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Article: Analyzing amplifiers. (X-Y-Z).
- Article from:
- Assembly
- Article date:
- April 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Have you ever played the gossip game? You tell someone that you saw Arnold Schwarzenegger at a restaurant, with instructions to pass it on. Twenty versions later, you discover that you're co-starring with "Ahnold" in "Terminator III."
The amplifier in a motion control system works something like that, but without corrupting the message. The amplifier takes a lowvoltage command signal from the controller and amplifies it into electrical power to drive the motor.
Amplifiers have three operating modes: torque, velocity and position. Some amplifiers support only one mode; others support all three. Depending on the motor, amplifiers can also perform ...