Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #03610



To: beam@corp.sgi.com
From: "Ben Hitchcock" beh01@uow.edu.au
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 20:38:28 +0000
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Fast Bicore, not wasting energy.


It would depend on the motor involved. If the motor was mostly inductive, I
don't think you'd waste much energy at all.

Impedance = Ls
Where L is the inductance, and s is the laplace transform of the input.

For a sinusoidal input (Yes, I know you have a square wave input, but sine
waves are easier)
s = jw where w (omega) is the frequency in radians per second, and j is the
square root of minus one.

So the impedance turns out to be fully complex, which means it gives back
all the power that you put into it, just 90 degrees out of phase with the
input.

If the load had some resistance as well, then that changes things.

Instead of the impedance being fully inductive, we change the equation thus:

Impedance = Ls + R

R being resistance.
Now here an interesting thing happens. As we increase the frequency (w),
the inductive part dominates the impedance more and more, until we have a
huge (complex) impedance that is close to 90 degrees out of phase with
voltage.

Impedance = Ls + R, s being huge, R being the same no matter what frequency
you use.

So here the L still dominates R.

At low frequencies, however, L's contribution is tiny - so the motor's
resistance is the dominant factor.

The moral of the story is that if you are worried about power consumption,
increase your frequency. The inductor will take care of the rest.


I suppose Wilf could dream up some sort of circuit, where the output of the
oscillator goes through a resistor to a capacitor to ground, and the
junction of the resistor and cap follows the 'mean' value of the oscillator.
Then you could have two op-amps acting as comparators, with different
switch-on levels so that the head would have a 'deadband' in the middle.

I think it's easier not to worry too much.

Ben

>Hello List,
>
>I've a question for you, of which the answer probably is quite simple and
>already known to you, so then I don't have to think about it (pretty lazy he).
>
>Suppose one makes a suspended bicore with quite a fast period of
>oscillation (say one kiloHertz) and connects a motor to its outputs.
>Instead of the resistor the circuit has two phodiodes and thus has a
>duty-cycle dependent on the difference in light falling on those
>photodiodes. This basicly is the circuit which has been used by quite a few
>of you to make a head point towards the light.
>
>The problem is that there is an alternating current flowing through the
>motor, which, most of the time, doesn't result in motion (except when the
>dut-cycle differs from 50%), but is just dissipated, which I find a
>terrible waste (I don't need the warmth resulting since I have other
>machines which make my room warm for me). What can be done against this?
>For example, does it help to put a capacitor across the motor-inputs, or
>capacitors between the outputs of the circuit and the inputs of the motor
>... or are there ways to store the energy and use it again?
>
>How do you guys do that ... I mean, loads of you built heads and must have
>thought about the problem and solved it (and I don't feel like inventing
>the wheele for the second time).
>
>I'm curious for any reply !!!
>
>Wouter Brok
>
>
>
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