January 19, 1998 Design News

Hot products

Western Editor Mark Gottschalk cites noteworthy motion control products

Rotary servo most compact in its line

Compumotor has developed a direct drive rotary servo system that's the most compact in the company's Dynaserv line. Each consists of a brushless servo motor with 10-ft of motor and encoder cables, microprocessor-based drive, power supply, and an incremental encoder. Offered in both 4-inch and 6-inch diameter versions, they are available in speeds up to 2.5 rps and resolutions up to 655,360 positions per revolution. Axial and radial runout measures 10 µm--10 times better than the Dynaserv DR and DM series--with 5 µm available. Applications include scanning, semiconductor processing, disk drive assembly, rotary indexing, industrial robots, and low-speed inspection.
Parker Hannifin, Compumotor Division

Mini stage offers max performance

A new line of miniature linear-action stages is said to offer advantages over similar yet larger designs. Measuring as small as 1.0-inches long by 0.5-inches wide by 0.2-inches tall, the stages should appeal to engineers working on projects faced with space constraints. Known as the MS Series, they incorporate a unique carriage design which uses a robust flexure and hardened ways to virtually eliminate wobble and wear--wobble measures less than 0.01 mrad--as well as offer load-bearing capacities greater than 0.75 lbs. Adjustment screws with 80 threads-per-inch provide sub micron resolution.
Newport Corporation

Tools support data acquisition

Intelligent Instrumentation's EDAS VI (virtual instrument) Library provides developers using National Instruments' LabVIEW 4.0 or higher with all the tools necessary to graphically create any EDAS Ethernet data acquisition or control application under Windows 95 or Windows NT. The EDAS VI library is derived from the company's Net Link Library for Windows 95/NT, which is a set of 32-bit DLLs to facilitate Windows programmers in developing Ethernet data-acquisition applications. The library includes 42 low-level VIs, one corresponding to each EDAS function. The EDAS system operates over any Ethernet LAN or the Internet to allow real-time data to be shared with PCs or workstations.
Intelligent Instrumentation

VME control board does 6 axes

Engineers at Nyden Corporation have created a new 6-axis VME Bus System motion control board. It uses the LSI MPG2031 ultra-high-speed pulse generator chips to provide point-to-point, coordinated linear, and circular interpolation for complex motion profiles. Designed for use with steppers and digital servos at the same time, the PG106 VME controller generates smooth S-curve, trapezoidal, and complex movement profiles. High speed pulse rate outputs to 1.6384 MHz offer users high throughput. Acceleration and deceleration of each axis can be set independently, and the controller is able to perform synchronized as well as independent movements.
Nyden Corporation

Encoder-based motors debut

DeltaMax 1-1/2 axis position systems gain flexibility with the addition of encoder-based motors to the existing line of resolver-based motors. Eleven new 1,500 rpm rated motors join the line, and they are available in power ranges from 400W to 11 kW. Designated the A Series, these new motors use a 2048-line encoder and associate circuitry to deliver 8,192 pulses per revolution. The motors also have higher inertia than the resolver-based motors. DeltaMax offers one active servo axis with one half axis follower fiber-optic input. Other features include two 32-bit RISC processors for fast program execution, all digital electronics, SMT boards, status displays, and two RS-232 ports.
Industrial Indexing Systems

Cost effective motor controllers

By adding more on-chip memory and functionality to Hitachi Semiconductor's H8/300 series 8-bit microcontroller, engineers produced a new series of devices that are said to be capable of replacing 16-bit MCUs in cost-sensitive applications, such as print-head motor controllers. The H8/3318 model has a 60-KByte ROM to store complex programs and a 4-KByte RAM--the largest on-chip RAM of any 8-bit MCU--to handle the larger storage requirements of such programs. The company claims that design engineers will find the new 8-bit H8/3318 capable of doing the job of a 16-bit MCU or even 32-bit MCU in many applications. Such cost-sensitive applications include fast, precise motor control systems for printers and plotters.
Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc.

AC servo motors double the punch

Applied Motion Products' Alpha Series AC servo motors output almost twice the torque per frame size as conventional servo motors, the company claims. Available in three frame sizes--40 mm, 60 mm, and 80 mm--they produce peak torque ranging from 40 oz-in to over 1,050 oz-in, with output ratings from 30W to 800W. Each offers speeds up to 5,000 rpm and built-in incremental encoders, with optional absolute encoder or brushless resolvers as options.
Applied Motion Products

Cardan assembly handles misalignment

The Huco-Flex M Membrane coupler line has been expanded to include customized "cardan assemblies." The flex coupler itself was originally intended for demanding motion control applications that require high torsional stiffness, reliability, and long life. In their simplest form, Cardan coupler assemblies incorporate two single-stage Huco-Flex M couplers connected by a spacer. This design allows accommodation of radial misalignment between shafts in an amount proportional to the length of the spacer--typically on the order of 0.01 inch.
Huco Engineering Industries

Rare-earth magnets make mighty motor

By using rare-earth magnets, engineers maximized the torque in Maxon's new RE series of motors. The motors measure just 15 mm (0.59 inches) in diameter and 22.5 mm (0.86 inches) in diameter and weigh 20 g (0.71 oz). They can deliver 300 mNm (42 oz-in) of continuous torque with a maximum speed of 11,000 rpm and maximum efficiency of 73%. Each applies Maxon's patented rhombic moving coil design to provide long life, low electrical noise, fast acceleration, and high efficiency. Maxon Precision Motors