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| | Microcontrollers' not so micro impact... | | Microcontrollers are hidden everywhere you look. Billions of the tiny computers were manufactured in the last year and each now lies at the heart of an electronic device somewhere in the world.... |
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| | Advances in servo system development ... | | The recent trend in has been to reduce cost, size and complexity of servo systems while increasing performance. High-end machining has always used the best the industry had to offer, but increasingly we are seeing a demand for higher speeds and accur... |
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| | Making MEMS accelerometers work in motion control... | | MEMS (micro electromechanical system) inertial sensor technology provides a major structural shift in mechanical sensing. When the performance meets their needs, system developers welcome trading complicated mechanical mounting schemes... |
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| | Calibration... | | External Link: http://www.netrino.com/Connecting/2000-05/index.php... |
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| | XBOX Xbot... | | External Link: http://www.toeotr.net/dknyte/xbot.html... |
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| | What is Mechatronics?... | | External Link: http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2105¶m=en506249&Pagetitle=What%20is%20Mechatronics?... |
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| | Quadrature-Encoded Position and Beyond... | |
This month, Don wraps up techniques for determining angular position and turns the
discussion to sensorless control.
For some time now I've been writing about motion control and digital signal processing (DSP). Throughout our dis... |
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| | Tracking Demodulation... | |
High resolution encoders are expensive, but alternatives exist. You can develop a high-resolution system using a sinusoidal encoder or resolver.
Last month, we covered some of the basics of using cosinusoids to determine position ... |
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| | Dynamic System Simulation... | |
High-fidelity simulations of dynamic embedded systems can be invaluable. This follow-up to "Modeling Dynamic Systems" (August 2000) presents
some techniques and algorithms you might find useful.
By Jim Ledin
In a previous arti... |
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| | Look Ma, No Hands!... | |
Not all systems have position or velocity sensors. In those cases, consider using a stepper motor to effect sensorless control.
In my most recent columns I've detailed several motion control techniques that employ position and velocity fe... |
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| | Sympathetic Algorithms... | |
Controlling a motor without sensors sounds hard, but it can be done. One approach is to run a sympathetic software model of the system.
Last month, I wrote about sensor-less motion control as it applied to stepper motors, as well as m... |
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| | Kalman Filtering... | |
Originally developed for use in spacecraft navigation, the Kalman filter turns out to be useful for many applications. It is mainly used to estimate system states that can only be observed indirectly or inaccurately by the system itself.
... |
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| | Cummins Centinel... | |
Managing the addition of oil to a diesel engine's fuel-oil mix turns out to be a tricky problem. Here's one design that worked well.
Welcome to the first edition of Inside Look, a periodic column that takes an in-depth look a... |
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| | Educated Guessing Games... | |
Engineers can't know everything, but with the approximation techniques described here, we can fill in the blanks.
Engineering is often a guessing game. Radar, high quality audio, precision motion, robotics-wherever we depend on processing ... |
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| | Object-Oriented State Machines... | |
State machines are extremely useful in managing the behavior of embedded systems. Here's a C++ framework for implementing them with the greatest of ease.
As part of a project to develop a library of software for programming a six-legged ... |
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| | Special Report: Choosing a DSP... | |
Once upon a time, digital signal processors were used only as coprocessors in signal processing applications and programmed mostly in assembly. Today, DSPs are used in almost every application domain. From the nitty to the gritty, here'... |
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| | Get Your Motor Running... | |
Step motors are used in many devices and appliances that are part of our everyday lives. Learn some basics to start designing products with them.
Step motors are everywhere. As an embedded developer, you may have already designed ... |
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| | Low-cost techniques for sound generation... | |
When designing a low-cost device where pennies count, we need a creative and inexpensive way for the device to communicate effectively with the user. Using sound as output requires comparatively few system resources relative to the amoun... |
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| | Introduction to fuzzy control... | |
Fuzzy logic is a tool to help you control complex systems.
Most control systems are based on proportional integral derivative (PID) technology ("Closed-Loop Control," August 2002, p. 55). Some systems, however, require a more comp... |
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| | Ethernet hits the auto factory floor... | |
PARK RIDGE, Ill. — General Motors Corp.'s decision to use Ethernet on the floor of a new automotive engine plant opening next month (July) in Tonawanda, N.Y., points to the incremental progress of Ethernet in factory automation, but also ... |
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| | The C Programmers Guide to Verilog... | |
Now that hardware is designed in high-level languages, the fields of hardware and software development are beginning to merge. Here's an introduction to hardware design in Verilog for the uninitiated.
In the near future, embedded systems de... |
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| | Introduction to timer-based measurement... | |
Consider the issues of range, accuracy, sampling rate, and drift described here before you decide on a timer chip.
In this article, we'll explain how to use input capture timers to measure quantities from devices such as A/D converters and ... |
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| | Motoring with microprocessors... | |
Thanks to the magic of microprocessors and embedded systems, our cars are becoming safer, more efficient, and entertaining.
"I'm drivin' in my car. I turn on the radio." — Bruce Springsteen, "Fire"
By my estimates, the average mid... |
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| | How to find signals in noise using estimation... | |
One of the most challenging aspects of digital signal processing is finding signals in noise when familiar tools such as averaging and low-pass filtering don't work. Maximum-likelihood estimation is another technique to extract information fro... |
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| | 'Hybrid' processor targets 'by-wire' autos... | |
BOSTON, MASS. - Motorola, Inc. today (Monday, Sept. 22nd) will unveil a "hybrid processor" with an electronic architecture that could serve as the brain for the auto industry's next-generation, by-wire products.
Known as the 56F8300 hyb... |
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| | Sony robot runs and jumps... | |
TOKYO — Sony Corp. has developed an integrated walking, running, and jumping motion control technology that enables its humanoid robot "Qrio" to smoothly combine conventional walking movement with new running and jumping motions.
"In the... |
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| | RF technology brings 3D positioning... | |
Israel — 3LT Technologies has developed an ultra-precise micro-distance two- and three-dimensional tracking and positioning technology that could be used in a broad array of productive and cost-effective wireless-input applications.
Cu... |
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| | Velocity to expand European network... | |
LONDON — Focus EDL has been appointed to be the exclusive UK representative and distributor for Velocity Semiconductor's 32-bit, network-enabled MCU. The Typhoon is suitable for embedded applications requiring controller support and Ether... |
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| | Fuzzy logic does real time on the DSP... | |
Fuzzy logic doesn't require strange hardware or new programming languages, just a different approach to set membership. Plenty of physical systems, from elevators to boilers, can benefit from fuzzy-logic programming. This article explores pro... |
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| | Starter Kit supports AC and DC motors... | |
Designed to provide users with a ready-to-use motor control application, the AK-ST7FMC Starter Kit is an integrated system built around the STMicroelectronics ST7FMC microcontroller, which has a built-in, dedicated motor control peripheral. Th... |
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| | PCI Express image-acquisition board set to debut... | |
Imaging and video have always interested me. As a youth in the early 1960s I tinkered with a surplus photomultiplier tube (if I recall it was a 941A), rigging it up to an Amateur Radio video transmitter. My interest in video was piqued again i... |
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| | Auto experts see self-navigation coming... | |
Progress is logical: from audible warnings to vehicles that respond to user commands with door-to-door service
It's shortly before dawn, and the handful of early-morning commuters on the fog-shrouded suburban highway don't see the deer mean... |
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| | How to use on-target rapid prototyping... | |
Your new algorithm does the job on a real-time, rapid prototyping computer but will it work on your actual target, a highly complex automotive electronic control unit? On-target rapid prototyping, an emerging trend in embedded systems develop... |
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| | Generate stepper-motor speed profiles in real time... | |
A new algorithm for stepper-motor acceleration allows speed profiles to be parameterized and calculated in real time. This algorithm can run on a low-end microcontroller using only simple fixed-point arithmetic operations and no data tables. ... |
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| | MCUs or DSPs: Which is in (Motor) Control?... | |
Quick!—name the world's most popular microprocessor chip. If you said "Pentium" you're wrong. Way wrong. Fact is, Intel's famous Pentium family makes up barely 2% of the world's microprocessors. The other 98% are all embedd... |
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| | Sensors and single-wire LINs rev up Auto IQ... | |
Sensors to measure such quantities as pressure, temperature and acceleration have been a staple of automotive electronics for many years. But the myriad systems required for such functions as emissions control, fuel economy and safety (inclu... |
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| | Interconnects-Keys to the New Car Sensors... | |
As the automobile's electronic content continues to increase, the need for low-cost, reliable sensing systems becomes even more important. While there are many challenges to overcome to meet those needs, advances in interconnect architecture... |
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| | Electric power steering: one good turn deserves another... | |
Did you know that the hydraulic steering system in your car siphons off somewhere between one to three miles per gallon from your vehicle's performance and consumes more energy than your car's air conditioner? In fact, it's the third highest e... |
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| | CANopen safety chip simplifies safety-related development... | |
Safety-related devices are increasingly being networked together. Expensive safety controllers and safety monitors are available already, but the number of simple and inexpensive safety-related devices is still low. Networked safety technology... |
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| | Fujitsu Ten to use Celoxica tools for auto design... | |
LONDON — Following a period of evaluation and testing Celoxica's DK Design Suite of system design tools is being adopted at Fujitsu Ten, a provider of advanced automotive electronics.
Fujitsu Ten says that through extensive testing i... |
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| | A Framework for Considering Security in Embedded Systems... | |
The need for security in many embedded systems is not always readily apparent, and too many embedded systems designers are paying too little attention to the subject, despite the increased wired and wireless connectivity of such designs and po... |
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| | Application-Specific MCUs focus on motor control ... | | San Jose, Calif. -- Zilog, Inc.'s thrust into the growing motor control market is its Z8 Encore! MC family, a new generation of flash MCUs targeted at sensorless Brushless DC (BLDC) and AC Induction motor control applications. Availa... |
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| | Echelon dives into industrial embedded control... | |
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Echelon Corp. is offering early samples of an adaptive industrial-control chip called Pyxos FT, which Echelon anticipates could spur a market several times larger than the LONworks home-control and automation e... |
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| | Eight-bit MCUs claim half the automobile... | |
Dozens of 8-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) inhabit the average new automobile, which says something about both 8-bit MCUs and automobiles. Today's automobiles are nothing like their predecessors. Whereas automobile engineers/ inventors were origi... |
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| | Make a PI controller on an 8-bit micro... | |
This article shows you how to implement a classical PI (proportional-integral) controller on a simple 8-bit microcontroller. To implement the PI controller, we developed specific libraries that make it possible for the microcontroller to perfo... |
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| | DSCs boost automotive electric motor control... | |
Mechanically actuated automotive systems, such as power steering and fuel and water pumps, are being replaced with systems that utilize electric motor technology. Consequently, the presence of semiconductors in automobiles is increasing geomet... |
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| | Motor control kit simplifies AC, DC designs to 3 kW... | |
Lexington, Mass. --STMicroelectronics' Motor Control Reference Design Kit simplifies the evaluation and implementation of 3-phase brushless direct current (BLDC) and AC drive applications across three power ranges, up to 3 kW. CAD files are ava... |
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| | AMD offers reference design kit for Geode LX CPU... | |
Sunnyvale, Calif.— AMD’s Geode LX EPIC Reference Design Kit (RDK) is aimed at helping system developers quickly and efficiently create low-power, high-performance single board computer products, based on AMD’s Geode LX p... |
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| | CANopen product guide available... | |
LONDON — CAN in Automation (CiA) has released the CANopen Product Guide 2006 on the Internet (www.can-cia.org/products/pg2006) and on CD-ROM.
The number of CANopen-specific product entries has increased again to 322 (295 in 2005, and 2... |
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| | Flash microcontrollers handle automotive applications... | |
NANTES, France—Atmel Corporation announced four AEC Q100-qualified AVR® Flash microcontrollers dedicated to the automotive segment. The devices are designed to enable performance and cost effective automotive solutions for sensor and ... |
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| | ARM Cortex-M3-based MCUs add flash, peripherals... | |
Austin, Tex.— Coming on the heels of the launch of its first Cortex-M3 processor-based microcontroller, Luminary Micro has added four devices to its Stellaris family. The LM3S301, LM3S310, LM3S315 and LM3S316 are available ... |
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| | Dual-axis servoamp drives a wide range of motors... | |
Canton, Mass—Copley Controls' Model 800-1514 servo amplifier provides independent (torque) control of two brushless motors. It's compatible with universal encoder and Hall feedback systems and thus frees designers to mix and match motors... |
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| | Advanced industrial control designs are drowning in data... | |
From complete factories down to the individual electromechanical device, real-time data acquisition is critical to the control and feedback that lie at the heart of automation. While advanced VLSI technology offers ever higher performance, i... |
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| | A ZigBee Radio Tutorial for the non-RF Expert... | |
ZigBee and IEEE 802.15.4 are low data rate wireless networking standards that can eliminate the costly and damage prone wiring in industrial control applications. Flow or process control equipment can be place anywhere and still communicate wi... |
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| | Commentary- Brushless motors: What's not to like?... | |
To say "it's about time" would be an understatement regarding the steady, growing, newfound popularity for brushless motors. These cleaner, smaller, lighter-weight wonders are steadfastly gaining ground on their century-old brethren, brush mot... |
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| | Total motion control in auto engine plant... | |
The task of building a 3.9L V-6 engine at a major U.S. carmaker is being made easier as a result of a total Siemens Solution for Powertrain, based upon the Siemens TRANSLINE System Solution and Motion Control Information System (MCIS). This s... |
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| | Encoder modules designed for brushless DC motors ... | |
San Jose, Calif. — Avago Technologies has released its first series of small
6-channel optical incremental C-shaped encoder modules for brushless DC (BLDC) motors used in industrial automation applications. The AEDB-9340 series modules, w... |
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| | Powering LED strings and arrays in backlight applications ... | |
LEDs are becoming an increasingly popular backlighting option for all types of liquid-crystal displays, large and small, as more efficient and more cost-effective white LEDs become available on the market. The advantages of LED backlighting in... |
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| | Brushless DC motors come in many sizes... | |
maxon motor’s EC motor range is now a comprehensive programme through the addition of electronically commutated DC motors in 10 and 13 mm diameters. maxon motor offers now a complete EC motor range from ø 6 to 60 mm.
The application... |
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| | Compact HDD motor controller also saves on power... | |
Lexington, Mass.—Citing an optimized chip partitioning scheme that extends battery life in consumer applications, STMicroelectronics' compact L7208 motor controller IC for 1.8-inch and sub-1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDDs), in an ultrathin LGA p... |
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| | DC-LVDT position sensors designed for easy integration... | |
Pennsauken, N.J. — Macro Sensors has developed a line of 24-V DC-operated LVDT position sensors with true zero to 10-V output for easy field integration with PLCs, digital indicators, A/D converters, computer-based DAQ systems, and QC data coll... |
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| | DIP rotary switches deliver more actuator options... | |
Scottsdale, Ariz. — NKK Switches expands its FR series of 10-mm ultra-thin DIP rotary switches with dial and metal shaft actuator options for through-hole devices.
Previously offered with screwdriver or plastic shaft actuators for through-hol... |
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| | 3-phase motor driver ICs add more power management... | |
Irvine, Calif.—Stressing high efficiency, Toshiba's three high-voltage, three-phase motor driver ICs include comprehensive power management circuitry for DC brushless motors, air conditioner fans, and pump motors.
The PWM drivers, using a high... |
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| | Motor driver IC optimizes dual full-bridge designs... | |
Worcester, Mass.—Allegro MicroSystems' A3969, a dual full-bridge pulse-width modulated (PWM) motor IC for driving both windings of a two-phase bipolar stepper motor, feature the company's Satlington
output structure, which combines the low volt... |
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| | Connector saves space in servomotors... | |
Santa Ana, Calif. — Providing designers with a space-saving motor connector, the CmX series servomotor interconnect system from ITT, Electronic Components may replace two traditional circular connectors for a wide range of servomotor sizes. The... |
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| | Stand alone controller drives small BLDC motors... | |
Austin, Tex.—Freescale Semiconductor's stand alone MC34929 is suited to driving small three-phase brushless DC (BLDC) motors in consumer, portable and office equipment.
The MC34929, working from an 8- to 28-volt supply, provides up to 1 amp co... |
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| | Dual full-bridge MOSFET driver eases motor control... | |
Worcester, Mass.—Allegro MicroSystems A3985 is a digitally programmable dual full-bridge gate driver for industrial bipolar two-phase stepper motors, two-phase brushless DC motors or two individual torque motors.
For the industrial, medical a... |
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| | Extreme automotive environment challenges sensor design... | |
Sensor applications in the automotive electronics field run a wide gamut from pressure sensors for manifold and exhaust systems to magnetic sensors for gear tooth and valve position. Regardless of the specific application, most automotive sensor mod... |
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| | Phototriacs isolate low-voltage logic from AC voltages... | |
Malvern, Pa. — Vishay Intertechnology Inc. has introduced two non-zero-crossing 1.5-kV/us dV/dt phototriac optocouplers that are designed to isolate low-voltage logic from AC voltages up to 380 V. The VO3052 and VO3053 phototriacs are designed ... |
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| | Integrating USB into Products... | |
In recent years USB has taken the place of traditional serial standards
as the main communications protocol between devices. Lately, there has
been an increase in the market demand for products to support USB
devices like keyboards, printers, and me... |
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