With its Accelus Sinusoidal Digital Amplifier, Copley Controls Corp. has taken a low-cost card construction, and integrated in a full-process amplifier that incorporates field-oriented control. Step-and-direction position mode compliments torque and velocity modes. Priced at less than $200 for OEM quantities, according to application manager Jim Woodward, Accelus offers 200W continuous output, 3 kHz bandwidth, and a 20 kHz sampling rate in the current loop for control of a brushless motor. Available in two power ranges, Accelus is convection cooled. Peak current ratings are 300% of continuous current for optimal load acceleration. "Solderless connectors allow engineers to plug the compact amplifier into a PC board vertically for minimum footprint, or horizontally for low profile," says Woodward. "With 100% digital operation, there are no header parts nor settings to save to flash. It's all set up remotely with software via RS232 link. Copley Motion Explorer 2 configuration software is intuitive, and provides clear diagnostics and advanced oscilloscope features to simplify system commissioning." Copley Controls Corp. : Enter 514
Stage gives a 10-nm resolution across 25-mm travel
Targeted at fiber-optic assembly applications, Aerotech's Nano-Translation (ANT™) stages combine speed, accuracy, resolution, repeatability, and reliability into a 100- × 100- × 66-mm footprint. "It's capable of making repeatable 10-nanometer scale motion across a 25-mm travel range," explains Ron Rekowski, director of product marketing. "No-creep linear recirculating ball bearings offer a more compact design and excellent in-position stability that won't degrade over time. The stage can be mounted flat or on edge for design flexibility, and 32 MHz electronic circuitry enables speed greater than 250 mm/sec." Aerotech Inc. : Enter 515
Drives key on soft motion over FireWire
Combining PC hardware and software standards, soft motion technology, and an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) servodrive network, ServoWire® SM from Ormec provides engineers a cost-effective method for controlling from one to eight servos. "It reduces costs and complexity by eliminating the need for proprietary motion control boards for OEMs developing motion control applications using Mircrosoft C or C++," explains VP of Marketing Allen Presher. "Since the tasks normally performed by the motion adapter have been distributed between the host PC and the ServoWire SM drives, no board-level motion controller is required." The drives offer a power range from 300 to 15,000W, continuous output currents from 2.4 to 60A RMS/phase, and provide 3 to 665 lb-inch continuous stall torque. Using a standard IEEE 1394 (OHCI-compatible) communications adapter, the drives interface with a PC running Windows NT and the VenturCom real-time extensions (RTX). Ormec : Enter 516
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Designing and filling a new type of water bottle might take less engineering work, but the description will help kids understand how science, math, and engineering influence their lives even through things that seem mundane.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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