others."
"There are no foreign
lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign."
The above quotes, and picture belong to the Scottish writer, Robert
Louis Stevenson. Born on November 13th, 1850 the only son of an
engineer, Robert suffered from tuberculosis. His continued ill health
prevented him from pursuing an engineering career and fostered in him,
instead a lifelong love for literature.
His best known works include " A Child's Garden of Verses", "Treasure
Island" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". He often
wrote of adventure and, in spite of his health problems, managed to travel
widely eventually settling in the warm, tropical setting
of Samoa. There he died at 44 surrounded by his family.
Read a biography and a little RLS trivia at this
link. |
| Can You Solve This? |
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 Sometimes problems show up in
disguise - just like this recent troubleshooting effort. The caller had been
on-site taking care of a combination repair and routine maintenance.
The encoder in question had taken a severe mechanical blow a few weeks back
which damaged the cover and connector assembly. The technician had managed
to re-install the encoder and it was still working - but he had ordered a
replacement intending to send the damaged unit back after he completed this
maintenance cycle.
This was an absolute multi-turn encoder with a parallel output.
The installer carefully removed the old one and replaced it with the fresh
unit. He double checked all of the connections, fired up his machine
and got a bunch of undecipherable garbage out the other end. After
checking the cabling and the installation again and getting the same result,
it was clear this was going to be another long night. That's when we
got the phone call.
We stepped through all of the standard troubleshooting steps: proper
power, good cable, grounding, couplings, etc. to no avail. We asked,
one more time that he do a point-to-point check on the cable to
validate the connections and give a call back. When we got that call,
there was a happy voice at the other end of the line. What had
happened?
Answer: Though not obvious by any means - when the old encoder
had been damaged, so had the mating connector. The old mating
connector was not fully seated against the encoder connector so some of the
data channels were intermittent. Ohming out the cable forced to
technician to remove and reseat the mating connector which now made proper
contact with all the data pins. Problem solved.
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| Art Today, Gone Tomorrow. |
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 Working directly with the raw materials at hand -
rocks, leaves, ice, water, Andrew Goldsworthy brings a unique perspective to
his ephemeral art. Once created, his sculptures exists momentarily -
long enough to be captured on film and then nature takes it's course.
Pictured here are a few of his "flat" works using found leaves and
pebbles as the medium. He has also constructed man-high
freestanding arches, floating stick rafts and various pieces in meadows
using wildflower blooms to create surpising patterns. To enjoy more of
his work as well as his philosophy of art, visit this
link.
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Thanks for reading, be sure to check out our new wireless sensor
interface and remember that we're always available and willing to help you
out with your questions. Give us a call at 1-800-ENCODER or send
me an email and we'll make sure you're taken care of.
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Thanks for reading,
Scott Orlosky
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email: Scott
Orlosky
voice: 805-968-0782
web: http://www.beiied.com
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