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Motion Control Round-up |
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| Dear Reader, |
Welcome to the holiday edition of the BEI newsletter. As we approach the first official day  of winter (December 21st), around the world people are busy preparing for various celebrations and feasts.
Whether your traditions include mistletoe, special foods, singing, games, religious observances or other celebrations; at BEI we'd like to wish you all the best as 2008 comes to an end and prosperity for 2009. |
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Greatest Hits 2008 |
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Longtime customers of BEI and readers of this newsletter will recognize that this was a very busy and productive year for us. Read on about some of our newest offerings and if you want more information just click the picture.
The most exciting new development that we brought to market was the Swiftcomm wireless encoder interface. This is the first wireless encoder interface that is fast enough, robust  enough and secure enough to be used for real-time control. The 2.4 GHz interface is licensed for use in the US, Canada, and most recently the EU. We're also proud to say it was given a Golden Mousetrap recognition award by Design News.
 We launched an ecommerce site that allows you to quickly identify and purchase common encoder support products: connectors, cables, interfaces and so on. The convenience of on-line ordering allows you to easily place a credit card order and then get on to other things.
One of our newest interfaces allows you to bring encoder data directly into your computer. Whether in a lab or in the field our Encoder to  USB converter gets you up and running fast and collecting data in no time. With the data logger option you can even set it to a data sampling mode and capture specific events. Just download the driver straight off our web site after you receive the module and you're in business.
This is just a sampling of the latest from BEI and I can tell you we have a whole bunch of new and interesting products in the pipeline for 2009. Stay tuned - I think you're going to like what you see.
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| Something to Think About |
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With global economic issues on the forefront of everybody's mind it's important to be reminded that the spirit of community and generosity is what really makes the world work. Here's a little story to illustrate the point.
In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their  sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more . . . . click here to continue |
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Can You Solve This? |
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 Our customers constantly challenge us with interesting applications - and we like that. We work hard to develop solutions that keep factories running and downtime to a minimum. One customer called recently who was getting a stamping operation up and running. His was a two stage process where a stacker/feeder would position raw metal sheets into the stamper; the stamper would punch and form the part and then it would move on to a finishing operation. He was using a rotary encoder on the stacker/feeder and once he had everything set up, he could run it fine in manual mode. Sending in sheets one at a time to the stamper it all worked flawlessly. When he put it into automatic mode however, the registration was off considerably and it got worse with each successive sheet. What could be going on?
Answer: The major clue here was that the registration error was cumulative over time. This implied that there was a one-sided count error. Typically, in encoder installations one-sided count errors are usually excessive electrical or mechanical noise which is being interpreted by the counter as true motion of the encoder. In this installation, the customer was using differential electrical signals, with short cable runs and a separate power supply for the encoder/counter - so electrical noise was not the likely culprit. The stamping operation, on the other hand was a high energy event that could cause mechanical structures to vibrate. In manual mode, there was enough time between events for the ringing to subside but in automatic mode, this was not the case. Mechanical vibration, especially if the encoder was momentarily stopped at or near a data transition, could result in signal dithering which would be picked up by the counter.  In this case we recommended our Anti-Dither module which looks at both the A and B channel transitions and will only change state if one of the data channels has advanced by 1/4 cycle, effectively filtering out mechanical noise. |
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Christmas Magic |
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Part of what makes this time of year magical and fun is the delight of children in our lives. Whether nieces and nephews, sons and daughters, or grandkids, the joy of the season is reflected in those smiling and excited faces. To help keep the magic alive, here are a couple of web sites that you can share with the little ones in your life.
 Visit to the North Pole and see Santa's village. This site, hosted by North Pole, Alaska is a delightful interactive site with games and activities for elementary school aged children. You can even write a note to Santa or chat with elves. Click the gingerbread house and you'll be transported to a winter wonderland of play.
 Ever had to answer the question, "Where is Santa now?". It turns out that NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has a tracking web site that gives you real time data on Santa's whereabouts. Click the Santa Claus image to take a look and get ready to track his travels on December 24th.
 Haven't you ever wondered how they make candy canes? It's quite an interesting process combining the touch and feel of experienced candy makers along side the precision of automation. Fascinating to watch for the youngsters and us grown-ups, too! Just click on the candy cane and you can watch this tasty confection being made by the thousands.
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| This month's newsletter is our holiday gift to you. I hope you found something useful, something informative and something entertaining. Take this time to remember all the good things in life and to get ready for the new year. We'll see you again in 2009. |
Thanks for reading,
Scott Orlosky
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