Handbook Can Help Mechatronics Engineers

In addition to a catalog on CD-ROM and price list I requested from AutomationDirect, recently, the company sent me a free copy of the Electrical Engineering Pocket Handbook, published by the Electrical Apparatus Service Association, or EASA. The 118-page booklet includes sections with electrical and mechanical motor data, electrical information about motor starters, conductors, transformers, wire characteristics, conversion formulas, and unit-conversion charts for temperature and length. Design News readers can request a copy here.

I like the handbook because it provides much information about National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) motor-mount configurations and dimensions (in inches or millimeters). Unfortunately, the handbook doesn't include smaller motors with sizes such as NEMA-8, -11, 14, and so on. Motors in those sizes often go into small mechatronic devices. You can find information for those smaller motors on the Internet, though. The handbook seems aimed at engineers and installers who use larger-size motors.

The handbook includes two pages of information about semiconductors and transistors, but it seems dated. The information for several transistor types show older TO-5 and TO-39 packages, along with a package type I haven't seen in years. Some pin designations might have changed, too. Don't take this information as current. The rest of the handbook looks like a helpful reference for people who must use motors in a design or maintain motors in equipment. I'll keep a copy in my work area.

If AutomationDirect has run out of copies, the EASA sells individual handbooks to nonmembers for $18.90, which seems too expensive. Visit the EASA Website and click on "shop" and then on "promotional materials." Sabina Motors & Controls sells copies for $8.99 and includes a small flat-blade screwdriver. There is also no charge for mailing -- at least in the US.

Do you have a motor or motion-control book or reference you particularly value? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

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