Engineering Resources for Motion Control Systems

Newsletter Menu   |  return to News . Motion Control Round-up In This Issue Talk to Me Lots of Smiles Can You Solve This? Superhero Suit Join Our Mailing List! Quick Links 1. Last month's newsletter 2. Technical Assistance 3. Product Information   Dear Reader, The month of November gets it's name from the Latin name for nine.  It was originally the ninth month of the Roman calendar which started in March.  Now it's the eleventh month and if you want a more complete story how that came to be then check out this web site.   This is also the time of year for a lot of our readers to celebrate local harvest festivals - Thanksgiving in the U.S.  Homowo in Africa, Chu Suk in Korea and various other regional celebrations. Wherever you live, be sure to enjoy the time with your friends and family and thank-you for taking the time with us in our monthly newsletter. Talk to me! Would you like to get a chance to win an iPOD Nano?  Then read on.   Usually in this part of the newsletter, we're busy letting you know about a new product or service that we offer.   This time were going to turn the tables and let you share your thoughts with us through a survey. We want to make this worth your while so we'll have a random drawing for a free iPod Nano to those that participate.   If you click on the hyperlink shown below you'll be directed to the survey.  Our objective is make sure that we are doing everything at our end to make it easy for you and your colleagues to find us on the web when you've got a project you're working on.  So click the link and help us to learn what you know.   Thanks in advance and good luck in the drawing.   Lots of Smiles He created some of the most memorable cartoon characters in the world.  After all, who doesn't know Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and the rest of the gang?   Charles M. Schulz was born on November 26th, 1922 and he knew at an early age that he wanted to be a cartoonist. He was able to fulfill that dream in a really big way.   His endearing cast of characters boasted over 90 million readers in 2,000+ newspapers around the world. In addition, greeting cards, plush toys, TV shows and an off-Broadway play were all spawned by his work.  There is even a Charles M. Schulz museum in Santa Rosa, California.   Though his thoughts and philosophy were best expressed through his comic strips, Charles Schulz, on his own, had a lot to say about life.  Some of his more memorable quotes were:   "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."   "Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use."   "Decorate your home. It gives the illusion that your life is more interesting than it really is." "I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it."   To learn more about Charles Schulz and the Peanuts gang, just click on the picture at the top of this article.  It will link you to the Schulz Museum site where you can learn all about his life and his Peanuts gang. Can You Solve This? This month's brain teaser should be a piece of cake for those of you who are familiar with the BEI model numbering scheme.  We had a customer that was upgrading their system to use a new controller.  He needed to provide the encoder attributes to his electrical design team so that they could match it to their motor drive. All he had was the model number H25D-SS-4096-ABC-28V/V-SM16.  Based on this model, what information can he provide to his engineering team? Answer:  The model numbering scheme for BEI encoders is intentionally very descriptive of the mechanical and electrical attributes of the encoder.  In this case, the electrical attributes were most important. The first critical number is 4096 which is the resolution, or number of square wave data cycles that the encoder will produce with every revolution.  It is important to combine this with the intended speed of the motor to determine the maximum data rate that the controller must handle.  In this case with an 1800 RPM rotational speed, the data rate would be (4096 X 1800) / 60 = 122,800 Hz. This data rate may require some special testing or adjustments of the encoder or the controller.   Next, the ABC designation indicates that there are two channels, A&B in quadrature (90 degree phase relationship) and their complementary (C) signals, A/ and B/. This means the controller needs to be able to accept a differential signal (A paired with A/ and B paired with B/).   Lastly the 28V/V designation indicates that this is a multi-voltage line driver which will accept 5 to 28 volts input and it will return the same voltage logic level that it is supplied with.  (You can reference Note #5 in the back of our catalog to see the other options available.)  Armed with this information, our caller was able to proceed.   To request your own BEI catalog or download the PDF, click here.    Superhero Suit. Have you every dreamed of being able to run faster and jump higher?  Maybe your dream is to leap tall buildings with a single bound.  That dream looks like it's coming closer to reality with some technological advances.  Several companies around the world are designing and building "exoskeletons" which can be worn, sort of like a suit of armor, but with a critical difference.  These suits have sensors and actuators built in that can amplify the strength and agility of a normal human.  Lifting 200 pounds? No problem.  Hike a 150 pound load up a steep ramp? You won't even break into a sweat.  If you click the picture you'll get a chance to see SARCOS in action.  Be sure to click on the Narrated Video for the best look at this super suit in action.   Thanks for taking the time today to read our monthly newsletter and to respond to our survey.  We hope you found something interesting and useful.  We'll be back next month to close out 2009.  Until then, be safe. Thanks for reading, Scott Orlosky     email: Scott Orlosky     voice: 805-968-0782      web: http://www.beiied.com Join the BEI IED mailing list  Email:

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