Motion and Easy-to-Use

I get a little crabby about some of the things I have seen over the years in the motion control and especially the American marketing mentality.  In particular, the words “motion control” and “easy to use” should not appear in the same sentence without great care and thought about the statements being made.  If there is any lesson in the last two blogs on simulations and analytical tools for system design, it is that the motion control field is complex.

It is certain that computers and ever more powerful software programs automate tasks so that we can work more quickly.  The tools are evolving to make design faster and more thorough.  Many programs embed software oscilloscopes to display important parameters of operation while we tune or test our work.  And I love anything that makes my job easier, as I’m sure you do.

And it is certainly true that the majority of motion control and mechatronic applications can be subdivided into relatively simple systems.  Most people with experience in motion control will tell you that 80% or more of all the motors sold perform simple tasks that can be handled with simple hardware and relatively simple control.

A fairly precise linear actuator can be created by combining a stepping motor and a lead screw with a fair amount of thrust to it.  The motor, bearing, lead screw, control, can be purchased as a system for around $100 in low volume production quantities.

But thee is a great tendency to depend on the performance of the tools and come to the conclusion that there are no issues when we specify a group of components for an application.  Its easy to get lulled into a false sense of security that we know everything we need to know about a project.  FORGET ABOUT IT!  It is never going to be that way.  Sooner or later, your boss or some customer will throw you a curve that you think is a piece of cake and about the time that your halfway into the project you are going to realize that you are in trouble.

You have to ask lots of questions.  You have to examine assumptions. You have to explore lots of alternatives.  When you start a project, put an outline together of the major issues.  Use it as a fence to create boundaries AND connections so that you work through everything with a structure.  Structured software, and project scripts, make debugging (which is where we spend most of our time) a whole lot easier.  Approach to the big picture by assembling small tasks together that will result in achieving the final objectives.  And measure everything against the project objectives.

If you want an assumption, here’s one: nothing is as easy as you think it is.

Simulations and Priorities

Some recent responses to the last post on tradeoff analysis made me think about the complex math behind the design of electric motors.  Its way more complex than you would think.  Not because I know anything about it, but a good friend of mine Dr. Hao Huang, did an incredible job of building an inclusive model of the electric motor and an optimization program as his doctoral thesis.  Its an incredible piece of programming, dare I say art?, that took an entire case of paper to print out.

In the electric motor, its not just torque and speed.  Its all the other things that have to be addressed simultaneously in order to produce the torque and speed. Read more

AC and DC

It has been over 100 years since the first DC dynamo’s were built to power electric lights.  Shortly after Edison’s direct current debut, Nicola Tesla and George Westinghouse gave the world AC powered motors.  And the “War of the Currents” has been going on ever since.  Although its been less visible of a ware in recent years.

Some of the crazy publicity stunts conducted during the “War of the Currents” are legendary.  Edison made the claim that the only thing AC power was good for was electrocution of convicted criminals.

AC power won out, of course.  DC power cannot overcome significant losses due to resistance drop over over distance.  And in order for electricity to serve more people, its all about the delivery system. Read more

Tradeoffs and Triangles

The activity of optimization involves trade off analysis.  The goal is to improve performance or cost effectiveness, or both if possible.  Nowadays, we have some really sophisticated software tools that allow us to simulate the behavior of complex systems. Computational fluid dynamics, magnetic field simulations, thermal imaging, finite element analysis are a few of the amazing technologies that can now be engaged on desktop computers to conduct sophisticated analysis of performance at the click of a mouse button.

Simulation work that used to require mainframe computing power is now generally available as an add on module to 3D engineering graphics products.  Most of the major 3D engineering design products include animation features that allow the user to build and move the parts in space exactly as they will do when built.  Read more

Materials and Mechatronics

A great scientist recently said that most of the new innovations in coming years would be in the materials science world.  (Sorry I can’t remember the reference, or I would gladly give credit…)  Seems like he may prove to be right.

Organic LED materials and processes show the potential to replace the mainstream display technologies.  Which is pretty impressive given the multi-billion dollar size of market for displays these days. Read more

The Future of Feedback

Feedback technology isn’t as simple as it seems.  Over the years, the technology has improved and costs have decreased dramatically.  HP’s scribed disc encoder used to be the standard at around $50/unit in small quantities.  Now through beam LED based encoder kits are available for $25 and less.  Accuracy is good, and products are available from a variety of suppliers off the shelf. Read more

The Future of Mechatronic Design

I think mechatronics generally begins with mechanical design.  That’s just my perspective, it may differ in your experience.   If its a power window in a car, a hard disk drive platter machine, a blender, an amusement park ride or display, a surgical robot, whatever.  They all start with mechanical design, performance goals and boundary conditions that are required for the mechanical system to be useful.

This is why there needs to be great emphasis on the design of software tools that are extensions to the 2D and 3D CAD products that are currently available.  Obviously, if you are engaged in mechanical design, you are in a unique position to the final outcome of the design project.   The mechanical design work sets the boundary conditions of what is possible. Read more

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is another “hot” topic. And like many topics in technology, its very prone to misunderstanding and misrepresentation.

For example, a recent prominent engineering magazine published a cover article on the subject of electric cars, one of my favorite topics. And the cover had a really cool graphic comparing the energy density of lead acid batteries to the newer lithium ion batteries which have 4 time better storage capability, and then comparing that to gasoline’s energy density which is eighty three times more power per pound than lead acid technology. Read more

Everything You Need to Know About Mechatronics

Everything you need to know about mechatronics is encompassed in the load.  This perspective came to me recently while doing research for an upcoming article in Design World.  The idea isn’t original, and its probably been suggested before, but it certainly bears repeating.

The word Mechatronics is a construct of mecha- for mechanical and -tronics for electronics.  In general, the idea is to recognize the combination of mechanical engineering in the design of the load and actuators used to satisfy a particular requirement with the electronics needed to control and provide power.  The “mecha” part is more the “arms and legs” of an application.  And when we’re talking about robots and the like, it can literally be arms and legs. Read more

Solar Power, Mechatronics and Economics

At the recent Semicon show the big buzz was about the emerging Solar Energy industry. Lots of “new” products, lots of buzz. The big semiconductor machinery manufacturers who view crystalline solar cells as a stimulus to the demand for machinery and silicon have put in a lot of effort. The main goal? Get the cost of the solar cells down to where electricity produced with silicon is comparable to the cost of electricity generated by fossil fuel.

And, in fact, the industry is getting there. The current estimates are that solar power is costing about the same as peak demand consumer power, $.23/kWh. And with the current wave of investment and scale up, something which the semiconductor industry has always done well, there is serious forecasting that the cost of solar electricity will continue to fall. Read more

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