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Motion Control Round-up |
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| Dear Reader, |
 I don't know about you, but the year seems to really be flying by for us. We're just getting into the last quarter of 2009 and already looking forward to 2010.
But before we start getting ahead of ourselves, we still have three months to go to finish off the year. It's a time to spend with family and friends, enjoying the cooler weather and the pleasures of the season.
So take a moment to relax and enjoy this month's newsletter and, as always, give us a call or drop a line if there is something we can do for you. |
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World Encoder |
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We're happy to announce that for a lot of our readers, your life just got a whole lot easier. This month we are introducing a new product that we call the Omnicoder®. "Omni" means "every" and as the name implies, the Omnicoder is an "every-coder". It is capable of producing a wide range of resolutions out of a single encoder and it can be reprogrammed as needed to change the resolution. With the Omnicoder at your disposal you can really improve your production and maintenance operations. For example:
- If you are an OEM builder you can buy one encoder type and just program the different resolutions you need for different control axes.
- If you are handling MRO responsibilities you can reduce your inventory of spares by keeping a single encoder in stock. Just "create" the encoder you need, when you need it.
- If you are a value added reseller you can customize the encoder resolution for each customer as needed.
It may seem too good to be true, but the Omnicoder uses a patented algorithm to reliably produce a quadrature output with any resolution from 1 cycle per turn all the way up to 10,000 cycles per turn. Check it out by clicking the picture above and see what this new technology can do for you.
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| Jungle Man |
 That rather stern looking fellow on the left happens to be a world famous author. Born in the late 1800's in Chicago, he had a rather varied and adventuresome life before he struck literary gold with a series of "pulp" novels that took place in the jungles of Africa.
Despite his seemingly mundane exterior he was at various times a cowboy, soldier, policeman, dry goods salesman, a trick rider and a wholesaler for pencil sharpeners and traveled from the wild west of Idaho to the shores of Michigan and out to Arizona at a time when trains were the only viable way to cover such long distances.
Ultimately, after he'd made his fortune in writing, he moved to California and bought up a ranch that he named "Tarzana". A name which eventually became the name of the town north of Los Angeles. His character is revealed in this simple quote:
"I write to escape ... to escape poverty."
I'll leave it up to you to guess this author's name. To find out his identity and to read his biography, just click the picture.
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Can You Solve This? |
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 This month's brain teaser comes to us courtesy of long time reader Mr. Howard Larsen. Many thanks to Howard for sharing his experience.
They were using BEI explosion-proof encoders to track jobs through an automated paint spray booth. One day they had an encoder failure in spraybooth #1. Their electricians replaced the encoder with a repaired unit but it, too, did not work. They tried several more spares, with the same result. Since they couldn't run production with booth #1 down, they decided to try the encoder from booth #2. Not only did it not work in booth #1, it no longer worked in booth #2 when re-installed. They checked the encoder power supply and it was a clean 5.0 VDC. It was also the hottest day of the year, in a paint shop surrounded by running paint ovens. Any clue as to what was going on?
Answer:
The fact that they could swap out encoders and still experience the same problem was a clear indication that the encoder was not the problem. It was also an extremely hot day which often leads to electronic problems. To pick up Mr. Larsen's story, "Our encoder repair technician suggested checking the encoder supply voltage at the encoder, instead of the power supply, since the cable run was around 300 feet long. Sure enough, with all the extra heat that day, the voltage had dropped to around 4.74 VDC. I checked the spec on the encoder supply voltage and it was rated for 5 VDC, +/- 5%. That set the lower limit at 4.75 VDC, enough to cause intermittent operation at best. We adjusted both the booth #1 and booth #2 power supplies while measuring the voltage at the encoders and both encoders started working again. After that, we made it part of our preventative maintenance activities to periodically check the voltage at the encoders to ensure we would never have a day like this one."
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For the Lunatics |
 When something is commonplace we tend to ignore it and forget how special it is. Such is the earth's closest companion - the moon. We often see it in the sky, maybe follow it's phases during the course of the month, and wonder what a "blue moon" is. For the rundown on Luna, it's origins and some fun facts, just click the picture. The next time you see the moon - maybe it will seem a little different to you. | |
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Thank-you for taking a little time with us today. Hope you had some fun and got a little education as well. Be sure to give us a call or email us if we can help with your application.
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Thanks for reading,
Scott Orlosky
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