Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CONVERSION
HANDBOOK
FOURTH EDITION
UPDATED 03/2009
ii
PREFACE
The Synchro/Resolver Conversion Handbook is designed as a practical reference source. It discusses the
theory of operation of data converter products (synchro, resolver, and linear variable differential transformer
[LVDT]), performance parameters, and design factors for typical applications. The subject matter and appli-
cations are chosen to be those of greatest interest and concern for the designers, systems engineers, and
systems operators with whom DDC has worked over the years. The text treats both DDC’s own approach to
shaft encoding and other generally accepted techniques. Because various points of view are presented, the
Handbook has served well as a teaching aid over the years.
Our first Synchro Conversion Handbook was conceived in 1973 during a series of technical seminars con-
ducted at DDC. It was the first integrated reference source on synchro/resolver data converters.
Now after 30 plus years, this hardcopy book is released as an electronic file.
Since 1968 DDC has been the leader in new product development in the field of synchro/resolver convert-
ers. DDC’s introduction, in 1968, of the first modular synchro converters (in a 0.8 x 2.6 x 3.1 inch package)
instantly made the existing rack, box, and card-set converters obsolete. Indeed, the biggest sales problem
was convincing engineers that they were able to design complete synchro/resolver systems using only a few
small DDC hybrids. Shortly thereafter, hybrid technology matured and we were able to once again make a
dramatic size reduction - down to single DIP packages. Now, with the advent of custom monolithic technolo-
gy, we are making major advances in functionality and cost (size is more and more being determined by pin
count requirements). Today, as in 1968, DDC is still committed to being the leader in synchro conversion
and related test equipment. We intend to do this by offering superior products that meet the needs of the
engineering community and supporting those products with the best application support world-wide in this
field.
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iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I - Fundamentals
Angle-Sensing Transducers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Reliability and Functional Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Attainable Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Static and Dynamic Mechanical Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Environmental Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Angle-Data Conversion Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Fundamental Mathematical Relationships in Synchro/Resolver Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Synchro Control Transmitter (Figure 1.10a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Synchro Control Transformer (Figure 1.10b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Control Differential Transmitter (Figure 1.10c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Resolver (Figure 1.10d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Transolver (Figure 1.10e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
The Scott-T Transformer (Figure 1.10f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Torque Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Typical Synchro/Resolver System Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Single-Speed System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Multispeed System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Stick-off Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Digital Data Conversion Techniques for Synchro/Resolver Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Single-RD Phase-Shift Synchro-to-Digital Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Double-RD Phase-Shift Synchro-to-Digital Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Real-Time Trigonometric Function - Generator Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Demodulation, A/D, and µP Approach to Synchro/Resolver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS - (CONTINUED)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS - (CONTINUED)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS - (CONTINUED)
viii
FUNDAMENTALS
SECTION I
Angle-Sensing Transducers
SHAFT
Over the years, many different forms of shaft-angle
transducers have been developed. Among them, the
following are worth consideration:
1
FUNDAMENTALS
Cost COSINE
OUTPUT
Attainable Performance
2
FUNDAMENTALS
All shaft angle transducers, except the LVDT, present Angle-Data Conversion Devices
some small amount of static and dynamic friction to
the shaft measured. In the case of the RVDT, syn- All of the transducers considered above require exci-
chro/resolver, and optical-sensor types, the friction is tation by AC or DC analog reference signals. The
usually negligible - particularly since high-quality disc encoders produce parallel digital outputs at all
bearings are used. Another dynamic loading ele- times (although monotonicity1 tends to be poor at
ment to consider is the moment of inertia added to major-carry transitions from quadrant to quadrant),
the shaft. In this respect, miniature synchro/resolver but require signal conditioning electronics: filtering,
and RVDT/LVDT designs are ideal. They are superi- common-mode rejection2 to preserve accuracy
or to the large diameter encoders required for high despite ground-loops and induced low-frequency
resolution. The static and dynamic loading present- noise, and buffer amplification. Synchronous clock-
ed by both potentiometers and brush sensors are ing and parallel-serial conversion may also be
significantly higher than those presented by either required. Figure 1.7 shows typical interface electron-
synchro/resolvers, RVDT/LVDTs or optical encoders. ics between a disc encoder and a computer data link.
RESET
B0 BUFFER
FILTER
R
E
B1 G
FILTER BUFFER
I
S
T
E
R
Bn1 BUFFER
FILTER
CLOCK
COMMON LATCH
STROBE
SAMPLING DELAY
LOGIC
COMPUTER
I/O BUS
Figure 1.7. Typical Interface (simplified) between Disk Encoder and Computer.
1. See Section VII for definitions and discussions of these error factors.
2. See Section IX for definitions and discussions of these error factors.
3
FUNDAMENTALS
4
FUNDAMENTALS
5
FUNDAMENTALS
SIN θ
• The Scott-T Transformer (Figure 1.10f)
S1
Although this is not a rotary device, but merely two SYNCHRO RESOLVER
interconnected static transformers, it is included in S3 S4
Torque Components S1 _
+ SIN
S3 +
Table 1.1
Torque and Control Components _
+ COS
S2 +
UNIT FUNCTION TORQUE CONTROL
Transmitters TX CX
Differential Transmitters TDX CDX
Torque Receivers TR —
Torque Differential Receivers TDR — WHERE: SIN ~ S3 - S1
Control Transformers — CT
COS ~ S2 - ( S1 + S3 ) 2
Torque Receiver Transmitters TRX — 2 3
Resolvers — RS
Transolvers — TY Figure 1.10g. Solid-State Scott-T Transformer.
6
FUNDAMENTALS
“repeaters”), or perform other low-energy mechani- where the constants K1, K2, K3 are ideally equal, but
cal work. Table 1-1 relates torque components to the differ slightly in practice, and represent the rotor-sta-
analogous control components described above. tor transfer functions;
The most important fact about all synchro and α1, α2, and α3, are ideally zero (or small and equal),
resolver signals is that they present information but are appreciable in practice, and represent the
about the angular position of a shaft in the form of rotor-stator time-phase shift at the carrier frequency;
relative amplitudes of a carrier wave. All signals, rotor
and stator, input and output, are at the same fre- and ω = 2πf, where f is the carrier (or reference) fre-
quency, and (except for imperfections in the compo- quency used to excite the system.
nents) in perfect time-phase synchronization.
Although it is common to speak of the “phase angle” With these variables accounted for the basic synchro
of the shaft, and of the winding as a “3-phase” (syn- signal relationship is a shown in Figure 1.11a.
chro) or “2-phase” (resolver), all carrier signals are
sine waves, in phase with all others in the system... Similarly, a 4-wire set of resolver signals (see Figure
except for the imperfections and undesired side- 1.10d) measured at terminals S1 and S3 (Vx), S2
effects to be discussed later. To differentiate and S4 (Vy), and corresponding to the spacial phase
between time-phase angle and shaft-position angles angle θ, would be represented mathematically by:
(or their electrical equivalents), we refer to the latter
as “spatial-phase” angles. V3-1 = K 1 sinθ sin (ωt + α 1)
V3-2 = K 2 sin (θ + 120°) sin (ωt + α2)
A 3-wire set of synchro signals (see Figure 1.10a),
measured between pairs of terminals, S1, S2 and
S3, corresponding to the spacial phase angle, would where Kx and Ky are ideally equal transfer-function
be represented mathematically as: constants like K1, K2, and K3;
V3-1 = K 1 sinθ sin (ωt + α 1) αx and αy are ideally zero time-phase shifts, like α1,
α2, and α3;
V3-2 = K 2 sin (θ + 120°) sin (ωt + α2)
V 1-2 = K 3 sin (θ - 120°) sin (ωt + α 3 ) and ω = 2πf where f is the same as in the synchro
equations.
In Phase
In Phase with RH-RL
with RH-RL
360
360 0
0 30 90 150 210 270 330
30 90 150 210 270 330 θ (DEGREES)
θ (DEGREES) CCW
CCW
Out of Phase
Out of Phase
with RH-RL
with RH-RL
-V
-V MAX
MAX
S3-S2 = V SIN(θ + 120°) S3-S1 = V SIN(θ)
MAX MAX
Standard Synchro Control Transmitter (CX) Outputs as a Function of Standard Resolver Control Transmitter (RX) Outputs as a Function of
CCW Rotation From Electrical Zero (EZ). CCW Rotation From Electrical Zero (EZ).
Figure 1.11a. Synchro Signal Relationships. Figure 1.11b. Resolver Signal Relationships.
7
FUNDAMENTALS
With these variables accounted for the basic resolver That is, regardless of dθ/dt, the rotational velocity of
signal relationship is a shown in Figure 1.11b. the shaft, or even of d2θ/dt2, the angular acceleration,
the value of θ is always given by:
Thus, for any static spatial angle θ, the outputs of a syn-
chro or a resolver are constant-amplitude sine waves at Vx
the carrier frequency. In resolver format, ignoring
θ = tan -1
Vy
imperfections, the ratio of the amplitudes would be:
However, there is an undesired effect in synchros and
resolvers called “speed voltage,” which can cause
Vx sin θ
= = tan θ appreciable deviations from the ideal relationship stat-
Vy cos θ
ed above. Speed voltage is discussed in Section VII.
This ratio is independent of the frequency and Speed voltage is only one of several undesirable
amplitude of the reference excitation (carrier fre- effects that cause synchro and resolver behavior to
quency and amplitude). depart from the ideal relationships discussed above.
Among the others are: harmonic distortion; quadra-
Similarly, for the same static spatial angle θ, the ture components (of output voltage); loading (of or by
ratios of the amplitudes of the synchro-format sig- the synchro or resolver); time-phase shift in the syn-
nals, ignoring imperfections, would be: chro or resolver (the parameter α, mentioned above);
and nonlinearities in the synchro or resolver - i.e.,
departures, due to mechanical imperfections in the
V3-1 sin (θ)
= magnetic or windings that cause departure from the
V 3-2 sin (θ + 120°)
Note that this ideal transfer functions described above. All of these
set of ratios is a are discussed in some detail in Section VII.
V3-2 sin (θ + 120°) single position, θ,
= and is the same
V1-2 sin (θ - 120°) information as is As a final item in our discussion of useful mathematical
contained in Vx/Vy relationships, let us examine the nature of digital sig-
above. nals. A digital signal consists of a set of voltage levels
V1-2 sin (θ - 120°) (or current or resistance levels), at a set of terminals,
=
V3-1 sin (θ) each of which has been reassigned a certain “weight”
(i.e., a certain relative importance), in accordance with
a certain “code”. The most common code is the so
These ratios are independent of the frequency called “natural binary” code, in which the weight of
and amplitude of the reference excitations, as in each successive voltage-level terminal, from the small-
the resolver-format case, above. est to the largest, is given by the simple relationship:
8
FUNDAMENTALS
The examples given are completely arbitrary, the Note that the maximum value that can be represent-
ONE and ZERO states may be any two easily distin- ed by a 10-bit word is (when all bits are in the ONE
guished values. All that matters is that they be dif- state) is (210 -1) =1,023, or one less than 210. The
ferent enough so that noise, drift, and other circuit or resolution to which the digital word can be varied
signal imperfections are not able to create any doubt then is ±LSB, which is:
as to which state exists at a particular terminal.
1
Resolution =
Each terminal in a set is said to present a “bit” of 2n
information, while the entire set, in the pre-assigned
sequence, is called a “word.” The 10-bit digital word: But the digital word need not be interpreted in terms
of an LSB=1. In the case of angle data, for example,
1101000101 we might set the maximum value of an N-bit word
equal to 360°, so that
would represent voltage values of +4, +4, 0, +4, 0, 0,
0, +4, 0, +4 Volts and the conventional way of writing n=N
9
FUNDAMENTALS
CONTROL CONTROL
Typical Synchro/Resolver System Architecture TRANSMITTER TRANSFORMER
SERVO
CX CT
MOTOR
and the position of the mechanical load (e.g., a valve, Figure 1.12b. Follow-up Servo with D/S converter
a turntable, a tool-bit feed screw) is made to conform replacing CX of Figure 1.12a.
to this command, rapidly and accurately. The
sequence of events is as follows:
With the advent of digital electronics, it became pos-
(1) The CX puts out a 3-wire representation of θ1, sible to replace one or more of the synchro (or
the position command. resolver) components in such a system by an accu-
rate, small, reliable, and economical electronic cir-
(2) The CT transforms θ2 into a 2-wire signal pro- cuit. In the system of Figure 1.12a, for example, the
portional to the sine of (θ1 - θ2). control transmitter could be replaced by a digital-to-
synchro converter, as shown in Figure 1.12b, which
(3) The output of the CT is amplified and used to would accept digital commands, from a programming
drive the servo motor. device - such as a computer, or a punched paper
tape, or a “Read-Only Memory” (ROM) - and produce
(4) The servo motor positions the load, through the the input to the CT. Such a combination is called a
gear train, which simultaneously drives the shaft of “hybrid” synchro system, because it combines
the CT. electromechanical and electronic devices for angular
data conversion.
(5) When the load has reached the correct (com-
manded) position, θ1 = θ2, the output of the CT is In all the systems shown so far, only one or two
then zero, and the motor stops. angles are involved in the data manipulation and
control. In many applications, as we shall see, many
The above will be recognized as a vastly oversimpli- angles may be measured, monitored, or controlled;
fied description, but it should serve to identify the therefore, the systems shown are relatively simple
function of each element in the follow-up servo. (although very important) examples.
10
FUNDAMENTALS
MSB ECDX CT
SOLID-STATE
DIGITAL D/S ELECTRONIC M
INPUT θ1 CDX
CX (ANGLE SENSOR)
1 LSB
S1 θ3
RH S2 SOLID-STATE 2 183.9˚
SYNCHRO/DIGITAL DIGITAL
DIGITAL
RL S3 CONVERTER (θOUT)
DIGITAL INPUT θ2
DISPLAY
M
θ3 = θ1 − θ2 AT NULL MECH LOAD
θIN
SOLID-STATE
CONTROL
M
MECH LOAD
TRANSFORMER
(SSCT)
θ
β=θ−α
θ2 = β AT NULL REFERENCE
EXCITATION CX
Figure 1.15. Hybrid Follow-up Servo System with INPUT
D/S Converter and CDX used to produce output
equal to difference between two angular inputs, one Figure 1.16. Hybrid Follow-up Servo System Used
digital and one analog to Interface Computer with Motor-Driven Load.
In all of the synchro systems shown and discussed A multispeed synchro system consists of two or more
so far, the relationship between θ (the shaft angle to synchros or resolvers geared together, usually with a
be monitored, measured, or controlled) and the gear ratio of some whole number. The most common
angular setting of the synchro or resolver transducer are two-speed systems with ratios of 1:8, 1:16, 1:32,
has been a constant ... usually shown as unity (direct 1:36 but other ratios can also be found. To under-
coupling), but possibly geared up or down. In all stand how these systems achieve high accuracy let
such “single-speed” systems, the product of dynam- us examine a typical two-speed system.
ic fidelity and resolution is the figure of merit - i.e.,
how fast one may track, measure, convert, and react In the single-speed case (see Figure 1.12a) the sys-
to, variations in θ, to an accuracy consistent with how tem will, essentially, have an accuracy dependent
many bits of resolution. upon the accuracy of the CT (we will assume a per-
fect transducer) and the positional resolution of the
See Figures 1.13 through 1.16 for examples of other servo loop. Assume we can position the CT with a
types of synchro systems. certain accuracy, say within ±0.1°. If we now gear this
CT to another with a gear ratio of 1:n (called a
Multispeed System “coarse” CT) where the CT we are positioning rotates
n turns for each single turn of the other, then 0.1° of
There is a type of synchro/resolver system (shown in rotation of the fast CT (called the “fine” CT) will turn
Figure 1.17) in which much higher accuracies and the slow CT (called the “coarse” CT) 0.1÷n, so that an
resolution may be achieved. This is called a multi- inaccuracy in the fine CT position is effectively divid-
speed system. ed by the gear ratio (often called the speed ratio).
11
FUNDAMENTALS
θ θ
Now assume we change the input shaft position by
some small amount, say 2°, so θ is not equal to φ.
The output of the 1xCT is now some value, E1xCT Figure 1.18. Two-Speed Servo Loop.
and since the nxCT is geared to it by 1:n the nxCT
output will be n times E1xCT. Since φ still equals 0°
the output of the 1xCT can be expressed as:
for changing θ
θ
where A=F.S., and the nxCT output can be
expressed as: let n = 5
E 1xct = A sin (θ n - φn ) = A sin (2n˚ - 0˚) Figure 1.19. Relative RMS Magnitudes of Coarse
and Fine Outputs.
E 1xct = A sin 2n˚
Note: 1x signifies that the coarse CX is connected we use it to drive a servo to position we can theoret-
directly to the shaft being monitored. It has a 1:1 ically increase our positioning resolution by a factor
relationship with it. of n.
It can be seen then that as an additional bonus the Let us examine why. If we have a servo loop which
error gradient at null out of the n speed CT is n times can position θ to a point where the null is less than
the one speed CT gradient (see Figure 1.19) and if some value, say 2mV, this will represent some posi-
tional resolution, say 0.2° (this figure is determined
"COARSE" "FINE"
by the loop gain of the system). Assume now that
SYNCHRO SYNCHRO
our servo system input is the 1xCT error voltage and
ANY ARBITRARY
RATIO* we have driven to a 2 mV null. This means θ and φ
are still 0.2° apart. If we now switch the servo input
from the 1xCT output to the nxCT output, the servo
θ Sθ will see a 2n mV voltage and position θ so that the
SPEED RATIO=GEAR RATIO=S
(FOR IDENTICAL NUMBER OF POLE PAIRS
nxCT output is a 2 mV null and:
SHAFT ON THE TWO SYNCHROS)
COUPLING
TRANSDUCERS φ = θ within 0.2˚ ÷ n
TO INPUT
*USUALLY 1:1
DATA
To implement such a system it is apparent that we
Figure 1.17. Two-Speed Synchro Transducer must have a means of determining when to switch
Configuration. from the coarse (1x) output to the fine (nx) output.
12
FUNDAMENTALS
This can be accomplished with a sensor to monitor to be at 180° from the true stable null (as can happen
the coarse output level and control which error signal at power turn on or some forms of switched systems)
is used. The crossover level is set within 90° or less then the servo would sense the coarse null (even
of the fine speed null (approximately 3° in a 1:32 sys- though an unstable one) and switch to the fine error
tem) to prevent hang ups at false nulls on the fine signal. Since the fine error signal is at a stable null
output. Since the fine CT turns n times for one turn the system would “lock in” at 180° from where it
of the coarse CT there will be n points where its out- should.
put will be at null, therefore, the fine error signal is
only used when it is within 90° of the true null. Or To enable even-ratio systems to function without the
more correctly when the coarse null is within (90°/n). possibility of nulling at 180°, a stick-off voltage is
added to the coarse control signal.
Stick-off Voltage
Figure 1.21 shows a simplified circuit for this pur-
If Figure 1.20 is examined it can be seen that for both pose. When a fixed AC voltage of the correct phase
even and odd ratios a fine and coarse stable null is added to the coarse signal, and the stator of the
exists together only at 0° (or 360°). A stable null is coarse control transformer (or transmitter) is suitably
defined as the point where the error signals pass repositioned, the coarse system can be made to null
through zero in the positive direction. If a servo is set at 180° of fine rotation, which is unstable fine null.
up to drive towards 0° misalignment it will drive away The null at 0° is unaffected.
from 180° because the phase of the error signal for a
displacement will be opposite than that at 0°. An In detail, the coarse control transformer signal/mis-
unstable null will exist at 180° but the slightest dis- alignment curve is shifted obliquely so that it still
turbance will cause it to drive to the correct null. passes throughout the same null at 0° but a different
null at 180°. The stick-off voltage shifts the coarse
If the coarse/fine ratio is even, the unstable coarse null horizontally by 90° of fine rotation, and the
null at 180° will be accompanied by a stable fine null. coarse synchro offset shifts the error signal by a fur-
ther 90° of fine rotation. At 0° the two 90° changes
If the coarse/fine ratio is odd, the coarse and fine sig- cancel; at 180° they add up to prevent a fine stable
nals each have unstable nulls at 180°, and there is null at 180°.
no danger of the system accidentally remaining
aligned at 180°, but if an even ratio system happened “Stick-off” voltage can be added to any even-ratio,
two-speed system, regardless of the method of
EVEN RATIO n = 8 adding the coarse and fine signals. The voltage must
have the same phase as the normal coarse signal to
1x (coarse)
360˚/0˚ 180˚ 360˚/0˚
avoid introducing quadrature components at null. A
two-speed S/D converter is described in detail on
nX (fine) n=EVEN
pages 33 through 36. Three-speed, four-speed, and
even more highly articulated synchros are practical,
although they are rarely used. In all multispeed ser-
ODD RATIO n = 5
vos, the accuracy of the gearing must be high
360˚/0˚
1x (coarse) enough to support the added resolution provided by
180˚ 360˚/0˚
the fine synchro.
nX (fine) n=ODD
Where mechanical gearing size and/or errors cannot
be tolerated, electrical two-speed synchros can be
Figure 1.20. CT Voltage/Misalignment Curves for used. Electrical two-speed synchros are devices
Even and Odd Ratios. with two rotor/stator winding sets. The two-speed
13
FUNDAMENTALS
AC
STICKOFF
COARSE CT VOLTAGE
I
n CROSS OVER
SWITCH
SENSOR
LEVEL
SWITCHED ERROR
VOLTAGE, Es
FINE CT
180
360/0 360/0
UNSTABLE STABLE
STABLE NULL
NULL NULL
OFFSET DUE TO
STICKOFF VOLTAGE
360/0 360/0
OFFSET DUE TO
180 COARSE CT
OFFSET
Figure 1.21. Unstable False Null Shifted by Adding ‘Stick-Off’ Voltage to Coarse Signal and Displacing
Coarse Control Transformer Output.
14
FUNDAMENTALS
ratio (N:1) is achieved by having Nx as many in the chros are generally available in binary ratios, i.e., 8,
“fine” rotor/stator set than there are in the “coarse” 16, and 32 to 1. Electrically there is no difference
rotor/stator set. Since the individual rotor/stator sets between electrical and mechanical units.
on an electrical two-speed synchro are brought out
separately to appropriate sets of terminal, they may Digital Data Conversion Techniques for
be treated (i.e., connected) in the same manner as Synchro/Resolver Systems
separate mechanical two-speed transducers.
This handbook does not attempt to study every cir-
The advantages of electrical two-speed synchros cuit technique ever used for synchro/resolver data
(resolvers are also available in this configuration) manipulation. It does not even attempt to present an
are: no inaccuracies due to gear train wear or back- encyclopedic survey of every kind of circuit in current
lash, increased reliability due to fewer moving parts, use; instead, it reflects a selective concentration on
lower driving torque required, and smaller size. With what authors deem to be the most important and
all these things considered, the cost differential effective modern techniques. To justify our selec-
between a mechanical two-speed arrangement (two tions, we offer the following brief review of older con-
synchros and a gear train) and a single electrical version techniques.
two-speed unit is marginal. Electrical two-speed syn-
VX Vref
GATE ON
INPUT
R ZERO
GATE OFF
A CROSSING COUNTER
DETECTORS
VA
C
VY
INPUT CLOCK
PULSE IN DIGITAL VALUE OF θ
Vref
VX VA
VY
RESOLVER
Vref (OR SYNCHRO
PLUS SCOTT "T") θ
VA
VB
VX
INPUT
A B
VA VB
VY 2θ
INPUT
Figure 1.23. Two-RC Phase-Shift S/D Converter (uses same zero-crossing detectors, gate, counter, and
clock-pulses as that of Figure 1.22).
15
FUNDAMENTALS
1.Single-RC phase-shift approaches (Figure 1.22). Let us briefly consider each of them in turn, recog-
nizing that the examples of each type given here are
2.Double-RC phase-shift approaches (Figure 1.23). subject to wide variation.
Vx
BOUND
A B
Vy
BOUND
DIG SIN
SIN DC SIN
S1 DEMODULATOR A/D
DIGITAL
S2 SCOTT µP ANGLE
REF
T OUTPUT
DIG COS
COS DC COS
S3 DEMODULATOR A/D
REF
16
FUNDAMENTALS
wave is exactly equal to (θ−α). If α, the time-phase Vref. By measuring the time interval (t2θ) between
error caused by rotor-to-stator phase lead, is small the zero crossing of VA and VB, and using it to gate
compared to θ, the time interval (tθ) between the zero a clock pulse into the counter, the count may be
crossings of VA and Vref is a measure of θ. In Figure scaled to read directly in degrees of θ (i.e., at one-
1.22, a counter totals the number digital clock pulse half the clock-pulse frequency used in the single-RC
during the time interval tθ, and the clock frequency is design). The disadvantages of this approach are the
scaled appropriately, to make the count read directly same as those listed for the single-RC approach,
in digitally coded angle. with the following exceptions:
It is readily apparent that the only advantage of the • The time-phase error (α) in the Vref is no longer an
single-RC S/D or R/D converter is its simplicity. The error factor.
disadvantages of this approach are:
• The reference carrier frequency need not be quite
• The difficulty of maintaining ωRC=1 due to instabil- as stable as before, but it is still a major error fac-
ity in the capacitor with time and temperature. tor, and must still be internally generated, for even
moderate accuracy.
• The difficulty of maintaining ωRC=1 due to varia-
tions in the carrier frequency. (These may be • There is a partial improvement in effective RC sta-
eliminated, at considerable expense, by generat- bility, due to the tendency of the capacitors to track
ing the carrier in the converter, preferably by divid- each other with temperature.
ing down from the clock frequency.)
• There is an added difficulty in the double-RC
• The difficulty of maintaining negligible time-phase approach - a 180° anomaly that causes the same
error (α) in the reference wave. (Some relief is reading at θ and θ ±180°. This requires special cir-
obtained by compensating the reference input by cuitry to prevent false readings.
using a lag network, but α varies with temperature,
θ, excitation, and from synchro to synchro.) All other error factors remain the same; nevertheless,
at considerable expense, the double-RC phase-shift
• Significant error due to noise, quadrature compo- S/D or R/D converter can be made to perform at
nents in Vx and Vy, and harmonics in Vx and Vy, moderate accuracies ... of the order of a worst-case
particularly around the zero (θ = 0°) and full scale limit of error of 10 minutes.
(θ = 360°).
The real-time trigonometric function-generator
• Staleness error, due to the fact that only one con- approach of Figure 1.24 takes many forms - one of
version is made per cycle. which, and perhaps the most advanced, is analyzed
in great detail in Section V. In this generalized dis-
• The circuit will only work at one specific carrier fre- cussion, however, we shall categorize it as follows:
quency. the resolver-format signals Vx and Vy are applied to
trigonometric function generators (tangent bridges or
The above list confines the single-RC phase-shift sine/cosine non-linear multipliers) and, by manipulat-
converter to relatively low accuracy applications. ing the resultant generator outputs in accordance
with trigonometric identities, an analog voltage pro-
The double-RC phase-shift synchro-to-digital portional to the difference between θ and the func-
converter shown in Figure 1.23 eliminates at least tion-generator setting φ is developed. If the integral
two of the error sources that limit the performance of of this voltage is digitized, and the digital value fed
the single-RC converter. In this approach, VA and VB back, as φ, to program the bridge so as to drive (θ -
have equal but opposite phase shifts with respect to φ) to null zero, the digital value of φ will equal the
17
FUNDAMENTALS
shaft angle θ. This scheme has the following advan- for new designs. It is discussed here only for histor-
tages over the two preceding approaches: ical purposes. This approach is called the ratio-
bounded harmonic oscillator circuit and is shown
• It is a real-time, continuous measurement of θ; in Figure 1.25. (This approach is analyzed in great
hence, there is no staleness error. detail on pages 29 to 30.) In this technique, a pair of
integrators are cascaded with a unity-gain inverter,
• It is inherently a ratio technique (Vy/Vx) - always into a closed loop with positive feedback, so that they
an advantage in maintaining accuracy. will oscillate a frequency determined by their RC
time constants. (Note that the oscillation frequency
• It is independent of the carrier frequency - indeed need have no special relationship to the reference
it is broadband, and will work over several carrier frequency, except that it is usually high, for
decades of frequency, without special designs. conversion speed.) First, the integrators are “bound”
(i.e., presented with initial conditions) by presetting
• It makes it possible to reject quadrature compo- their output voltages in the ratio Vx/Vy. These volt-
nents. ages are obtained by simultaneous sampling of Vx
and Vy. Then, the loop is allowed to oscillate, and
• It makes it possible to reject most noise compo- the ratio of the time interval between the zero cross-
nents. ing of the signal at B in the positive going direction to
the total natural period of oscillation is exactly pro-
• It rejects most harmonic distortion, being responsive portional to θ. This ratio is digitized by counting clock
only to differential harmonics between Vx and Vy. pulses, as in earlier schemes. Indeed, the circuit of
Figure 1.25 has some significant disadvantages: It is
• It is relatively independent of reference time-phase not a real-time measurement, but is, instead, a peri-
error, α. odic technique, like the phase-shift converters, and
therefore suffers from staleness error and is costly to
• There is no 180° anomaly. produce compared to modern tracking S/D or R/D
designs.
Implementation of the real-time function-generator
approach was more expensive than either of the The Demodulation, A/D, and µP approach to syn-
foregoing schemes, but mass-production techniques chro/resolver conversion has been used from time
and integrated circuits have erased the cost differ- to time but is now seldom used for new designs
ences. The real-time function-generator approach because it burdens the µP, has significant staleness
can achieve state-of-the-art performance - accura- errors, is susceptible to noise and cannot respond
cies better than ±2 seconds. adequately in a dynamic environment.
Now, let us consider an approach that has some of In this approach, shown in Figure 1.26, the sine and
the advantages of Figure 1.24 but also a few disad- cosine analog data is demodulated with the reference
vantages. In the past it offered a good price perfor- to obtain DC sine and DC cosine. These are then
mance compromise but with the recent introduction multiplexed into an A/D converter. The two data words
of monolithic R/Ds it is no longer a viable approach are then fed to the µP which determines the angle.
18
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
SECTION II
Figure 2.1 is a functional block diagram of a 16-bit which θ lies, and automatically sets the polarities of
synchro-to-digital tracking converter. Three-wire the sinθ and cosθ signals appropriately, for computa-
synchro angle data are presented to a solid-state tional significance. The sinθ, cosθ outputs of the
Scott-T (see page 6) which translates them into two quadrant selector are then fed to the sine and cosine
signals, the amplitude of one being proportional to multipliers, also contained in the control transformer.
the sine of θ (the angle to be digitized), and the
amplitude of the other being proportional to the These multipliers are digitally programmed resistive
cosine of θ. (The amplitudes referred to are, of networks. The transfer function of each of these net-
course, the carrier amplitudes at the reference fre- works is determined by a digital input (which switch-
quency - i.e., the cosine wave is actually cosθ cosωt, es in proportioned resistors), so that the instanta-
but the carrier term cosωt will be ignored in this dis- neous value of the output is the product of the instan-
cussion, because it will be removed in the demodu- taneous value of the analog input and the sine (or
lator and, in theory, contains no data.) cosine) of the digitally encoded angle φ. If the instan-
taneous value of the analog input to the sine multi-
A quadrant selector circuit contained in the control plier is cosθ, and digitally encoded "word" presented
transformer enables selection of the quadrant in to the sine multiplier is φ, then the output is cosθ sinφ.
C1
LOS
S1
R1
S2
INPUT OPTION CONTROL e D
VEL
S3 TRANSFORMER GAIN DEMODULATOR
S4
HYSTERESIS INTEGRATOR
E
16-BIT VCO
UP/DOWN &
COUNTER TIMING
DATA
LATCH
INH EM DATA EL CB
19
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
Thus the two outputs of the multipliers are: this error processor.) This direction line, (U), can be
used to tell the system which direction the synchro or
from the sine multiplier, cosθ sinφ resolver is moving. The "clock" or "toggle" line is
brought out as the converter busy (CB) signal. The
from the cosine multiplier sinθ cosφ carry signal of the last stage of the counter can be
used as a major carry (MC) in multiturn applications.
These outputs are fed to an operational subtractor, at
the differencing junction shown, so that the input fed Note that the two most significant bits of the angle φ,
to the demodulator is: stored in the up-down counter, are used to control
quadrant selection (as explained on pages 9 and
sinθ cosφ – cosθ sinφ=sin(θ-φ) 47), and the remaining 14 bits are fed (in parallel) to
the digital inputs of both multipliers. (It is also inter-
The right-hand side of this trigonometric identity indi- esting to note that the fact that the first two bits of φ
cates that the differencing-junction output represents have been "stripped off," for quadrant selection does
a carrier-frequency sine wave with an amplitude pro- not invalidate the explanations given above since
portional to the sine of the difference between θ (the their data merely represent four sets of data from
angle to be digitized) and φ (the angle stored in digi- zero in 90° increments added to the sine/cosine cal-
tal form in the up-down counter). This point is AC culations of the function generators, which are strict-
error and is sometimes brought out of the converter ly one-quadrant full-scale devices).
as "e."
Finally, note that the up-down counter, like any
The demodulator is also presented with the refer- counter, is functionally an integrator - an incremental
ence voltage, which has been isolated from the ref- integrator, but nevertheless an integrator. Therefore,
erence source and appropriately scaled by the refer- the tracking converter constitutes in itself a closed-
ence isolation transformer or buffer. The output of loop servomechanism (continuously attempting to
the demodulator is, then, an analog DC level, pro- null the error to zero) with two lags ... two integrators
portional to: sin (θ – φ). In other words, the output of in series. This is called a "Type II" servo loop, which
the demodulator is the sine of the "error" between has very decided advantages over Type I or Type 0
the actual angular position of the synchro or resolver, loops, as we shall see.
and the digitally encoded angle, θ, which is the out-
put of the counter. This point, the DC error, is also To appreciate the value of the Type II servo behavior
sometimes brought out as "D" while the addition of a of this tracking converter, consider first that the shaft
threshold detector will give a Built-In-Test (BIT) flag. of the synchro or resolver is not moving. Ignoring
Note that, for small errors, sin (error) ≅ (error). This inaccuracies, drifts, and the inevitable quantizing
analog error signal is then fed to the circuit block error (e.g., ±1/2 LSB), the error should be zero
labeled "error processor and VCO." This circuit con- (θ = φ), and the digital output represents the true
sists essentially of an analog integrator whose output shaft angle of the synchro or resolver.
(the time-integral of the error) controls the frequency
of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The VCO Now, start the synchro or resolver shaft moving, and
produces "clock" pulses that are counted by the up- allow it to accelerate uniformly, from dθ/dt = 0 to
down counter. The "sense" of the error (φ too high or dθ/dt = V. During the acceleration, an error will
φ too low) is determined by the polarity of φ, and is develop, because the converter cannot instanta-
used to generate a counter control signal "U," which neously respond to the change of angular velocity.
determines whether the counter increments upward However, since the VCO is controlled by an integra-
or downward, with each successive clock pulse fed tor, the output of which is the integral of the error, the
to it. (For reasons discussed below, it is also conve- greater the lag (between θ and φ), the faster will the
nient to put a small "hysteresis" into the reaction of counter be called upon to "catch up." So when the
20
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
velocity becomes constant at V, the VCO will have the upper frequency limit of the VCO/counter combi-
settled to a ratio of counting that exactly corresponds nation. A typical high-performance 14-bit, 400 Hz
to the rate of change in θ per unit time and instanta- converter will track at 12 RPS (by no means the limit
neously θ = φ. This means that dφ/dt will always equal of current technology), which corresponds to 12 x 214
("track") dφ/dt without a velocity or position error. The counts/sec, or 196,608 counts/sec.
only errors, therefore, will be momentary (transient)
errors, during acceleration or deceleration. The other feature is indirectly related to tracking rate
Furthermore, the information produced by the track- also. To optimize recovery from velocity changes
ing converter is always "fresh," being continually (i.e., to minimize acceleration errors) the gain of the
updated, and always available, at the output of the error-processor integrator, and the sensitivity of the
counter. Since dθ/dt tracks the input velocity it can VCO it drives, should both be high. This encourages
be brought out as a velocity (VEL) or tracking rate "hunting" or "jitter" around the null (zero-error) point,
signal which is of sufficient linearity in modern con- due primarily to quantizing "noise." It is for this rea-
verters to eliminate the need for a tachometer (tach- son that a small (one bit) hysteresis threshold is built
o-generator) in many systems. Suitably scaled it can into the error processor. This threshold is much
be used as the velocity feedback signal to stabilize smaller than the rated angular error.
the servo system or motor. A further discussion of
dynamic errors can be found in Section VII. Several other functions generally incorporated into
modern S/D or R/D converters to make them more
In older designs, use of the inhibit (INH) command versatile are loss of signal (LOS) and enable (EL and
would lock the converter counter while data was trans- EM). LOS is used for system safety and as a diag-
ferred. This could introduce errors if the INH was nostic testing point. It is generated by monitoring the
applied too long. If the counter was frozen for more input signals. Loss of both the sine and cosine sig-
than a few updates the catch up or reacquisition time nals at the same time will trigger the LOS flag. The
could be significant. Modern designs now use latched enable (EL and EM) line(s) enable the output buffers,
and buffered output configurations which eliminate usually in two 8-bit bytes for use with either 8- or 16-
this problem and greatly simplify the interface. bit buses.
Two additional features of this converter should be Because the tracking converter configuration of
mentioned before concluding this description. One Figure 2.1 is the most advanced and versatile device
concerns the fact that the velocity range over which of its kind in use today, we shall examine and analyze
the device will track perfectly (i.e., over which the its static and dynamic performance in more detail ...
velocity error will be zero) is determined primarily by principally in Section VII.
21
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
VELOCITY
OUT
ERROR PROCESSOR
VCO
CT A1 S + 1
+ e A2 DIGITAL
RESOLVER B
S POSITION
INPUT S S +1
- 10B OUT
(φ)
H=1
A2 S + 1
B WHERE:
CONVERTER TRANSFER FUNCTION G=
S2 S +1 A 2 = A1 A 2
10B
4
2A
2A 2 2A
ω (rad/sec) ω (rad/sec)
B A -6
db 10B
/oc
t
CLOSED LOOP BW (Hz) = 2A
π
Briefly though, the dynamic performance of the maximum tracking rate of the converter and the small
dynamic performance of the Type II tracking con- signal settling time. A typical response is shown in
verter can be determined from its transfer function Figure 2.6. In the newer designs, such as the RDC-
block diagram (shown in Figure 2.2) and open- and 19220 series, bandwidth can be selected to suit the
closed-loop Bode plots (shown in Figures 2.3 and particular application. A good rule to follow is to keep
2.4). the carrier frequency four times the bandwidth. As
the bandwidth becomes a larger percentage of the
Table 2.1 lists the parameters and dynamic charac- carrier it will become progressively more jittery until
teristics relating to one of DDC's leadership convert- at the extreme it will attempt to follow the carrier
ers, the SDC-14560 series. The values of the vari- rather than the carrier envelope.
ables in the transfer function equation are given on
the applicable data sheet. All DDC's tracking syn- Use of a "Synthesized" Reference
chro-to-digital or resolver-to-digital converters are
critically damped and have a typical small signal As the error analysis (see Sections VII and VIII) of
step response (100 LSB step) as shown in Figure the synchro-to-digital converter of Figure 2.1 will
2.5. Large signal step response is governed by the show, one potentially significant source of error is
22
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
100
100
Output (LSBs)
Output (LSBs)
0
0
2 4 6 8 10
10 20 30 40 50
Time (ms)
Time (ms)
100 100
Output (LSBs)
Output (LSBs)
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 4 8 12 16 20
Time (ms) Time (ms)
100 100
Output (LSBs)
Output (LSBs)
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 2 4 6 8 10
Time (ms) Time (ms)
100 100
Output (LSBs)
Output (LSBs)
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 20 40 60 80 100
Time (ms) Time (ms)
23
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
180 180
120 120
60 60
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 1 2 3 4 5
Time (ms) Time (ms)
180 180
120 120
60 60
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 2 4 6 8 10
Time (ms) Time (ms)
180 180
Output Angle (degrees)
Output Angle (degrees)
120 120
60 60
0 0
20 40 60 80 100 10 20 30 40 50
Time (ms) Time (ms)
180 180
Output Angle (degrees)
Output Angle (degrees)
120 120
60 60
0 0
20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100
Time (ms) Time (ms)
24
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
QUADRANT SELECTOR
SYNCHRO SCOTT T
INPUT TRANSFORMER
S2
PHASE
EXTERNAL A COS (ωt ) COMPARATOR
REFERENCE
INPUT
REFERENCE GENERATOR
25
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
1. The external reference, a carrier frequency signal While in a converter with a synthesized reference the
of essentially constant amplitude: A cos (ωt). 5.7° phase shift is effectively reduced to 5 minutes
(or 0.01°) and the error is approximately:
2. The sin θ output of the quadrant selector circuit
that is part of the tracking servo of Figure 2.1: Eq = 0.1 tan 0.01˚ = 0.006'
100
B sinθ cos (ωt+α). Note that is the carrier phase-
lead error between the external reference signal A very small number indeed.
and the stator input signals.
The use of a synthesized reference allows an engi-
3. The cosθ output of the quadrant selector circuit of neer to use the same circuit card or system design in
Figure 2.1, which has the same phase-lead various applications without being concerned about
error: the phase shifts of the various synchro or resolver
transducers used.
B cosθ cos(ωt+α).
Sampling A/D Converters
Inputs 2 and 3, which are always of opposite polari-
ty, are subtracted algebraically into a single carrier The tracking converter described first in this section
signal, and amplitude leveled. This signal can be is a very high-performance device, and is the logical
shown to be either K cos (ωt+α) or K cos choice for many applications; however, there are
(ωt+α+180°), where K is a constant ... either in phase other methods of digitizing the input data represent-
or 180° out of phase with the desired reference, and ing the angle θ, and at least two of them are worth
corrected for the carrier-phase-lead error. By com- detailed study. Both take advantage of the fact that
paring it with the external reference, in a "coarse" all the data needed to determine the angle θ is
phase comparator (which merely determines known in the carrier-envelope amplitudes of the two
whether or not it is within ±90° of the external refer- resolver-format inputs at one selected instant of time
ence), the logical decision is made between closing during the carrier cycle, provided that they are mea-
S1 (using the leveled algebraic sum), or closing S2 sured simultaneously ... assuming appropriate scal-
(inverting the leveled algebraic sum). The output of ing. Thus, if the reference input is:
S1 or S2 is, then, the synthesized reference.
Vref = K1cos (ωt), after correction for rotor-stator
The time phase of the synthesized reference signal phase shift, and the two resolver-format inputs are:
can be dependably held to within ±5 minutes of the
sin (θ - φ) signal presented to the demodulator, since Vx = K2 sinθ cos(ωt);
phase shifts in the multipliers and differencing circuit
are very small at the carrier frequency. This level of and Vy = K3 cosθ cos(ωt),
time-phase coherence ensures optimum quadrature
rejection in the demodulator .. at least 200:1, and as then simultaneous samples of Vx and Vy will yield as
much as 2000:1 in special designs. much information about sinθ and cosθ as would con-
tinuous observation.
The error introduced by a nominal 5.7° phase shift
and 0.1% quadrature in a converter without a syn- The only essential requirement of this approach is to
thesized reference is approximately: read Vx and Vy simultaneously—we must measure
26
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
the envelope amplitudes at the same instant in time. Successive-Approximation Sampling Synchro-
Reflection will show that the ideal time for this mea- to-Digital Converter
surement is at the peak of the carrier wave (either
positive or negative peak), when the carrier ampli- Figure 2.10 shows one of the two types of sampling
tude is largest, so that the modulated carrier waves S/D converters to be studied in this section. Note
(Vx and Vy ) will yield the largest signals with respect that the circuit contained within the dashed-line area,
to noise, drift, quadrature, and other imperfections in labeled "SSCT,” is almost identical to the quadrant
the measuring circuits. This optimum sampling selector and sine/cosine multiplier section of Figure
instant is readily obtained from the reference signal 2.1, which was analyzed earlier in this section. In
(after correcting it for synchro time-phase shift), by fact, the only differences between Figures 2.1 and
first phase-shifting that signal by 90°, so that its zero- 2.10 are:
crossing is at the correct time, then converting it by
clipping (squaring off) into a pulse of the desired
width, whose trailing edge occurs at the peak of the
phase-corrected reference wave. 1. The signals presented to the SSCT are sampled
sine and cosine DC levels obtained by sampling
Thus, most sampling converters use circuits that: (1) Vx and Vy, rather than continuous modulated car-
generate a control pulse at the peak of the reference riers.
wave; and (2) with that pulse, sample and hold - i.e.,
"freeze" - the amplitudes of Vx and Vy. Note that 2. The circuit that establishes and stores the digital
this procedure yields DC levels proportional to angle output word is a sequentially addressed reg-
cosθθ and sinθθ. ister, rather than an up-down counter.
The simplified circuit and waveform diagrams of 3. The "error processor" performs a simpler function
Figure 2.9 illustrate the sampling procedure than the one used in Figure 2.1, as explained
described in the preceding paragraph. below.
RH
PHASE PEAK
REF IN
SHIFTER DETECTOR
RL
T
A
CONVERTER L
S1 O
DC=Vy peak U
T
S3 P
U
SELECT T
CH.1
Vy
27
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
SSCT
Vx
SINE SIN(θ - φ)
SAMPLING QUADRANT MULTIPLIER ERROR
θIN CIRCUIT SELECTOR PROCESSOR
Vy COSINE
(SEE FIG. 2.9) MULTIPLIER
DIGITAL
OUTPUT
180 90
REGISTER
CLOCK PULSES
SEQUENTIAL ADDRESS LOGIC
The error processor comprises only two elements: a cosine multipliers is 1000...0, corresponding to
comparator, which senses the polarity of the input φ =180°.
signal, sin (θ - φ); and a gated clock-pulse generator,
which produces an output pulse whenever sin (θ - φ) (2) The error processor is then "interrogated" - that
is positive - i.e., whenever θ is greater than φ. Thus, is, its output is examined. Now, if θ is larger than
as long as θ exceeds φ, the error processor will feed 180°, the value of sin (θ - φ) will be positive, and
clock pulses to the register. the error processor will produce a ONE. The ONE
will allow the first stage (most significant bit) of the
The complete S/D conversion procedure may now be output register to remain at the ONE state. If θ is
described as follows. First, assume that the register less than 180°, the error processor will not put out
has been cleared i.e., preset to all ZEROES, either a ONE, but a ZERO state ... which it should be, for
by the internal programming logic or by external θ < 180°.
command, before the peak of the reference carrier
initiates its sample command. Then, the resolver-for- (3) The first decision has now been reached, and
mat outputs of the Scott-T synchro isolation trans- the logic automatically proceeds to the next deci-
former are sampled simultaneously, at the carrier sion...that concerning the correct state for the sec-
peak, by a circuit of the type shown in Figure 2.9. ond most-significant bit (second stage of the reg-
The resultant DC levels are presented to the SSCT, ister).
and sin (θ - φ) is computed.
(4) The second stage is set to ONE, so that the out-
At this point, all of the bits stored in the "n"-bit regis- put word is either 11000...0 (for θ > 180° in deci-
ter - i.e., all of the bits of the output word - are at sion #1) or 01000...0 (for θ > 180° in decision #1.)
ZERO; so that the digital word presented to the sine
and cosine multipliers (as the angle φ) is a set of "n" (5) Again, the error processor is interrogated. Since
ZEROES. decision #1 had two possible results, we shall
consider both.
Now begins a sequence of n logical "decisions,"
each of which follows the pattern of the first one. The (a) If θ is greater than 180°, the value of φ at this
first three decisions will be described in detail: interrogation is 11000...0, or 270°. Thus, if θ lies
between 270° and 360°, the second decision will
(1) The most-significant bit of the register is set to be to leave the second register stage in the ONE
ONE, so that the word φ fed to the sine and state; and if θ lies between 180° and 270°, the
28
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
second decision will be to return the second stage θ are sampled only once per carrier period. If θ is
to the ZERO state. changing, a periodically varying velocity error will
result. This error is reduced almost to zero immedi-
(b) If θ is not greater than 180°, the value of φ at this ately after each new sample updates the register,
interrogation is 01000...0, or 90°. Thus, if θ lies and thereafter increases to a maximum of:
between 90° and 180°, the second decision will be
to leave the second register stage in the ONE Velocity Error = Velocity (in degrees second )
state; and if θ lies between 0° and 90°, the second (in degrees) carrier frequency (in Hertz)
register stage will be returned to the ZERO state.
for constant velocity between samples.
(6) Now, the decision-making process moves to the
third register stage, into which a ONE is intro- The Sampling Harmonic Oscillator Synchro-to-
duced...and the process continues. Note that this Digital Converter
third decision will have a "weight" of 45°, whereas
the second decision added or subtracted a possi- The second type of sampling S/D converter that we
ble 90°, and the first decision was the "largest shall examine is illustrated in Figure 2.11. Although
weight"...corresponding to ±180°. not in common use anymore, it is discussed here for
historical purposes. Note that the sampling tech-
The process described above continues through a nique used in the converter is somewhat different
total of "n" decisions, each one causing the digital from that used in the sampling successive-approxi-
output angle word to come closer to the exact value mation converter of Figure 2.10, in that the resolver-
of θ - "successively approximating" θ; hence the format input signals are first fed to phase-sensitive
name successive-approximation converter. The last demodulators, the outputs of which are DC levels:
decision has the weight:
Vx = K sin θ
360˚ Vy = K cos θ
Least Significant Bit =
2n
approximation converter can suffer from a "stale- Figure 2.11. Sampling Harmonic Oscillator S/D
ness" error, due to the fact that the data determining Converter.
29
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
VX
(INITIAL
stants. The proof of this relationship between θ and
CONDITION) the stored count, for the initial conditions described,
X is given below.
Va
START STOPS
where ωL = 2πf L
f L = the natural oscillation frequency
Figure 2.12. Timing Diagram for Figure 2.11. of the loop,
where K is a constant and θ is the shaft angle to be t = the time, in seconds, measured from
digitized. It is these DC levels that are sampled at the moment of unclamping,
the appropriate time, to set the initial conditions of
and θ = the input angle to be digitized, in
the integrators in a harmonic oscillator converter. degrees.
The remainder of the circuit comprises two main sec- If the integrator time constants are equal, and the
tions: inverter gain is unity, the natural loop-oscillation fre-
quency, fL, is given by:
(1) A two-integrator-plus-inverter chain, enclosed in
a positive-feedback loop. This loop, if "unclamped" 1
fL=
2πRC
(by appropriate programming of the electronic
switches S1 and S2), will oscillate at a frequency
from which ωL = 1
determined solely in the integrator time constants. RC
30
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
Clearly, then, if the clock rate is proportioned so that case "static" error for this class of designs is ±6 min-
some convenient number of pulses - say, 3600 - are utes at considerable cost and complexity.
produced in 2πRC seconds, the count at point "X"
will be: In Section III, the use of the harmonic oscillator for
synchro/DC and synchro/sine-cosine conversion will
3600 (θ) be discussed.
360
Multiplexing Synchro-to-Digital Converters
and the total stored in the counter will represent the
angle θ to a resolution of 0.1°, or 1 part in 3600. Any Either of the two sampling S/D converters previously
desired resolution may be obtained (within the stabil- described can be "shared" by a group of synchros or
ity and accuracy limits discussed below) by selecting resolvers, so that more than one source of input data
the appropriate clock frequency - usually some deci- (i.e., more than one shaft angle) can be digitized by
mal multiple of 360. Although it is easy and relative- the same converter circuitry, with a consequent sav-
ly inexpensive to stabilize the frequency of a clock- ings, not only of initial equipment cost, but also of
pulse generator, it is not easy to stabilize the RC time required power-supply energy, space, and weight. In
constants of the integrators, and it is the ratio of the addition, reliability is greatly enhanced, by reduction
clock frequency to the integrator time constants that in component count. Some additional circuitry is
determines the attainable accuracy and meaningful always required, at least to perform the multiplexing
resolution ... ignoring all other sources of error. It is (switching) of the converter from sensor to sensor,
this stability problem which has caused this tech- and some systems require the use of a separate set
nique to be abandoned by most manufacturers. of sample-hold circuits for each data input, as we
shall see. Consequently, the use of multiplexing is
In the most advanced harmonic oscillator designs, a less attractive for only two or three input sensors
phase-locked-loop clock generator is used to force than it is for many more.
the clock frequency to track the unavoidable drift
integrator time-constant (and to compensate for In the simplest approach to sharing an S/D convert-
other error sources, as well), so that meaningful er (see Figure 2.13), the pair of sample-hold circuits
overall accuracy can be achieved. The best worst- shown in Figure 2.9 are successively switched from
DUAL S/H
CIRCUIT S/D DIGITAL
CHANNEL 1 SCOTT
AS IN CONVERTER OUTPUT
T
FIGURE 2.9
θ1
STROBE
CHANNEL 2 SCOTT INPUT
T
θ2
31
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
input to input, sampling each, holding the value dur- much better technique for time-sharing the converter
ing conversion (which takes considerably less time is that shown in Figure 2.14 - the simultaneous-sam-
than one carrier cycle), and then sampling the next at ple-and-hold approach. In this scheme, each input
the peak of the next succeeding carrier cycle. sensor is equipped with its own pair of sample-holds,
and all sample-holds are strobed (activated) at the
This scheme has the advantage of simplicity and same instant ... at carrier peak, as before. The mul-
economy, since all that is added in the way of hard- tiplexer then switches the converter (only) from one
ware is a multiplexer module and one input isolation pair of "frozen" sine/cosine inputs to the next, paus-
module (synchro or resolver) per input sensor. The ing at each input channel only long enough to digi-
disadvantage of successive-peak sampling is the tize the shaft-angle data and store or report it. If the
fact that it compounds the "staleness error" men- converter and multiplexer are fast enough, many
tioned on page 29, by making each successive read- channels can thus be scanned and converted in a
ing one full carrier period later than the preceding single carrier cycle, thereby freeing the sample-
one; therefore, in multiplexing n inputs, the possible holds for simultaneous sampling of the very next car-
"skew error", as it is called, between readings of the rier peak, thus minimizing the possible staleness
first and the nth channels (as well as between two error to the single carrier-period value attained by
successive readings of any channel) is n times the the circuits of Figures 2.10 and 2.11. Regardless of
possible skew error (due to staleness) of a convert- scanning speed, however, the data sampled, held,
er-per-channel system. converted, and reported in a single pass is essen-
tially free of channel-to-channel skew, although it will
(There are some second-order advantages and dis- soon be "out of date" (stale).
advantages of the sequential-on-successive-peak
multiplexed approach to time-sharing a converter, Here again, there are many second-order effects to
but they will be discussed later sections). consider, but they will merely be mentioned briefly
now, and considered in more detail in later sections:
For data-acquisition systems in which the velocity of
one or more of the input channels is high, and for all • A possible source of skew is the aperture-time
systems in which optimum accuracy is essential, a uncertainty among the various sample-holds.
32
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
This is the uncertainty (often called "jitter") in the Finally, one must recognize that there is an error
interval between the application of the hold com- source that cannot be controlled by the design of the
mand and the actual "freezing" of the signal. synchro-to-digital sampling/multiplexing/conversion
system: the random variation in rotor-to-stator time-
• The input/output (or transfer) gain of the sample- phase-shift in the sensors themselves. First-order
holds may vary slightly, creating an error. correction of these uncertainties is discussed later,
but they are always a final limitation on all multichan-
• The hold circuits have a finite "droop rate," caused nel systems.
by switch leakage in the sample-hold circuit.
In the "addressing" of the multiplexer - i.e., the
Note that all the above effects have the potential of means by which it is commanded to switch from
causing error even in single channel systems, channel to channel - it is important to note that the
because they can create differences between the scanning of a set of channels need not be sequen-
sine and cosine sample obtained by a single pair of tial. The multiplexer may be commanded to select
sample-holds. Fortunately, modern high-perfor- channels in any order. This capability is called "ran-
mance sample-holds are available that render all of dom" scanning, and may take many forms - arbitrary
the above effects negligible, except in the most pre- sequences that have no predictable pattern but
cise systems .. and even then, they can be mini- respond instead to a computer's reactive behavior; or
mized. deliberate "skipping" of certain channels in a
sequence on certain passes; or attenuated-scan/full-
The individual multiplexer channels must be subject- scan programs, in which some channels are exam-
ed to the same scrutiny. They, too, have settling time ined in every pass, some in every tenth pass, etc.
and transfer-gain uncertainties, and can contribute
errors. And the isolation transformers do not all have Synchro- or Resolver-To-Digital Converters for
exactly the same time phase shifts, either. All of Two-Speed Systems
these uncertainties, however, yield to the use of the
more advanced, modern hardware, and can almost Earlier, on page 11, the characteristics of two-speed
always be rendered negligible. synchros for very high-resolution applications were
sin
F cos
S1 G H
S2 ISOLATION sin
FINE QUADRANT FUNCTION
S3 XFMR cos GENERATOR
SYNCHRO SELECTOR
RH (FINE)
RL
COARSE D E
I ERROR
ERROR 1 DIGITAL
CROSS-OVER UP-DOWN COUNTER
DETECTOR
PROCESSOR 16 OUTPUT
FINE CB
ERROR INH
DIGITAL
S1 MULTIPLIER
ISOLATION
COARSE S2 XFMR sin
SYNCHRO QUADRANT FUNCTION
(COARSE)
S3 cos SELECTOR GENERATOR
A B C
33
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
introduced. Typical converter circuitry for digitizing number of bits provided by the coarse converter is
two-speed inputs is shown in Figure 2.15. Note its determined by the speed ratio, and is always at least
similarity to the basic single-speed tracking convert- a fraction of a bit higher than the value of Nc, calcu-
er of Figure 2.1. In fact, if one considers only circuit lated from:
blocks A through E, the "coarse" converter, the cir-
cuits are identical. The "fine" converter feeds circuit
blocks F, G, and H, and shares blocks I, D, and E, the 1 ≤ 90˚ of the fine synchro
error processor, cross-over detector and switching 2 Nc Vf /Vc
circuit and the up-down counter, with the coarse-syn-
chro converter.
Where Nc is the resolution of the coarse-synchro
Each of the two sets of circuit blocks described converter, and Vf/Vc is the speed ratio of the syn-
above constitutes, in itself, a single-speed tracking chros.
converter. The only difference between them is that
the coarse loop has much lower resolution - i.e., Circuit block I, the crossover detector, monitors the
fewer "bits". The fine-synchro converter provides the sin (θ - φ) error signal produced at the differencing
additional resolution required by the application. The junction following the sine/cosine multipliers of the
COARSE
GEAR
1
DIGITAL DIGITAL
PROCESSOR DATA
18
FINE
GEAR TRANSDUCER
FINE 5483
nx
R/D
RESULTANT
ANGLE
1x
R/D
5483
COARSE
34
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
coarse converter, and, when that error signal falls Testing S/D Converters
below approximately 90° of the fine converter it gates
the error signal of the fine converter into the error Testing or evaluating a synchro-to-digital or resolver-
processor. to-digital converter will generally require a synchro
standard (a calibrated synchro with an accurate dial or
It is important to note that the sine/cosine multipliers a synchro/resolver simulator), an interconnection box
of both converters are simultaneously presented with or fixture, and LED bank or Digital Voltmeter (DVM).
the digital state of the up-down counter ... so that
when the coarse-to-fine crossover occurs, the transi- Single Channel S/D or R/D Converter
tion is smooth, and the tracking continues without
significant discontinuity. Anytime the coarse-convert- Figure 2.18 illustrates configurations to test static
er error signal exceeds the crossover threshold of accuracy on single-channel tracking or sampling
the coarse converter, the crossover detector switch- converters. A LED driver or suitable readout is nec-
es the error processor back to the error signal pro- essary for each of the data outputs. (The circuit
duced by the coarse converter. shown in Figure 7.7, is recommended.) The syn-
chro/resolver standard is set to the test angles. The
Although it may not be immediately obvious, it is true angles corresponding to the LEDs that are on are
that the behavior of this two-speed tracking convert- added and compared with the standard angle. Table
er is exactly the same as that of the single-speed 2.2 shows the relationship of angles vs. bits.
tracking converter. Both are true Type II closed-loop
servos; both are free of velocity error, and both pre- A typical room temperature error curve is shown in
sent information that is always "fresh." Figure 2.19. Each quadrant is identical; the error
shown is for the first quadrant. Error limits are also
indicated for temperature extremes.
S1 S1 S1 LAMP &
SYNCHRO MSB
S2 CX WITH S2 S2 DRIVER
SIMULATOR OR TO
S3 VERNIER S3 S3
SIM 31200
RH RL RH RL S/D
RH CONVERTER
RH
RL RL
LAMP &
LSB
REFERENCE DRIVER
SR 203
SYNCHRO ANGLE
INDICATOR
(a) (b)
(c)
35
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
36
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
SPEC LIMIT OVER TEMP.
5
MINUTES OF ERROR
4
3
2
1
20 25 30 35 40 45 75 80 85 90
0
-1 5 10 15 50 55 60 65 70 ANGULAR
-2 DEGREES
-3
-4
-5
SPEC LIMIT OVER TEMP.
CENTRAL
A
CONVERTER
PEAK CHANNEL #2
Vref SAMPLING STROBE INPUT MODULE
CB
MODULE LSB
B
CHANNEL #3
INPUT MODULE
TO LAMP
to A C DRIVERS
to B CHANNEL #4
INPUT MODULE
to C
to D D
DUAL
SCOTT S/H MUX
T (SEE
FIG 2.9)
under test and the velocity output is monitored Generally it is measured indirectly by determining the
through a low-pass RC filter by a DVM. The up-down closed-loop small-signal response and deriving the
counter is run at various rates in both directions and acceleration constant from them.
the input rate is compared with the output of the
DVM. Usually a PC is used to control the test and
compute the linearity, voltage scaling, full-scale
accuracy, zero offset and direction reversal error
(voltage gradient difference in clockwise and coun-
terclockwise directions). This is shown in Figure
2.22.
37
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
S/D AND R/D CONVERTERS
DIGITAL
D/S S/D
UP-DOWN COMPARATOR
CONVERTER CONVERTER
COUNTER 0000
CLOCK
S1
S/D
PRECISION UP-DOWN PRECISION S2 VEL
UNDER DVM
CLOCK COUNTER D/S TEST
S3
PC
CONTROLLER
38
THEORY OF OPERATION OF
SYNCHRO-TO-DC CONVERTERS
SECTION III
A synchro-to-DC converter accepts 3-wire synchro • High reliability due to minimal part count.
input signals (or 4-wire resolver input signals) and
puts out a bipolar DC (analog) signal proportional to • Relatively low cost.
the shaft angle. In general, then,
• Noise rejection characteristics of the tracking S/D
conversion.
Vout (DC) = ± Kθ
180˚
The circuit of Figure 3.2 shows an older technique
where K is the full-scale constant, typically 10 Volts, used before the advent of lower cost data converters.
so that +10 V = 180°, -10V = -180°, and 0V = 0°. This older method used the harmonic oscillator con-
verter to produce a DC level proportional to θ.
Any of the synchro-to-digital converters described Reference to pages 29 to 30 and Figure 2.11 will
earlier in this handbook could be converted to a syn- show that the design of Figure 3.2 is essentially that
chro-to-DC converter by feeding its digital output to a of a sampling harmonic oscillator synchro-to-digital
D/A converter with appropriate input coding. This is converter except for the output circuit. In Figure 2.11,
the recommended approach for synchro- or resolver- the time interval t, between the start of oscillation
to-DC conversion. A typical example is illustrated in and the positive-going zero crossing (Figure 2.12), is
Figure 3.1. used to control the number of clock pulses gated into
a binary counter. In Figure 3.2, a precisely scaled,
By suitably inverting the various interface lines vari- very linear voltage ramp, starting at -K1 Volts, is
ous code formats for the D/A can be accommodated. allowed to rise for the time interval t, and then
Additionally, system offsets and zeroing can be "frozen" at that value. Since the value of t is given by:
implemented digitally with an adder between the two
converters. t = θRC
360˚
Some of the advantages of this technique are:
where RC is the integrator time constant, and the
• Output DC not affected by variations in synchro ramp voltage is given by:
voltage or frequency. It is broadband.
e ramp = K 1 t
• Ease of scaling.
where -K1 is a constant that determines full scale,
then
S1 e ramp = K 1RC θ
DC 360˚
S2 S/D D/A
OUTPUT
S3
and K is proportioned conveniently ... usually, so that
39
THEORY OF OPERATION OF
SYNCHRO-TO-DC CONVERTERS
HARMONIC OSC
S3A S3B
R1
C1 C2 R1
S1 R1 S2 R2
V1 V2 -V2
SCOTT T
XFMR
ZERO
CROSSING
DETECTOR
SYNCHRO
INPUT
(θ)
The "freezing" of the output is accomplished by sam- • As discussed on page 30, only converters with
pling the ramp at the end of the harmonic oscillator some means of compensating for the inevitable
period, and storing the output in a sample-hold circuit drift in the integrator time constant are capable of
(see page 29 for details), so that the output remains reasonable accuracy. In the converter of Figure
essentially constant until the next measurement is 3.2, this is accomplished by checking (between
made. Since a complete conversion is made once in conversions) the value of a half-period of the har-
each carrier cycle, the maximum possible staleness monic oscillator - which should bring the output to
error is the same for this synchro-to-DC converter as zero (halfway between -10V and +10V). Any off-
it was for the circuit of Figure 2.11: set from zero is used to correct for time-constant
drift. Thus, the circuit is recalibrated before each
velocity in degrees/second measurement.
velocity error = carrier frequency
Synchro/Resolver-to-Nonvariant DC Sine/Cosine
for constant velocity between samples. Converters
Returning to the harmonic oscillator configuration of In many systems it is desirable to convert synchro
Figure 3.2, we may note the following design con- data to DC sine and cosine that does not vary with
straints of the harmonic oscillator approach: the synchro reference amplitude. The preferred
method is to use a tracking S/D and a DC coupled
• The uncertainty of the zero-crossing detector is a D/R converter as shown in Figure 3.3. In this config-
first-order error source. uration the D/R converter reference can be the sys-
tem DC reference, which is far more stable than the
• Any zero-offset or nonlinearity in the ramp is a AC reference. The output variations are now only
first-order error source. dependent on the DC reference and the synchro
angle. The prime source of errors in this method, as
• Any variation in "K", the constant determining the in any DC system, are offsets. These must be care-
slope of the ramp, is a first-order error source. fully controlled to preserve angular integrity. Don't
40
THEORY OF OPERATION OF
SYNCHRO-TO-DC CONVERTERS
forget, at angles where the sine or cosine are at zero shown in Figure 3.4 - a configuration that accepts 3-
volts the impact of the offset will be maximized. The wire synchro data (or 4-wire resolver-format data)
transfer function of the S/D converter is given on the and puts out two analog DC levels proportional to the
data sheet for the particular product used while for sine and cosine of the shaft angle sampled.
system purposes the transfer function of the D/R Although no longer used in new designs, it is exam-
converter is unity (to three decimal places). ined here for its historical merit. The relationship
between the outputs and are:
Using this technique all the circuitry needed to com-
pensate for temperature, aging of components and eout (1) = Ksin θ
staleness can be eliminated thereby reducing parts
count, increasing reliability and reducing cost. eout (2) = Kcos θ
Prior to the general availability of DC-coupled D/R where K is the scale factor, typically, 10 Volts.
converters, the most common method of achieving
synchro-to-nonvariant DC sine/cosine conversion Before examining the behavior of Figure 3.4, it would
was the sampling harmonic oscillator converter be useful to consider the fact that the sampled and
Example to get Synchro Signal Output to DC SIN and DC COS:
DR 11525
S1 DR 11520
SIN
RDC 19220 DR 11524
DC
S2 or equivelant or equivelant COS OUTPUT
S/D DC-
COUPLED
S3
D/R
DC REFERENCE
(instead of A/C OSC)
S2A S2B
R3
C1 B C2 A
S1 R1 S2 R2 R3
-V2
Vx S3
+
SCOTT Eref
T Vy (Establishes K)
XFMR
41
THEORY OF OPERATION OF
SYNCHRO-TO-DC CONVERTERS
DAC SIN
S/D FPGA
Transducer
DAC COS
16 16 Bit
Bit
16 Bit V OUT
FPGA
Bit 0 15
}
16 Bit
Note: Using a FPGA will cause latency in process. DAC
held resolver-format signals (at points A and B in Once again, it would be well to review pages 29 to
Figure 3.4) are already DC signals proportional to 30, and Figure 2.11, to recall how the sampling har-
sinθ and cosθ. Unfortunately, these signals are also monic oscillator synchro-to-digital converter works.
proportional to the reference excitation, which can, The circuit of Figure 3.4 differs from that of Figure
and does, vary over as wide a range as ±10% in 2.11 in three important ways:
practical systems.
• The digital counter is an up-down counter.
Furthermore, the rotor-to-stator transfer coefficient in
the synchro or resolver itself varies from unit to unit. • The output is not a digital word derived from the
counter state (at the end of the time interval t), but
In another possible "short-cut" approach, the is derived by sampling the levels at points A and B
resolver-format signals may be demodulated in in the circuit, and holding them for one carrier
phase-sensitive detectors to produce DC sine/cosine cycle until the next (updated) measurement is
outputs; but this configuration, while essentially free made.
of speed-voltage is still entirely vulnerable to varia-
tions in reference excitation. • Additional programming logic is provided to imple-
ment the up-down count behavior described
The circuit of Figure 3.4 produces nonvariant below.
sine/cosine outputs - i.e., outputs in which the scale
factor, K, is held constant within very narrow limits, The first phase of the conversion process is identical
and is essentially independent of the reference exci- to that described on pages 29 to 30, with the results
tation. indicated in Figure 2.12. This phase involves:
strobed sampling and holding of the resolver-format
sine/cosine signals; setting the integrators to zero;
applying the sampled data as initial conditions to the
42
THEORY OF OPERATION OF
SYNCHRO-TO-DC CONVERTERS
integrators; unclamping the loop; and allowing it (and ly, and are proportional to the sine and cosine of θ ...
the clock-pulse counter) to run until the positive zero- non-variant sine/cosine outputs.
crossing is reached. At the end of this phase, note
that point A is at zero (which is the condition that Here again, as before, the clock-pulse generator
stopped the counter), and point B is at maximum must be phase-locked to compensate for integrator-
(cosine of zero degrees=one). Note that the actual RC drift, and there is a maximum staleness error of
magnitude of the voltage at B is proportional to the one carrier cycle.
reference excitation that generated the samples used
to set the initial conditions. These then are a few of the techniques used to con-
vert synchro data to nonvariant DC sine/cosine data.
The second phase of the conversion, begins by set- There is, of course, the method gaining in populari-
ting point B to a new level that is independent of the ty, of using a microprocessor, a sine/cosine ROM
rotor excitation, or any other source of scale factor and two D/A converters to achieve the same result.
uncertainty. This new level is an accurately calibrated Where the microprocessor is not fully utilized this is
and stabilized voltage that will establish the desired a good approach but for designers not wishing to
scale factor, K, in the final output. Now having estab- further burden it the S/D and DC-coupled D/R
lished this new set of initial conditions, the loop is method is recommended.
unclamped, and allowed to run for exactly the same
time interval as it ran in first phase ... a time interval Refer to Figure 11.26 for an illustration of a syn-
generated by allowing the counter to count down, at chro/resolver-to-DC converter using a DDC model
the same clock-pulse rate, to zero. At this point, the RDC-19220 series converter and the Burr Brown
loop is again clamped, and points A and B are sam- DAC 703 digital-to-analog converter.
pled and held, to yield outputs that are scaled correct-
43
THEORY OF OPERATION OF
SYNCHRO-TO-DC CONVERTERS
44
THEORY OF MODERN
RVDT/LVDT-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS
SECTION IV
Rotary and Linear Variable Differential the two secondary coils have the same reluctance
Transformers and the induced voltages are equal in magnitude. By
connecting the coils in series the opposing output will
The Rotary and Linear Variable Differential be at a null. When the core moves from null the flux
Transformers (RVDT/LVDT) shown in Figure 4.1, are paths will have different reluctance and the output
electromechanical transducers that provide an AC voltages will be different. The coil toward which the
analog output that is proportional to the displace- core moved will have a lower voltage. The differen-
ment of a separate movable magnetic core. Almost tial output is linearly proportional to the displace-
unknown 45 years ago, it is widely used today ment. The phase of the output abruptly changes 180
because of its extremely accurate and repeatable degrees as the core moves through null.
null position, even in extreme environments.
The RVDT/LVDT-to-Digital Converter operates very
Also known as reluctance transducers, they use the much like an R/D converter except it operates in a
ratio of the reluctance of the magnetic flux path of two linear fashion as opposed to a sin/cos trigonometric
coils. Since it is a ratiometric device it is relatively fashion. DDC converters use the same custom IC
insensitive to temperature effects. Figure 4.2 is a with pin programming to switch between the two
schematic presentation of a typical RVDT/LVDT. It modes of operation.
consists of a primary coil and two secondary coils sym-
metrically spaced on either a cylindrical or rotary form. The DTC-19300 block diagram shown in Figure 4.3
A separate movable magnetic core inside the coil consists of four main parts: signal input conditioning,
assembly provides a path for the flux linking the coils. a feedback loop (whose elements are the high accu-
racy bridge, demodulator, error processor, VCO and
When the primary coil is excited with an AC refer- up-down counter), a power oscillator to excite the
ence, voltages are induced in the secondary coils. RVDT/LVDT, and digital interface circuitry (including
With the core placed symmetrically the flux paths to various latches and buffers).
45
THEORY OF MODERN
RVDT/LVDT-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS
The converter receives the difference and sum volt- Functionally, the up-down counter is an incremental
ages at its inputs and internally produces a digital integrator. Therefore, there are two stages of inte-
position σ which tracks the differential position λ. gration which make the converter a type II tracking
servo. In type II servo, the VCO always settles to the
A high accuracy bridge is used to compute λ – σ, counting rate which makes the dλ/dt equal dσ/dt
where: without lag. The output data will always be fresh and
available as long as the maximum tracking rate of the
λ = the RVDT/LVDTs core position converter is not exceeded.
σ = the digital position contained in the converter's Modern RVDT/LVDT converters have output trans-
up-down counter. parent latches and tri-state buffers for easy data
35 29
SO SJ DTC-19300
18
ZERO SET REFERENCE BIT
BIT
TIMING CONDITIONER DETECT
26
FULL VEL
SCALE
LVDT R2 34 SG -
PROG DIFF SIG
GAIN HIGH
+ AMP ERROR DEMOD ERROR VCO
ACCURACY
REF AMP PROCESSOR
RATIO BRIDGE U T
1 LSB ANTILITTER
33 S SUM FEEDBACK
DIF (REF)
32 R GAIN
24
14 BIT BRIDGE
e
TRANSPARENT
25 LATCH
V
14 BIT U
31 RO U-D COUNTER U/D
T
36 RI 50 ns DELAY 23
A
46
THEORY OF MODERN
RVDT/LVDT-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS
transfer and interfacing to µP buses with the appro- Since RVDT/LVDTs are not standardized in their char-
priate inhibits and enables. Built-in Test (BIT) circuits acteristics, as are synchros and resolvers, the convert-
are included which will toggle when the error ers will have to be adjusted for input gain to accommo-
exceeds about 65 LSBs. date the full-scale voltage of the particular type trans-
ducer. Similarly, the phase shift will have to be com-
Historically, it has been difficult to provide pensated for. This usually requires a simple resistor
RVDT/LVDT-to-digital conversion without serious and capacitor trim done once with exact procedures
data lag whose root cause was the phase shift vari- given on the converter data sheet. As in their R/D
ation with position off null. This necessitated a half counterparts, DDC's RVDT/LVDT converters have a
wave or full wave rectification with filter and A/D velocity (VEL) output for stabilizing the velocity loop of
approach which introduced the data lag. DDC's new a servo, thereby eliminating the need for a tachometer.
tracking type converters have eliminated this con-
cern by using a synthesized reference to drive the The converter is a ratiometric device which com-
demodulator. The reference drive is derived from pares the difference and the sum of the signal inputs
and is in phase with the RVDT/LVDT signal thereby on the ±S and ±C. The RDC-19220 Series requires a
virtually eliminating errors due to the transducers signal input conditioner (see Figure 4.6) whereas the
phase shift variations. the DTC-19300 contains a signal input conditioner,
and is designed for phase shift compensation. When
Dynamic performance and characteristics are the using the RDC-19220, phase and amplitude mis-
same as their closely related R/D converters. Figure matches must be kept to a minimum. Adjust the gain
4.4 shows the control loop block diagram and the accordingly using the capacitors and resistors in the
transfer function, and the open-loop Bode plot is amplifier (signal conditioner) input to the converter.
shown in Figure 4.5. Bandwidth can be determined
by the following formula: The DDC RDC-19220 series resolver-to-digital con-
verters can be made to operate as RVDT/LVDT-to-
digital converters. By connecting the Resolution
2A Control inputs A and B to "0", "1", or the -5 volt sup-
BW =
π ply, the RDC-19220 functions as a ratiometric track-
ing linear converter. When linear ac inputs are
The variables can be found on the data sheet of the applied from a LVDT, the converter operates over
specific converter. one quarter of its range. This results in two less bits
VELOCITY
OUT
ERROR PROCESSOR
VCO
CT A1 S + 1
RESOLVER + A2 DIGITAL
e B
INPUT S POSITION
(θ) S S +1
- 10B OUT
BW
ω (rad/sec)
H=1 B A
A2 S + 1
B
Open-Loop Transfer Function =
2 S +1
S
10B
Where A 2 = A 1 A 2
FIGURE 4.4. Transfer Function Block Diagram. FIGURE 4.5. Open loop Bode Plot.
47
THEORY OF MODERN
RVDT/LVDT-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS
(the MSB and MSB -1) of resolution for LVDT mode The data output of the RDC-19220 Series is binary
than are provided in resolver mode. coded in LVDT mode. The most negative stroke of
the LVDT is represented by ALL ZEROS and the
Some LVDT inputs will need to be scaled to be com- most positive stroke of the LVDT is represented by
patible with the converter input. Suggested compo- ALL ONES. The most significant 2 bits (2 MSBs)
nents for implementing the input scaling circuit are a may be used as overrange indicators. Positive over-
quad op amp, such as a 4741 type, and precision range is indicated by code "01" and negative over-
thin-film resistors of 0.1% tolerance. range is indicated by code "11." See Table 4.1.
+ 1 LSB 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Null 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 1 LSB 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
- 0.5 Travel 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SIN
Rf
Ri -S
S1 -
Ri +S
S3 +
Rf
A GND
COS
Ri
Rf / 3
Ri
-C
-
Ri /2 +C
S2 +
Rf / 3
CONVERTER
48
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
SECTION V
The Programmed-Function Generator Digital-to- ing bits designate an angle between 0° and 45°. By
Synchro/Resolver Converter converting these bits into analog levels correspond-
ing to the sine and cosine of that angle (which lies,
Figure 5.1 is a general block diagram that will serve as we have noted, between 0° and 90°), we may then
to introduce the many different implementations of use the quadrant-designating bits to establish the
both Digital-to-Synchro (D/S) and Digital-to-Resolver appropriate polarity for these analog levels, in accor-
(D/R) converters. As indicated, the input to a D/S or dance with the following identities:
D/R converter is a set of digitally coded “logic level”
(ONES and ZEROES) presenting the shaft angle, θ, sin θ (2nd quadrant) = cos (θ-90°)
to some number of bits of resolution. As explained in
Section I, when natural binary coding is used the sin θ (3rd quadrant) = -sin (θ-180°)
most-significant bits of this input “word” represent
respectively: 180°, 90°, 45°, etc. Thus, an input word sin θ (4th quadrant) = -cos (θ-270°)
beginning 11....etc. designates an angle in the fourth
quadrant, a word beginning 10.....etc., designates an cos θ (2nd quadrant) = -sin (θ-90°)
angle in the third quadrant, a word beginning
01.....etc. designates an angle in the second quad- cos θ (3rd quadrant) = -cos (θ-180°)
rant, and a word beginning 00.....etc. designates an
angle in the first quadrant. Clearly, then, the first two cos θ (4th quadrant) = sin (θ-270°)
most-significant bits of any pure binary-coded word
are the quadrant-designating bits. (The first three, by The application of these identities may be more read-
similar reasoning, are the octant-designating bits.) ily seen by examination of the following table:
MSB sin
QUADRANT FUNCTION
SELECTOR GENERATION cos
DIGITAL A very similar table may be made for octant-desig-
INPUT
WORD
nation schemes, in which the first three MSB’s deter-
mine, not only the polarity of the analog level repre-
LSB
POWER
(OPTIONAL) senting the sine and cosine of, but also which of two
sin θ SCOTT-T
AMPLIFIER
XFMR available values shall be called the sine, and which
cos θ
shall be called the cosine. This need to select
RESOLVER FORMAT SYNCHRO FORMAT
OUTPUTS OUTPUTS between two available values arises from the trigono-
metric identity:
Figure 5.1. Basic Digital-to-Synchro/Resolver
Converter. sin θ = cos (90°-θ) for θ in the first quadrant.
49
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
Thus, if we have translated all but the first three equal carrier frequency sine waves of opposite
MSB’s into two analog voltages: phase. After quadrant selection, they are fed to the
inputs of the function generators. (Note that by
VA = sin θ (where 0 < θ < 45˚) appropriate phasing, both function generators may
actually be sine multipliers - but it will be simpler,
and VB = cos θ (where 0 < θ < 45˚)
perhaps, to think of them as sine and cosine multi-
pliers, as in the discussions above.)
then the following table can be used to operate VA
and VB so as to create the correct analog sine/cosine The outputs of the function generators are, then,
polarities: accurate, resolver-format signals:
Clearly, then, by routing the first two (or first three) For D/S conversion, an additional step is required:
most significant bits to a simple set of polarity/signal the use of a “reversed” Scott-T transformer (see
selector logic circuits, we may reduce our problem to Figure 5.1) to convert from 4-wire resolver format to
trigonometric D/A conversion in only one quadrant 3-wire synchro format. As indicated in the diagram,
(or octant). That is what we have done in Figure 5.1, the power amplifiers are interposed between the
in which the first two MSB’s are diverted to a quad- Scott-T and the multipliers.
rant selector circuit, and the remaining bits are used
to program 0°-90° sine and cosine function genera- The design constraints of this circuit are clearly
tors. These generators may be described as nonlin- focused on the function generators and the power
ear, bipolar, multiplying D/A converters, in which the amplifiers, since everything else in the device is a
reference input signal is the carrier wave (Eref), and logic circuit, it is not a major design concern.
the transfer function is either Subsequent discussions will cover these constraints.
or EB = Eref cosθ (cosine function generator) Figure 5.2 shows four types of circuits currently used
for multiplying a reference (carrier) signal by the sine
where θ is the angle represented by the digital input. or cosine of a digital angle (θ):
NOTE: the specific design of these function generators • Figure 5.2a applies the reference carrier to a multi-
is perhaps one of the most widely discussed topics in section, multi-tapped ratio transformer, and uses
the synchro conversion field, but we shall reserve dis- electronic switches to select non-linear spaced taps
cussion of that subject until later in this section. corresponding to the desired input/output ratio - i.e.,
the ratio that corresponds to the sine (or cosine) of
The reference voltage supplied to the D/S converter the digitally coded angle. This is a precise and
is generally buffer-isolated, and converted into two extremely stable way of obtaining sine/cosine D/A
50
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
DIGITAL INPUT
Vref
INPUT
OUTPUT
Vref Vref
INPUT INPUT
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
Figure 5.2b. Hybrid (Transformer/Resistor Network) Figure 5.2c. Weighted Resistor-Network Function
Function Generator (greatly simplified). Generator (simplified).
51
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
cost, size, and weight. Reference-harmonic effects els of these signals must have the following charac-
are negligible. teristics:
• Figure 5.2d is by far the most economical, small- • Relatively low output impedance - low enough to
est, lightest, and simplest means of generating the drive either a resolver winding or a “reversed”
sine/cosine D/A multiplication. It uses a linear Scott-T reflecting the load of a synchro, efficiently
resistor network, but achieves its sine or cosine and rapidly, without significant distortion, and in
function non-linearity by selective loading of the the presence of reactive loading.
output of the ratio divider. For two minute long-
term accuracy over wide temperature ranges, this • High linearity - under the load conditions
approach has proved to be the logical choice, described above, to prevent the introduction of
because of its simplicity and economy. In the past, harmonics.
this approach was optimized for angular accuracy
and as such had one characteristic that restricted • High Efficiency.
its usefulness in some applications. It exhibited a
scale factor variation as it generated the sine or • Minimum (and closely controlled) phase shift -
cosine function. Since the angle information is the again, under the load conditions described above,
ratio of the sine/cosine outputs, and the scale fac- so that angular error is not introduced. Note that it
tor variations of the two function generators track is not necessary to achieve negligible phase shift,
each other, no appreciable angular error is intro- but merely to make the phase shifts of the two
duced. However, the absolute amplitudes varied power amplifiers (sine and cosine) identical. In
and some corrective measure, or some alternate other words, any differential phase shift between
approach, was required for applications like vector the two channels must be minimized.
(polar-coordinate) plotting.
• The ability to absorb (and dissipate) energy over
The Stored-Table-Look-up Digital-To-Synchro or that part of the voltage-output cycle in which the
Digital-To-Resolver Converter reactive nature of the load pumps energy back
into the amplifier.
An alternative approach to generating synchro or
resolver analog signals is to use a ROM look-up • Short-circuit protection and output over-voltage
table with sine/cosine functions. The output of the protection.
ROM can then be fed to two appropriately scaled
four-quadrant multiplying D/A converters using the The Scott-T transformer used in D/S converters to
AC reference for the analog channel input. change resolver-format signals into synchro-format
signals at high power levels must be capable of han-
The major disadvantages of this approach are the dling the relatively high input voltage swings, at
burden on the µP and the number of components those power levels, without saturation or significant
needed to implement it compared to a dedicated distortion. Its phase shift should be low, and (even
D/S. Modern D/S hybrids have double-buffered more important) it must be balanced, so that differ-
inputs and fully protected outputs of up to 5 VA. ential phase shifts do not create significant angular
errors. For best performance, then, this transformer
Output Circuits for D/S and D/R Converters should have low leakage reactance, and low prima-
ry-to-secondary stray capacitance. For efficiency,
The resolver-format (sine/cosine) outputs produced the core and copper losses should be minimized.
by all of the foregoing D/S and D/R converters are
low-energy, relatively low-voltage signals. The ampli- The transfer function, for system considerations, of
fiers required to increase the power and voltage lev- modern D/S or D/R converters is unity.
52
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
6
3.4V rms
+v +DC SUPPLY LEVEL
7
1 3 POSITIVE PULSATING
REFERENCE
SOURCE 4 21.6V rms SUPPLY VOLTAGE
C.T. RL' RH'
26V rms 400Hz 2 +V S1' S1 AMPLIFIER OUTPUT
T1 + S1 VOLTAGE ENVELOPE
D1 D2
42359 C1
5 S2' S2
GND
+ S2
D4 D3 NEGATIVE PULSATING
C2 S3' S3
-V
SUPPLY VOLTAGE
S3
DSC10510 -v -DC SUPPLY LEVEL
NOTES:
PARTS LIST FOR 400Hz
D1, D2, D3, D4 = 1N4245 DIGITAL ±15VDC
C1 AND C2 = 47µF, 35V DC CAPACITOR INPUT
• Power surge at turn-on - When power is initially demand from regulated supplies. Figures 5.3 and
applied, the output power stages can go fully on 5.4 illustrate this technique. Essentially the power
before all the supplies stabilize. Current limiting output stage is only supplied with enough instan-
prevents damage, but when multiple D/S convert- taneous voltage to be able to drive the required
ers with substantial loads are present, the heavy instantaneous signal level. Since the output signal
load can cause the power supply to have difficulty is required to be in phase with the AC reference,
coming up and indeed may even shut down. It is the AC reference can be full-wave rectified and
best then to be sure the supply can handle the applied to the push-pull type output drivers. The
turn-on surge or to stagger the D/S turn-ons so supply voltage will then be just a few volts more
that the supply can handle it. Typically, the surge than the signal being output, and internal power
will be twice the maximum rated draw of the con- dissipation is minimized.
verter.
Thermal Considerations
• Torque load management - When multiple torque
loads (TR) are being driven the above problems are Power dissipation in D/S and D/R circuits are depen-
exacerbated by the high power levels involved and dent on the load whether active (TR) or passive (CT
power supply fold back problems are common or CDX), and the power supply, whether DC or pul-
unless the stagger technique is used. Also allow sating. With inductive loads we must bear in mind
time for the loads to stabilize. On turn-on it is not that virtually all the power consumed will have to be
likely that all the output loads will be at the same dissipated in the output amplifiers. This sometimes
angle as the D/S output. As the angular difference requires considerable care in heat sinking.
increases so does the power draw until the differ-
ence is 180 degrees. At this point, the load imped- For illustrative purposes, let’s examine a typical
ance drops to Zss and current draw is at maximum. hybrid power D/S, DDC’s DSC-10510, capable of 5
VA drive.
• Pulsating power supplies - The new generation
of D/S and D/R converters has been designed to Let us take the simplest case first: Passive
operate their output power stages with pulsating Inductive Load and ±15 Volt DC power stage sup-
power to reduce power dissipation and power plies (as shown in figure 5.3). The power dissipat-
53
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
ed in the power stage can be calculated by taking the The heat rise from the junction to the outside of the
integral of the instantaneous current multiplied by the package, assuming a thermal impedance of 4
voltage difference from the DC supply that supplies degrees C per watt, is:
the current and the instantaneous output voltage
over one cycle of the reference. For an inductive
4.41 W • 4˚C / W = 17.65˚C
load this is a rather tedious calculation. Instead let
us take the difference between the power input from
the DC supplies minus the power delivered to the At an operating case temperature of +125°C the
load. A real synchro load is highly inductive with a Q maximum junction temperature will be 142.65°C.
of 4-6; therefore, let’s assume that it is purely reac-
tive. The power out, then, is 0 Watts. As a worst The other extreme condition to consider is when the
case we will also assume the load is the full 5.0 VA, output voltage is 11.8. The current then will be .42 A
the converter’ s rated load. The VA delivered to the and the power will be
load is independent of the angle but the voltage
across the synchro varies with the angle from a high 30 • [ 0.42 A • 0.635
0.707 ] = 11.32 Watts
of 11.8 Volts line-to-line (L-L) to a low of 10.2 V L-L.
The maximum current therefore is:
A similar calculation will show the maximum power
5 VA per transistor to be 2.3 Watts. Much less than the
= 0.49 A rms other extreme.
10.2 V
The power dissipated by the output driver stage is • Reduced load on the regulated ±15 VDC supplies.
over 13 Watts shared by the six power transistors.
Since one synchro line supplies all the current while • Halving of the total power.
the other two share it equally, one will dissipate 2/3
of the power and the other two will each dissipate • Simplified power dissipation management.
1/3. There are two transistors per power stage so
each of the two transistors dissipates 1/3 of the +15VDC
LIGHT LOAD
power and each of the other transistors dissipates
HEAVY LOAD
1/6 of the power. This results in a maximum power in
any one transistor of:
1 -15VDC
• 13.24 W = 4.41 Watts
3
Figure 5.5. Loaded Waveforms.
54
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
ACTIVE LOAD
TORQUE TRANSMITTER TORQUE RECEIVER
NOTES:
R1 + R2 ≈ ZSS
Active Load - that is torque receivers - make it more turns ratio at 0.4%. The in-phase current flow due to
difficult to calculate power dissipation. The load is this nominal output voltage (10.2 V) multiplied by the
composed of an active part and a passive part. % error (2.4/100) divided by total resistance (4 ohms)
Figure 5.6 illustrates the equivalent two-wire circuit. = 61 mA. A phase lead mismatch between the torque
At null, when the torque receiver’s shaft rotates to the receiver and the converter of 1 degree results in a
angle that minimizes the current in R2, the power dis- quadrature current of:
sipated is lowest. The typical ratio of Zso/Zss=4.3.
For the maximum specified load of Zss=2 ohms, the sin 1˚
10.2 V • 4 ohms = 44.5 mA
Zso=2 x 4.3=8.6 ohms. Also the typical ratio of
R2/R1=2. In all synchro systems (torque transmitter
driving a torque receiver) the actual line impedances Total current is the phaser sum:
are as shown in Figure 5.7. The torque transmitter
and torque receiver are electrically identical, hence
61 + 44.5 mA = 75.5 mA
the total line impedance is double that of Figure 5.6.
The torque system is designed to operate that way.
The higher the total line impedances, the lower the cur- Power dissipation is:
rent flow at null and the lower the power dissipation. It
is recommended that with torque loads, discrete resis- 30 Vdc • 75.5 mA • 0.9 (avg/rms) = 2.04 Watts
tors be used as shown in Figure 5.8 and 5.9.
Since this is a light load condition, even pulsating
A torque load is usually at null. Once the torque supplies would be approximating DC supplies.
receiver nulls at power turn on, the digital commands
to the D/S are usually in small angular steps, so the The off null condition is a different story. Real syn-
torque system is always at or near null. Large digital chros have no current limiting, so that the current that
steps, load disturbances, a stuck torque receiver or would flow would be the current that the circuit con-
one synchro line open causes an off null condition. ditions demanded. The worst case would be for a
180 degree error between the two synchros as
Theoretically, at null the load current could be zero shown in Figure 5.11. For this condition the two
(see Figure 5.10). If Vac = Vbc, both in magnitude equivalent voltage sources would be 10.2 V oppos-
and phase, then, when “a” was connected to “b”, no ing. The current would be
current would flow. Pick C1 and C2 to match the
phase lead of R1-Zso. In practice this ideal situation
is not realized. The input-to-output transformation 10.2 • 2
4 = 5.1 A in phase
ratio of torque receivers are specified at 2% and the
55
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
The power dissipated in the converter is the power cial circuits that sense this continuous current over-
supplied by the ±15 VDC supplies minus the power load condition and sends a momentary 45° “kick” to
delivered to the load. the torque receiver thus knocking it off the false null.
The torque receiver will then swing to the correct
angle and properly null. If the torque receiver is stuck
(30 V • 5.1 A • 0.9) – (10.2 V • 5.1 A)
it will not be able to eliminate the over-current condi-
= 85.7 Watts for DC supplies
tion. In this case, the converter will send a BIT signal
when the case exceeds 140°C. This BIT signal can be
This would require a large power supply and high used to shut down the output power stage.
wattage resistors. The converter output current is
usually limited (in the case of the DSC-10510, to 0.8 A An additional advantage of using pulsating power
peak). This limits the power supply to more reasonable supplies is that the loss of reference when driving
values but introduces another problem - the torque torque loads is fail safe. The load will pump up the
receiver can become disoriented and confused, hang- ±V voltages through the power stage clamp diodes
ing up in a continuous current limited condition at a and the loss of the reference detector will disable the
false stable null. Fortunately the DSC-10510 has spe- power stage. The power stage will, therefore, be
2Ω 1 1/3Ω 2/3Ω
RH
RL
TORQUE LOAD WITH DISCRETE EXTERNAL RESISTOR
1.33Ω
S1 S1
RH
1.33Ω
S2 S2
REF IN D/S TR REF
1.33Ω
S3 S3
RL
R1
2Ω 1 1/3Ω 2/3Ω
C1
RH
A B
C
RL
C2
56
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
turned off with the needed power supply voltages. dition is normally a transient condition, only existing
The pulsating power supply diodes will isolate the for a second or so. During this time the amplifier out-
pumped up pulsating supplies from the reference. If put operates in a non-linear manner; it goes into cur-
the DC power supplies are to be used for the power rent limiting. At this current-limited output level it will
stage and there is a possibility of the DC supplies produce sufficient power to drive the torque receiver
being off while the reference to the torque receiver is to null but not enough to damage itself. As the torque
on, then the protection circuitry shown in Figure 5.12 receiver comes into null it’s impedance increases
is highly recommended. and the amplifier will come out of current limiting and
operate normally. Should the load remain at a low
A note should be made here about the ability of level and the amplifier be forced to remain in current
DDC’s synchro booster amplifiers to drive active limiting for more than 4 seconds or so the SBA-
loads with impedance well below that implied by their 25000 will introduce a 1/2 second angle change
VA rating. A case in point being the SBA-25000 (120°) to try to free the torque receiver. Should the
series amplifiers. Rated at 25 VA these units are load persist the output driver temperature will rise to
able to drive active loads as low as 6 Ohms at 90 V +125°C at which point the thermal cut-out will disable
L-L. On the surface this seems to be inconsistent. In the output drivers.
actuality it is not. When a torque receiver or another
active load device is at null the impedance is much The remote sense feature is incorporated in DDC’s
higher than the Zss. It is only in the off-null condition newest hybrid digital-to-synchro converters. Rated
that Zss can be as low as 6 Ohms. The off-null con- at 5 VA, the DSC-10510 offers accuracies to ±2
+15V
+15VDC +
2Ω 2Ω
+V
-V
-15VDC -V
- 15V
Figure 5.11. Worst Case 180° Error. Figure 5.12. Protection Circuitry.
WITHOUT XFMR
PRECISION
XFORMER
STABILIZING
NETWORK
REF D/R PA
OUT
WITH XFMR POWER
XFORMER
57
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
D/S
CONVERTER C C
(INCLUDING
REQ'D C
AMPLIFIERS)
CT CT
CT
Figure 5.14. Resonating Paralled or other Low-Impedance Loads, to Raise Drive Capabilities of a D/S (or
D/R) Converter.
minutes of arc at the load. This remote sense fea- NOTE: capacitor tolerance and drift, as well as the
ture operates just as other precision sources do. A tolerance and drift of the inductance of the winding,
separate line is run to each leg of the synchro (in make it impractical to attain or maintain perfect reso-
addition to the drive line) to sense the voltage actu- nance; therefore, it is wise to estimate no greater
ally appearing on the load. This is then used to reg- impedance rise than about 0.8 Q, even using rela-
ulate the output based on load voltage rather than tively stable capacitors.
converter output voltage. This feature is very useful
in driving heavy passive loads in precision systems. Computing Value of Capacitor for Tuning
Synchro Stator Windings
Another technique sometimes used to reduce the
size and cost of the output isolation transformers is X'LSO
to incorporate an additional output feedback trans- C=
6 π f [(R'SO ) 2 + (X' LSO ) 2 ]
former (as shown in Figure 5.13) to feed the output
back to the output drivers in such a way that the out-
put power transformer is inside the feedback loop, Where:
thus allowing the transformer parameters to vary
considerably without degrading accuracy or drive C=Tuning capacitor in farads in delta connection.
capability. Thus the output power transformers are
simple power transformers, not large precision trans- X’LSO=Reactive component of impedance of one sta-
formers, and only the small feedback transformers tor winding leg with rotor open circuit.
need be precise. This technique requires careful
design since there are now two transformers within f=Frequency in Hz
the loop where before there were none.
R’SO=Resistive component of impedance of one sta-
Tuning The Load tor winding leg with rotor open circuit.
58
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
Figure 5.15 shows the use of external synchro driver to two of the three input lines, and directly connect-
differential operational amplifiers to boost both the ing the third (ground is the common connection) is
average and the peak power capabilities of a D/R just as effective as using three power boosters. One
converter. (The same amplifiers may be used to word of caution: do not allow the ground-return cur-
boost the output capabilities of D/S, synchro-to-dc rent from the third terminal to flow through any of the
and synchro-to-sine/cosine dc converters). Modern low-level analog-circuit ground paths - e.g., the ±15
synchro-drive amplifiers are generally available with V power-supply common. Instead, connect the third
output voltage ranges up to ±150 Volts, at volt- synchro input directly to the third output terminal on
ampere levels as high as ±35 VA. They are espe- the D/S converter, and ground that third output ter-
cially well suited to driving multiple resolvers. minal to common.
It is important to note that not all high power ampli- Testing D/S Converters
fiers are suitable for use as synchro drivers because
of the lower power factor of the load. In driving a To test or evaluate a digital-to-synchro converter will
highly inductive load, most of the real power must be generally require a synchro bridge or a synchro angle
dissipated in the amplifier, since the current levels indicator. Testing D/S converters is similar to testing
and phase shifts can be quite high. Another impor- S/D converters except that the inputs and outputs are
tant consideration is overload protection and/or cur- reversed. The inputs are toggle switches, and the out-
rent limiting. If a synchro torque receiver (TR) locks put is monitored or measured by means of a synchro
up at 180° from the D/S converter angle, the TR angle indicator or a synchro bridge and phase angle
essentially acts as a generator aiding the D/S con- voltmeter (PAV). As shown in Figure 5.17, bit switch-
verter output rather than bucking it as it does in nor- es are set to obtain the desired angle, and the output
mal operation. In this situation the amplifier will be is read off the angle indicator. If the bridge and PAV
called upon to drive the resistive portion of the TR’s technique is used, the bridge is adjusted for a null on
impedance (ZSO) and to absorb an additional equal the PAV and the output angle is read on the bridge.
current from the TR. Some form of protection is very
desirable in this situation to prevent burning out the Most D/S converters have guaranteed angular errors
amplifiers and/or synchro. (generally on the order of ±4’ and up to ±1’ ). This error
is defined as the difference between the selected input
Figure 5.16 shows how two external power amplifiers angle and tan-1 [K(θ) sin θ / K (θ) cos θ]. K (θ) is a
may be used to drive one or more three-wire synchro scale factor variation in the output amplitude, general-
receivers in parallel (or a high-power torque syn- ly 7% for older converters and on the order of 0.1% for
chro). This is possible because of the Y-connection the new generation. The sine and cosine outputs of
configuration of the synchro receiver stator windings. older converters should not be demodulated and used
It can be shown that supplying the high-level energy separately to display circles on a CRT because the 7%
Vref
Vx 10K
10K
–
+
D/S
D/R MULITIPLE CONVERTER
CONVERTER RESOLVERS
+
10K
– 10K TORQUE SYNCHRO
Vy
59
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
STABLE
CT LOAD
OSCILLATOR
Vref
MSB
ANGLE
INDICATOR
OR
+ PAV
D/S
CONVERTER OUTPUT
ONE UNDER
LEVEL TEST
variation in scale factor will cause distortions in the cir- type loads, since their rotors are usually driven from
cle tending to make it diamond shaped. This general- a very low impedance generator. From Figure 5.18
ly is of no consequence in other applications since we can see that in the equation:
angular accuracy is the important parameter. The
practical effect of this variation is slightly increased cir-
culating currents in some applications.
Zs = Z ’s + Z ’s
2
How to Calculate Power Requirements for D/S = 3 Z ’s
Converters 2
2
Z ’s = Z ’s
Before a D/S converter can be selected for a particular 3
application, the power required by the load (expressed
in volt-amperes, or VA) must be determined. Most of
the time, this must be calculated from other available where Zs is either Zso or Zss depending on the type
information, such as the type of load (e.g., 23CT4c) or of load.
the impedance of the load (e.g., 1230 + j14300).
chro load and the other two shorted together with the Z′SO Z′SS
S2 S2
rotor open, while Zss is the same impedance but with
the two rotor terminals shorted, as shown in Figure
5.18. Each leg of the synchro has an impedance of S3 S3
60
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
The impedance, Zcos is: This is the equation to remember when calculating
power from either Zso or Zss. As an aid, Table 5.3
lists the power required by many common control
Zcos = 1 2 Z ’s + Z ’s
N 2 transformers (CT) and torque receivers (TR). Table
= 1
[ 32 Z ’s ]
[√ 32 ]2
=
4 3
3 2
[ Z ’s ]
1:1 S1 Z's
Zcos = 2 Z ’s Zsin Z's
CT S2
SIN θ CT
Z's 1: 3/2
VLL SIN θ
1: 3 COS θ
2 Z's
S3 Z's
VLL COS θ
Z's
S2
S2
61
THEORY OF OPERATION OF MODERN
DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CONVERTERS
5.4 gives the power capability of all our standard D/S Example: DSC 644-H
converters.
At 400 Hz the DSC 644 will drive a minimum load of
Finally, a word of caution. Torque receiver loads, as 4kΩ.
discussed here, are assumed to be at a null, or stat-
ic. When off null, or moving, they draw large surges
3 90 2 = 1.5 VA
of power because their rotor is also being driven. •
4 4000
Therefore, verify that the minimum Zss is not less
than that given in Table 5.4 for the converter you
have in mind.
62
OTHER FUNCTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS
SECTION VI
Modern electronic-system design is generally based senting φ). The output is simply sin (θ-φ), which, over
on the "modular-building-block" approach, where the a small range of (θ-φ), is equal to (θ-φ). Typically the
system designer interfaces predesigned (and, prefer- output may be considered equal to (θ-φ) within a few
ably, versatile) standard modules. One such module minutes of error over a range of ±7°. Since the SSCT
is the SSCT, shown in Figure 6.1a in block diagram is always used in systems that attempt to drive (θ-φ)
form. By comparing this block diagram with the to null-zero, the momentary off-null errors are not
tracking converter of Figure 2.1, and the diagram for significant.
an electromechanical CT of Figure 1.10b, we can
see that the SSCT preforms exactly the same func- Note that resolver-format inputs may be accommo-
tion as an electromechanical synchro control trans- dated by replacing the Scott-T input transformer by a
former, and provides a large part of the circuitry used simple isolation transformer ... or, under the right sig-
in a tracking converter. nal-source circuit conditions, by simply eliminating
the input transformer.
(Note also that the SSCT is essentially the same as
the programmed-function-generator discussed in In the past SSCTs were dedicated modules or
Section V - e.g., Figure 5.1 - except that the hybrids. Today SSCT operation is a pin-programma-
sine/cosine outputs of the function generators are ble option built into the S/D (i.e., the SDC-14560
subtracted at a differencing junction, and isolated.) Series). By simply grounding the appropriate pin
(usually labeled S) the converter can be used as a
The inputs to an SSCT are a three-wire set of syn- SSCT. In this mode, shown in Figure 6.1b, the digi-
chro-format analog signals at the carrier frequency tal output becomes a double-buffered input feeding
(representing θ), and a digitally coded word (repre- the up-down counter. The output is now AC Error
+SIN COSINE
S1 MULITIPLIER
INPUT -SIN OUTPUT R1
QUADRANT
S2 ISOL. +COS 3 14 ISOL.
SWITCHING R2
SCOTT-T -COS SINE TRANS.
S3
MULITIPLIER SUBTRACTING
AMP SIN (θ - φ)
SYNCHRO
OUTPUT
INPUT
MSB LSB
1 2 3 14
DIGITAL INPUT φ
63
OTHER FUNCTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS
and the enable lines (EL and EM) and inhibit (INH) except that the sine and cosine inputs to the lower
become latch control lines (LL, LM, and LA). pair of function generators have been reversed. This
produces the two outputs shown, which result from
Electronic Control Differential Transmitter (ECDX) synthesis, in the SSCT's of the two complementary
trigonometric identities:
Another useful module is one that performs the task
of an electromechanical CDX (synchro control differ- sin θ cos φ - cos θ sin φ = sin (θ-φ)
ential transmitter). It is apparent from the block dia-
gram of Figure 6.2 that this device may be explained cos θ cos φ + sin θ sin φ =cos (θ-φ)
almost entirely by reference to earlier discussions.
Indeed, the ECDX is nothing more than a pair of ...of which the first is the normal function of the
SSCT's that share a common input transformer ... SSCT, and the second is the complementary func-
LOSS OF
ZERO REFERENCE 40 REF
LOS 28 SIGNAL
SET TIMING CONDITIONER
DETECTOR
SIN θ SIN
HIGH ACCURACY (θ-φ)
SYNCHRO SIGNAL CONTROL GAIN BIT 29 BIT
1-3 DEMODULATOR
INPUT INPUT COS θ TRANSFORMER e DETECT
+15V
16-BIT CT DIFF
LA (INH)
9 TRANSPARENT GAIN 39 e
LATCH OF 2
DIGITAL -15V
ANGLE φ
+11V
16-BIT
POWER SUPPLY
U-D COUNTER +5.5V 34 +15V
CONDITIONER
(SET MODE)
7 8
A B
LM(EM) 10 11 LL(EL)
RESOLUTION
12-19 20-27 CONTROL
1-8 9-16
COSINE
MULTIPLIER
SIN (θ - φ)
+SIN θ SINE
S1 INPUT –SIN θ SIN θ SUBTRACTOR
QUADRANT MULTIPLIER
θ S2 ISOL. +COS θ
SCOTT –COS θ SWITCHING COS θ
S3 COSINE
T
MULTIPLIER
SCOTT-T COS (θ - φ)
XFMR SINE
MULTIPLIER SUBTRACTOR
MSB
1 2 3 14
64
OTHER FUNCTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS
tion. In the ECDX, accuracy is maintained over 0° to use, efficient and very rugged. Modern designs
360°. This module, like all the other signal-level mod- operate their power stages off the reference thereby
ules that may be required to drive electromechanical reducing power dissipation by 50% over a DC oper-
resolvers, is compatible with synchro power ampli- ated amplifier. They have a disable input and a BIT
fiers. output that senses thermal overload. Current limiting
prevents damage from overload and short circuits
Isolation and Format-Conversion Transformers while voltage clamps protect again reference and
load transients. The thermal cutout disables the out-
Figure 6.3 shows the equivalent schematic diagrams put at +125°C. A new feature is a unique "kick" cir-
of both reference-coupling and Scott-T transformers cuit to overcome the inertia of an off null condition of
of typical modern input-coupling modules. The refer- torque receivers or kick them off a false null. If an
ence-coupling transformer must be designed for min- overload exists for over 4 seconds the kick circuit will
imum phase-shifts, and excellent primary-secondary
isolation, to prevent noise and signal-frequency S1 +S
anomalies due to ground loops in the external sys- -S
S3
tem. In critical applications, the transformers may +C
have to be shielded as well. Core excitation should ANALOG GND
-C
S2
be well below saturation to prevent harmonic gener-
ation due to nonlinearity, and leakage reactance
R1 REF HI
must be minimized.
R2
65
OTHER FUNCTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS
shift the output 120 degrees for 1/2 second and will S3
repeat this kick every 4 to 5 seconds as long as the
overload persists.
2/3 Zso
Control transformers are highly inductive loads and it Table 6.1. Common CT and CDX Load
is possible to save power by tuning such loads. Impedances.
Figure 6.6 illustrates how three capacitors placed MILITARY TYPE NUMBER SIZE ZSO (NOMINAL)
across the legs of a CT in a delta configuration can CONTROL TRANSFORMERS:
tune the load. The correct value of the capacitance 11CT4e 11 838 + j4955
C in farads is given by: 15CT4e 15 1600 + j9300
15CT6b 15 1170 + j6780
18CT4c 18 1420 + j13260
XL 18 1680 + j5040
C= 18CT6b
23 1460 + j11050
4πf (R 2
+XL2 ) 23CT4a 23 1250 + j3980
23CT6a
CONTROL DIFFERENTIAL
where f is the carrier frequency and R and X are the TRANSMITTERS:
series real and reactive components of Zso. Good 11CDX4b 11 253 + j1802
grade capacitors must be used and they must be 15CDX4d 15 140 + j1000
15CDX6c 15 404 + j2290
able to withstand the full AC output voltage.
18CDX4c 18 63 + j695
18 521 + j1605
18CDX6d
When the load has been tuned more loads can be 23 32 + j306
23CDX4c 23 221 + j958
driven in parallel because the load impedance, Z, 23CDX6c
has been increased to:
S3
R 2 + X L2
C=
R
C C
66
OTHER FUNCTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS
In addition to having enough steady state power Figure 6.8 shows the construction, equivalent circuit-
capability to maintain a torque receiver at null, a ry, and modular packaging of a typical Scott-T output
torque driver must have peak transient power suffi- coupling transformer, with load parameters indicat-
cient to drive the torque receiver back to null. This ed, to give some idea of the design constraints in this
transient power capability is indicated by the maxi- class of applications. The key features of such a
mum torque receiver load Zss which can be driven. transformer are:
Some common torque receivers and their load
impedances are listed in Table 6.2. • Low distributed capacitance shunt and interwinding.
The reference oscillator shown in Figure 6.7 pro- • High magnetizing inductance.
vides AC excitation for synchro, resolvers and
inductosyns in systems where an AC reference is • Low core and copper losses.
not readily available. It is generally pin program-
mable for various common frequencies and can • Low static regulation.
be used with a wide variety of standard transduc-
ers. Some have a quadrature output for induc- • Low flux density - well below the saturation knee
tosyn applications. Drive capability is in the 200 of the B-H curve.
mA range. They come in a hybrid or modular
form. • Accurate centertapping.
Table 6.2. Common Torque Receivers and their
Load Impedances.
SYNCHRO VL-L/FREQ (HZ) Ω)
ZSS (Ω
11TR4c 90V/400 180 to 250
15TRx4a 90V/400 50 to82
15TRx6a 90V/60 920
18TRx4a 90V/400 16 to 21
18TRx6b 90V/60 350 to 430
23TR6 90V/60 110 to 145
23TR6a 90V/60 110 to 145
23TRx4a 90V/400 6.5 to 8.1
23TRx6b 90V/60 110 to 145
L
SIN S1
R
S3
L
COS
R
L
S2
L = Leakage Reactance
R = Loss Resistance
Figure 6.7. Reference Oscillator. Figure 6.8. Scott-T Output Coupling Transformer.
67
OTHER FUNCTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS
68
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
SECTION VII
Worst-Case Error Analysis of Typical S/D or R/D • Acceleration - the rate of change of velocity per
Converters unit time; or d²θ/dt².
Let us begin this important topic with a comprehen- • Ambient temperature changes.
sive listing of error sources, together with brief expo-
sitions of the nature of their possible effects on accu- • Changes in the power supply to the converter.
racy ... assuming that they do affect a particular type
of converter. We shall first list the possible "external" • The passage of time (in other words, aging effects,
error sources - those that derive from system char- operating and/or nonoperating).
acteristics and environment stresses outside the
converter. • Humidity and other atmospheric effects, including
altitude changes, corrosion, etc.
• Reference carrier frequency variations from the
nominal. These can be first-order error sources, • Shock and vibration effects.
but only in the RC-phase-shift types of converters.
• Noise - conducted, radiated, induced, and gener-
• Reference-carrier rotor-to-stator time-phase shift ated in ground loops - entering via the data, refer-
(α). The effects of this error source have been ence, and power-supply lines. Includes periodic
thoroughly discussed earlier (see Section II), but and aperiodic, as well as random components.
note that second-order phase shifts can be intro- For convenience, common-mode errors may be
duced by circuit components, such as reference included in this category, since they have the
and data isolation transformers, quadrant selec- same effect as ground-loop-coupled noise.
tors, function generators, etc.
Now let us turn our attention to possible "internal"
• Reference carrier harmonics. Note that it is impor- error sources; ones that derive from the inherent lim-
tant to distinguish between differential harmonics itations of circuit technique, and/or imperfections in
(those that do not also appear in the data signals) the circuit design, components, adjustments, or qual-
and total reference harmonics. ity of control of the converter itself.
69
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
70
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
From these three statements, the first might be said one in which there is one significant time-constant
to characterize the typical performance of the con- (integration) in the feedback loop - i.e., the equation
verter. It is only useful in that it shows what the relation error to correction is a first-order equation.
device is capable of doing, given ideal external and The correction (feedback) loop is shown in Figure
interface conditions. It can be a trap for the unwary. 7.1, as is the graph of response to an acceleration
Beware! The second statement might be said to from rest, followed by a (later) deceleration to rest, at
define the device's behavior realistically, as a guide a new value of θ. As predicted by the equations
to what external error sources may be tolerated. shown, both velocity and acceleration errors are
Finally, the third statement might be called the "sys- inevitable, for practical loop gains.
tem limit of error," and can only be made when the
nature and magnitude of every error source is Figure 7.2 shows the two-time-constant (double-inte-
known; therefore, it lies most properly in the domain grator) Type II servo, its response to an identical accel-
of the system designer. eration from rest, and later deceleration to rest. As the
equations predict, there is still a (momentary) acceler-
Velocity and Acceleration Errors in Type I and ation error, but the velocity error is zero. To summarize:
Type II Servos
Type I Converter
It is clear from the discussion of the tracking S/D or
R/D converter on pages 19 to 22 that the dynamic In a Type I servo S/D or R/D converter, there are both
performance of any converter in which the measure- acceleration errors and velocity errors in the position
ment is the result of a null-seeking (or "servoing") reading (φ):
action can be analyzed in the same way that a
closed-loop control system (or servomechanism) is
d 2φ dφ
analyzed. In this field of analysis, a Type I servo is dt dt
Ea = Ea =
Ka Kv
φ
t t θ Ka = 0
Ka (θ - φ) dt2 = φ
0 0 θ
Ka (θ - φ) = d2φ/dt2 ZERO
K v = 2000 (sec -1)
VELOCITY
Kv (θ - φ) = dφ/dt θ, φ φ 2
ERROR
E a = 80˚ / sec = ∞
0
TIME
71
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
(fixed error at constant velocity) When using the low cost RDC-19220 or RD-19230
series monolithic converter for position and velocity
Type II Converter feedback it is important to understand the dynamic
response for a changing input. When considering
In a Type II servo S/D or R/D converter (such as the what bandwidth to set your converter, several para-
true tracking converter described on pages 19 to 22), meters have to be taken into consideration. The abil-
there is no velocity error, but there is a finite acceler- ity to track step responses and accelerations will
ation error (only during acceleration) in the position determine what bandwidth to select. The lower the
reading (φ): bandwidth the greater the noise immunity. The rela-
tionship between maximum tracking rate and band-
width determines the settling time for small and large
d 2φ dφ
dt2 dt steps. For a small step the bandwidth is what deter-
Ea = Ea = =0 (K v = ∞)
Ka ∞ mines the settling time; when you have a large step
the maximum slew rate and bandwidth is what deter-
mines the settling time. It is recommended that you
The dynamic behavior of standard S/D or R/D con- maintain a 4:1 ratio between carrier frequency to
verters is specified in terms of Kv and Ka. Typical bandwidth; this will provide a greater rejection of car-
values and error calculations are given below, for rier frequency ripple. As the bandwidth approaches
both Type I and Type II designs, for typical velocities the carrier frequency, the converter may jitter due to
and accelerations. carrier frequency ripple.
Kv= ∞
VELOCITY
OUT
80˚/sec 2
Ea = = 0.01˚ ERROR PROCESSOR
VCO
8,000 RESOLVER CT A1 S + 1
DIGITAL
+ e B A2 POSITION
INPUT
S OUT
S S +1
- 10B (φ)
(fixed error with constant velocity)
H=1
360˚/sec
Ev = = 0˚
∞
Figure 7.3. Transfer Function Block Diagram.
(zero error at constant velocity)
72
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
- Integrator gain = (CS•FS) / 1.1•CBW [volts per sec- S = complex frequency variable (j ω)
ond per volt]
Setup of bandwidth and velocity scaling for the opti-
- VCO gain = 1/1.25•RV•CVCO [LSB's per second mized critically damped case should proceed as fol-
per volt] lows:
CS = 10pf
3.2 • Fs (Hz) • 10 8
FS = 70 KHz when RS = 30 KΩ, therefore R1 @ 1.5 MΩ • Compute: CBW(pf) =
Rv • (f BW )2
FS = 100 KHz when RS = 20 KΩ, therefore R1 @ 1 MΩ
FS = 134 KHz when RS = 15 KΩ, therefore R1 @ 750 KΩ
CVCO = 50 pF
0.9
• Compute: R B =
C BW • f BW
Setup of bandwidth and velocity scaling for the opti-
mized critically damped case should proceed as fol-
lows:
• Compute: = C BW
10
EXAMPLE:
Table 7.1. Maximum Tracking Rate in rps
(revolutions per second). Reference: 2 KHz
Ω)
RC (Ω Ω)
RS (Ω 10 12 14 16 Resolution: 16 bits
Bandwidth: 100 Hz
30 K or open 30 K 1152* 288* 72* 18*
Max Tracking: 10 RPS
23 K 20 K 1728 432 108 27 Rc = 30 KΩ
Rs = 30 KΩ
23 K 15 K 2304 576 N/A N/A
Fs = 70 KHz
*Use when computing Rv.
73
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
= .022 µf
1
(Rv) • (50 pf) • (1.25)
0.9
RB = = 415 KΩ With Rs @ 30KΩ the internal clock rate is 1,333,333
21656 • 10 -12 • 100
Hz.
RV = 1 = 48 KΩ
R V = 100 KΩ (333,333) • (50 pf) • (1.25)
C BW = .022 µf
C BW/10 = 2200 pf
This is the absolute maximum rate; it is recommend-
ed to only run at 90% of this rate therefore the mini-
R B = 410 KΩ
mum Rv will be limited to 55 KΩ.
RDC-19220 or RD-19230 Maximum Tracking Rate Rs=15 KΩ internal clock nominally 2,666,666 Hz.
The tracking rate (nominally 4 volts) is limited by two Determining Acceleration Lag and Large Step
factors: Velocity saturation and maximum internal Response Settling Time
clock rate (nominally 1,333,333 Hz).
As you vary the bandwidth and the maximum track-
The resistor Rv determines the velocity scaling. It is ing rate this will determine your acceleration con-
the input resistor to an inverting integrator with a stant (Ka) and large step settling time.
74
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
12 4096 8
Resolution: 16 bits
14 16384 10
Bandwidth: 100 Hz
Reference: 1000 Hz 16 65536 11
Max Tracking: 10 RPS
To solve for Ka:
2 •A
BW =
π To determine a large step response you must take
into account the maximum tracking rate and band-
2
and Ka = A width.
(BW)(π) EXAMPLE:
therefore A =
2
2 Solve for the large step response (179°) settling time
(BW)(π)
and Ka = for a 16-bit mode system with the following parame-
2 ters:
2 Bandwidth = 100 Hz
(100 Hz)(π)
Ka = Maximum Tracking Rate = 10 rps
2
49,348
Ka = 360˚
sec 2 Maximum Tracking = • 10 rps
1 revolution
EXAMPLE: = 3600˚/s
To solve for acceleration rate that results in 1 LSB of error: The Settling Time due to Tracking Rate:
= 49 msec
Acceleration Rate (for 1 LSB error, 16-bit mode)
(49,348)(0.0055˚)
=
sec 2
Then we must add the settling time due to bandwidth
Acceleration Rate (for 1 LSB error, 16-bit mode)
limitation; this is approximately 11 time constants in
272˚
= 16-bit mode.
sec 2
75
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
1
tTR + • tc Where A is a constant of proportionality, or speed-
A
voltage coefficient. It is not uncommon for A to
= 49 msec + 49.5 msec = 98.5 msec approach unity in modern synchro-sensed systems.
Therefore, speed voltage can hardly be considered
where tc is the number of time constants to be negligible, or even a second-order effect
despite the fact that it is often neglected as an error
source, in specifying synchro/resolver converters!
Therefore the approximate settling time for a large
step would be 98.5 msec. This is an approximation. Fortunately, in the more advanced types of syn-
chro/resolver converters, the circuitry discriminates
Synchros and resolvers are used in a wide variety of so effectively against quadrature components that
dynamic conditions. Understanding how the con- the susceptibility of the converter to speed-voltage
verter reacts to these input changes will allow you to error is negligible - at least up to very high velocities.
optimize the bandwidth and maximum tracking rate
for each application.
Speed-Voltage Susceptibility
76
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
All converters should of course, be rated for "speed- In the presence of speed voltage, the demodulator
voltage susceptibility" ... usually in terms of the high- receives another signal component, in quadrature:
est velocity at which a given synchro or resolver may
be driven without causing an increase in the conver- AK sin(θ – φ) cos ωt ≅ AK (θ – φ) cos ωt
sion uncertainty (decrease in accuracy from rated
value).
revolutions/second
where A =
carrier frequency
Let us consider the effects of speed voltage of the
tracking converter described on pages 19 to 22. The
normal data signal presented to the demodulator is: If the demodulator has infinite quadrature rejection,
no speed-voltage error would result; however, for
very large values of A, saturation might occur in the
K x sin θ cos φ sin ωt
demodulator, causing large errors. A well designed
K y cos θ sin φ sin ωt,
demodulator should have wide dynamic range and
excellent quadrature rejection ... which points out the
which has been shown to be equal to
advantage of using a synthesized reference as dis-
cussed on page 22. (See page 83 for calculation of
K sin(θ – φ)sin ωt quadrature rejection.)
provided Kx = K y = K
Resolution, Linearity, Monotonicity, and
and, for small values of (θ – φ), Absolute Accuracy
K sin(θ – φ) ≅ K (θ – φ) sin ωt These terms have the same meaning and impor-
tance for synchro/resolver-to-digital converters as
they do for conventional analog-to-digital converters.
The resolution of a converter is the weight of the
smallest change in its digital output or the weight of
the least-significant bit (LSB). Calculation of this
parameter was explained on page 9, but the basic
expression is repeated here, for convenience:
10001
77
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
78
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
worst possible combination of their effects on the • Gain errors and drifts — These result in calibration
reading. Then, and only then, will the following defi- (scale) errors, and may be trimmed out for any one
nitions be valid: temperature and power-supply condition, at any
time, but will inevitably drift again. Here again, the
• Absolute accuracy is defined as the maximum best plan is to select a design that has inherently
deviation of any conversion (any reading, in the accurate and stable full-scale calibration, without
case of instruments) from the rated transfer char- the trimming.
acteristic, measured with reference to the absolute
under standard conditions, such as the National Measurement of static error components in S/D or
Bureau of Standards (NBS) and over all rated R/D converters is relatively straightforward and easy.
operating ranges. It is expressed (usually) as a The converter is connected to its synchro or resolver
percentage of the rated full-scale value. transducer, and operated at the typical values of tem-
perature and power supply (or line voltage, if self-
• Relative accuracy is measured and expressed in powered). The transducer is excited by the typical
the same way, but is defined in terms of the actu- sine wave reference carrier, and is aligned so that
al, rather than the rated, full-scale value. Note that electrical and mechanical zero coincide to an accu-
this means that Relative accuracy is merely anoth- racy significantly higher than the converter resolu-
er way of defining Linearity! tion. If the converter has a zero-setting adjustment,
it is used to set digital output to zero (e.g., all
An example of a valid Absolute accuracy statement ZEROES, in natural binary code). If the converter
is given in Figure 7.6. has no zero adjustment, the digital output at zero
data input is a measure of zero offset. (NOTE: allow
Static Errors and Instabilities a reasonable warm-up time, to ensure thermal equi-
librium. The manufacturer will recommend a warm-
At times, the Absolute accuracy rating, or even the up delay period, if one is required.)
Relative accuracy rating, of a converter is too harsh
a judgement in the sense that any application may Maintaining the above typical conditions, the zero
not impose the full range of rated variations on the drift with time may then be observed by monitoring
converter. For this reason, it is important to be able the digital output. (Figure 7.7 shows a useful display
to measure and predict all of the components of error circuit for monitoring each digital output terminal.)
that contribute to the total worst-case uncertainty. Remember that all other parameters: temperature,
One group of these components of error, each sepa- power-supply levels, reference-carrier amplitude, fre-
rately measurable, is the so-called "static" sources of quency, and waveform, must be held constant during
error. They do not arise from either signal dynamics the entire period of the test. Gain stability is mea-
or signal characteristics. These include: sured by repeating all of the above steps for a full-
scale input (corresponding to a full-scale digital out-
• Input Offsets (voltage and current) in multiplexers, put - i.e., all ONES in natural binary code), and
sample/holds, and any DC-coupled circuitry inside observing the output variation with time.
the converter — These may be susceptible to
external "trimming" (Zeroing), but, since they drift Temperature effects may be observed by raising the
with time, temperature, and power supply, such ambient temperature of the converter (only) to the
adjustments are at best crude and temporary cor- rated upper limit. Allow it to reach the new thermal
rections. The best equipment has inherently low equilibrium, and then observing the output for both
offsets, inherently high offset stability, is rated for zero and full-scale inputs. All other parameters must,
untrimmed service and all initial adjustment done of course, be maintained at typical values. Repeat,
at the factory only. Low current offset is mandato- for an ambient temperature and at the rated lower
ry for high-impedance sources. limit.
79
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
Return the converter to thermal equilibrium at the (the rate of change of θ) that it can measure without
typical ambient temperature (i.e., 25°C), and raise exceeding its rated error. This is just as true for the
the power supply levels to the rated upper limits, and "true tracking" converters as it is for harmonic-oscil-
observe the digital output at both zero and full-scale lator and successive approximation designs; they
data inputs. (Changing the power supply levels will may have different upper limits of dθ/dt, but they all
probably require waiting for a new thermal equilibri- have such a limit.
um, since the internal dissipation will change.)
Repeat the test with the power supply levels at the The Type-II-loop tracking converter described on
rated lower limits. pages 19 to 22 may have no velocity error when
dθ/dt implies a counting rate that is higher than that
Time-stability tests may also be run at various com- provided by its VCO (pulse generator), then it cannot
binations of upper and lower temperature and power track θ, and will exhibit a rapidly increasing error.
supply limits, but these may not be any more signifi-
cant than the typical time-stability tests. Similarly, in the successive approximation and har-
monic-oscillator converters, the "staleness" error
Maximum Tracking Rate increases in direct proportion to dθ/dt. Since the
converter samples once on each carrier peak, the
Regardless of the circuit approach used in a S/D or staleness (difference between the digitized value of
R/D converter, there is an upper limit on the velocity the sampled data and the actual value of θ just
before the next sample) will exceed the allowable
system error when θ changes more than that allow-
able error limit in one carrier period.
80
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
As described on pages 30 to 33, multi-channel sys- As noted in our discussion of the tracking converter
tems that employ a single multiplexed S/D or R/D (pages 19 to 22), the quantization uncertainty in the
converter and a single sample-hold that samples the digital output requires that inclusion of a hysteresis
channel (sequentially or randomly) on successive threshold in the error-processor loop. This hysteresis
carrier peaks exhibit a skew error proportional to the is made smaller than the LSB; but, as discussed
velocity. If θ can vary at a rate of: above, noise or other disturbances (such as very
rapid speed pulsation in the system) will cause the
output of the converter to hunt or jitter around some
dθ
VMAX = average value. Again, only careful observation of
dt
max˚/sec several of the least-significant bits, with a data input
of full-scale -1/2 LSB will eliminate noise as the
and the carrier frequency is:
source of jitter. Jitter due to speed pulsations is a
ω normal and correct response to the acceleration -
f= Hertz
2π deceleration cycles implicit in the input variation, and
can only be accepted or ignored by not using the bits
then the maximum skew error, between the first and that represent the hunting "band."
Nth channel sampled is:
LOS Circuit to Detect Loss of Signal
n=N NVmax The loss of signal (LOS) output of the new genera-
E skew = ˚/sec tion of S/D or R/D converters is used for system safe-
n=1 f
ty and diagnostics. This circuit monitors the sine and
cosine signals at the input of the converter and
Measurement of this parameter is meaningless, changes logic state if both signals are disconnected
since it is readily calculable from the system charac- at the same time. With disconnected inputs convert-
teristics, and is unaffected by system performance - er performance and output are unpredictable, and if
assuming the system functions normally. in a motion control or monitoring system could cause
serious problems.
Quantization Uncertainty
BIT Logic to Detect Malfunction
We have already mentioned the inevitability of a
quantization uncertainty of ±1/2 LSB in synchro-to- In some modern synchro-to-digital or resolver-to-dig-
digital or resolver-to-digital conversion (page 20) and ital converters, a Built-In-Test (BIT) capability is pro-
we have also noted that noise (random or periodic) vided, to signal when the velocity limit of the con-
can enlarge the quantization-uncertainty "band" verter is exceeded, and/or when an internal malfunc-
without limit. Figure 7.8 illustrates the relationship tion has caused an erroneous digital output. One
between the Gaussian, "white" noise, distribution of implementation of this circuit takes advantage of the
peak energy and the number of bits of uncertainty fact that excessive velocity, as well as many gross
one may observe, and demonstrates that it is not malfunctions that can occur in the converter, result in
necessarily correct to assume that the quantization an error-processor output that exceeds a predeter-
uncertainty is at its minimum value of ±1/2 LSB. Only mined threshold for a sustained period. Once this
a test program that observes the last few LSB's, with abnormal state is detected a one-bit signal is deliv-
input set at full scale -1/2 LSB will verify that noise ered to the BIT output terminal. In angle indicators,
has not broadened the quantization-uncertainty this datum may be used to blank the display, or to
"band." light a warning indicator.
81
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
Even-order harmonics (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) in the data The quadrature rejection of an ideal balanced
signal fed to a tracking converter are effectively phase-sensitive demodulator is theoretically infinite,
rejected by the phase-sensitive demodulator in the provided that the time-phase of the reference carrier
error processor. (The degree of rejection will be dis- fed to it is the same as that of the in-phase compo-
cussed next). Odd harmonics - the 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. nent of the data signal to be demodulated by it or, if
- do cause an error, and their effect on the output the time-phase difference between the quadrature
must be considered. A safe approximation of their component and the reference carrier is exactly 90°.
effect, which assumes the worst possible phase rela- Reference phase error (departure from the above)
tionship between the harmonic and the fundamental yields some error output in response to quadrature
is that the error (EH) due to a particular harmonic component, in accordance with the following approx-
component is: imation.
(%QC)
(%THC) EQ = tan α radians
100
EH = radians
100n
where: EQ is the error due to the quadrature compo-
Where %THC is the total harmonic content, nent in radians; (%QC) is the quadrature component
expressed as a percentage of the fundamental, and of the input signal to the demodulator, expressed as
n is the order of the harmonic in question. a percentage of the input data signal; and α is the
reference-to-data time-phase error in degrees.
The total error due to all (odd) harmonic components
is conservatively estimated by the summation: It is clear from the above equation that the quadra-
ture rejection of an ideal phase-sensitive demodula-
n=N tor may be estimated at:
E H= Σ (%THC)
n=3 100n
radians
or 1
Quadrature Rejection =
tan α
(%THC) 1– 1+1 …
EH = radians
50 3 5 7
Note that for α = 0, the rejection is infinite.
If all odd harmonics are present, the expression The speed-voltage error, EVS, of a converter may be
approaches a practical limit of: calculated from A, the ratio of speed voltage to data
voltage (see page 75):
(%THC)
EH = radians
50 speed voltage
E VS = tan α radians
data voltage
In most sampling S/D or R/D converters, errors due
E VS = A tan α radians
to odd harmonics are not attenuated by n, but rather
are felt fully and estimated by:
Practical (as opposed to ideal) demodulators have a
finite rejection ratio for both even harmonics and
(%THC) quadrature components, independent of the refer-
EH = radians
100 ence-time-phase errors described above. If the
82
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
rejection coefficient at α = 0 is Kd, then the above One additional source of sine/cosine ratio error is the
equations must be modified to reflect this practical inability of the converter to reject anomalous input
limit. Thus, the preceding equation would become: signals, such as:
• Sample-Hold circuits.
E amp = tan –1(δ) radians
• Multiplexers (and buffer amplifiers associated with
them). and since for very small angles,
tan δ ≅ δ
• Unbalanced loading of the signal sources (and of
the cabling between them and the converter
inputs). Eamp = 57δ degrees
83
MEASURING AND COMPUTING SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DIGITAL AND
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER-TO-DC CONVERTER PARAMETERS
84
MEASURING AND COMPUTING DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO
OR DIGITAL-TO-RESOLVER CONVERTER PARAMETERS
SECTION VIII
• Asymmetrical or excessive loading of the convert- Weighted resistor-ratio networks are subject to the
er by the synchro or resolver following uncertainties:
• Inadequate drive (or level mismatch) at the data • Initial tolerances on the ratios
input or reference-input interfaces
• Drift in ratio (failure to track) with respect to time
Internal Influences: and temperature
85
MEASURING AND COMPUTING DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO
OR DIGITAL-TO-RESOLVER CONVERTER PARAMETERS
• Drift in offset voltages and currents, with respect to Effects of Settling Time and Maximum Slew Rate
time, temperature, and power-supply levels
The dynamic response parameters of the function-
• Transient errors at high speed - e.g., failure to set- generator network, the output amplifier, and the var-
tle in a time consistent with the conversion rate, ious logic circuits employed for quadrant selection
inadequate slew rate, "glitches" can all contribute constraints to the dynamic perfor-
mance of a D/S or D/R converter. The overall
• Inadequate bandwidth at the reference-carrier fre- dynamic performance parameters of interest are:
quency, in one or more regions of the ratio range
(This is rarely a significant error source, in a rea- • Settling Time, which in turn limits data throughput
sonably well-designed network) rate - i.e., the number of accurate
conversions/second
Selectively loaded resistor-ratio networks are subject
to all of the above error sources, plus the inevitable • Slew Rate, which in turn limits dynamic range and
approximations inherent in the loaded-linear-network (indirectly) data throughput rate
approach. On the other hand, the initial-tolerance
problem is less severe in constructing a linear net- • "Glitch" energy, which imposes limits on both the
work, so the ultimate performance of this class of useful data throughput rate, and (indirectly) the
networks (for applications requiring no greater than dynamic range
1-minute long-term accuracy) is superior to many
weight-ratio designs). Figure 8.2 illustrates all three dynamic performance
factors listed above. Note that the glitch-area ener-
Static testing of D/S or D/R networks (see Figure 8.1) gy (volt-seconds) may be much larger than one
requires very little equipment: a set of switches for might infer from the ±1/2 LSB bandwidth shown as a
applying the logic levels corresponding to various reference, provided that either one of the two com-
digital inputs; a stable reference-carrier signal pensatory system accommodations have been
source; a load and a four to five-digit angle indicator. made:
(A phase-sensitive digital voltmeter is practical, but
requires calculations.) Dynamic testing is discussed 1. A delay has been imposed (e.g., by inhibit-gate
later in this section. techniques) between the application of the digital
CT LOAD
STABLE
OSCILLATOR
Vref
MSB
ANGLE
INDICATOR
+ OR
PAV
D/S OR D/R
OUTPUT
ONE CONVERTER
LEVEL UNDER
TEST
86
MEASURING AND COMPUTING DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO
OR DIGITAL-TO-RESOLVER CONVERTER PARAMETERS
step-function change and the application of that gram device; however, manual test methods are
change to the output circuit, to allow the glitch to practical, if slow and laborious. Figure 8.3 shows a
settle out. test setup that used manually switched input words,
strobed from a storage register into the D/S or D/R
2. Sufficient filtering between the converter and the converter by means of a pulse that also simultane-
load (synchro or resolver) has been provided - or ously triggers a storage oscilloscope. (An oscillo-
is naturally present in the form of mechanical iner- scope equipped with fixed or adjustable signal delay
tia - so that the effect of the glitch-area energy is is preferable, to avoid loss of the earliest part of the
rendered negligible. The accommodation implies response characteristics). Assuming that the static
a sacrifice in slew rate and data throughput rate, of characteristics have already been verified, the
course. dynamic response of the carrier envelope may be
qualitatively judged from the single-transient record-
Dynamic testing of D/S or D/R converters may best ing provided by this setup.
be done with the aid of a computer, a ROM (read-
only memory), or some other high-speed store-pro- In the real world of physical systems the D/S or D/R con-
verter has a transfer function of one for small input step
changes. For large input step changes the output trans-
INPUT "STEP" "GLITCH" AREA formers and/or the load (if it is inductive it may saturate or
CHANGE
1/2 LSB become non-linear) may cause large transients. This can
also occur at power turn on. In either case the result will
be high power supply demands by the power drivers. It is
SETTLING
INPUT & OUTPUT
TIME
if multiple D/S or D/R converters are used to drive induc-
SLOPE = SLEW RATE tive loads, to sequence the application of power to them.
Loading Errors
Vref
R
+ E
G D/S OR D/R
I CONVERTER
ONE S UNDER
LEVEL T TEST V TRIG
E
R V
MANUAL
SWITCHES
ONE
SHOT
87
MEASURING AND COMPUTING DIGITAL-TO-SYNCHRO
OR DIGITAL-TO-RESOLVER CONVERTER PARAMETERS
on pages 85 and 86, the power amplifiers and output required by the synchro or resolver to be used. At
transformer are critical elements in the overall accu- first glance, it would seem that this kind of mis-
racy-determining chain. This is particularly true if the match is unimportant, provided that the load falls
synchro or resolver specification allows significant within the limits implicit in the ratings of the D/S
unbalance in its loading on the converter. or D/R converter, but that is not always the case.
(Unbalance can be simulated statically by paralleling For example, a D/S or D/R converter rated to
one or more windings of symmetrical synchro or deliver 90 Volts into 5,000 Ohms or more can be
resolver with additional resistive or reactive loads.) used to drive a 26 Volt, 12,000 Ohm synchro or
resolver control transformer, but the slew rate,
The principal effects of loading on the performance accuracy, linearity, and possibly the data through-
of a D/S or D/R converter are: put rates of the converter will be altered consid-
erably by the restricted range of operation and
• Increased nonlinearity in certain regions the lightly loaded condition of the output amplifi-
er. These mismatch effects can usually be avoid-
• Degradation of slew rate and data throughput rate ed or compensated for, by either internal or exter-
nal design modifications.
• Increased drift, due to self-heating
Static Errors and Instabilities
• Decreased absolute accuracy, due to gain loss
Refer to pages 79 and 80, on which this subject
Figure 8.4 shows a static test setup that employs has been discussed in detail for S/D or R/D con-
manually switched data inputs, and a precise read- verters, and follow the same general procedures
out of shaft angle, using another synchro or resolver for testing, substituting the test circuits given in
transducer and a synchro or resolver angle readout this section. Note that reference, power-supply,
as the result-reporting instrumentation. (Clearly, the and temperature changes have far less effect on
accuracy of the instrumentation should be an order D/S or D/R converters than they do on S/D or R/D
of magnitude better than the accuracy of the con- converters, because almost every critical para-
verter under test.) meter is derived as a ratio. Even the basic refer-
ence-carrier signal cannot have a first-order
Amplifier Mismatch Errors effect on accuracy, because the analog data out-
put (the angle θ) is synthesized as the ratio of two
Some D/S or D/R converters do not provide the carrier-frequency amplitudes, both derived from
exact voltage, power, or impedance ranges the same reference input.
STABLE
OSCILLATOR
Vref CT
INPUT
D/S OR D/R
LOGIC + CONVERTER PAV
ONE UNDER
LEVEL TEST
(INCLUDING DIAL
ANY REQ'D INDICATOR
AMPLIFIERS) (GONIOMETER)
88
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS
SECTION IX
Parameter Tradeoffs vs. Price Typical Interface Circuits (Input and Output)
In general (but with many exceptions and even a few The following selected discussions are representa-
inconsistencies, notable from manufacturer to manu- tive of the design considerations encountered by the
facturer), the following approximate relationships system planner in the field, but this information can-
hold true for synchro/resolver-to-digital converters: not do more than suggest the broad range of tech-
niques possible for system optimization.
• Price increases with accuracy, when in the range
of ±0.5 to ±1 minute. One large group of interface problems concerns syn-
chronizing the converter (S/D or D/S) with the other
• Price increases with operating temperature range, elements in the system. Older S/D converters pro-
for a given electrical performance. The most com- vided either a "Converter Busy" signal (CB), or a
mon ranges are 0° to +70°C, -40° to +85°C and "Data Ready" pulse (DR). This allowed the designer
-55°C to +125°C. The prices for the wider ranges to prevent data transfer or use while a conversion
are higher. was in process, thereby avoiding incorrect readings
(or invalid data). System compatibility was also
enhanced, in these S/D converters, by a Conversion
Inhibit terminal INH, which permitted holding output
data stable during transfer. Figures 9.1a through
S/D REG. 9.1d show various ways of using these CB, DR,
and/or INH signals in older converters. The newer
INH CB generation of S/Ds or R/Ds have internal latches and
tri-state output buffers and are much easier to inter-
face. We will discuss these S/Ds and R/Ds later.
STROBE
CPU
• The simplest method of forcing synchronization
between an older S/D converter and system timing
is to use the inhibit (INH) line. Figure 9.1a illus-
Figure 9.1a. Forced synchronization between trates this technique. In most converters with an
S/D and system. INH line and Converter Busy (CB) pulse, the CB
60* µs MIN.
CONVERTER DEPENDING
BUSY (CB) "1" ON dθ/dt
"0" Z
3 µs
"1" Z
INHIBIT
APPLIED (INH)
"0"
DATA TRANSFER 5 µs 5 µs
89
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS
pulse will complete its cycle once it starts. The This allows strobing the data into the converter at
INH will prevent it from starting, but if CB has start- the appropriate time and holding it until the next
ed before an INH is applied, the CB will continue update. Most digital data sources provide a strobe
to completion (generally 2-4 µs) and then strobe line for entering the data into a register.
the data into a register or computer for use in the
system. Figure 9.1b shows typical timing wave- Newer D/S or D/R converters have double-buffered
forms for such S/D converters. input latches making the use of external registers
superfluous.
• Figure 9.1c illustrates older S/D converter asyn-
chronous data transfer - i.e., data transferred to its Transferring data from the newer S/Ds or R/Ds with
destination whenever the S/D converter has it internal latches and tri-state buffers to 8- and 16-bit
available (regardless of system timing). A flip-flop buses is shown in Figures 9.1e through 9.1h. In
buffer register is enabled to receive the output of these converters the INHIBIT command will lock the
the converter (by jam transfer) when CB changes data in the output transparent latch without interfer-
to CB ... from logic ONE to logic ZERO. The con- ing with the continuous tracking of the converter's
verter is then free to perform its next conversion, feedback loop. Therefore, the counter is still allowed
leaving the previous datum in the register. to update and the inhibit can be applied for an arbi-
trary amount of time without having to worry about
• The response of most D/S converters is extreme- reacquisition time.
ly fast, and digital data may generally be fed into
the converter, without regard to the converter's
response time. In some cases, however, such as
in multiplexed systems, or where the D/S convert-
er is on a data bus, the data is only valid for a short
period of time. For these cases an input buffer MSB
R
register must be provided, as shown in figure 9.1d. E
G D/S
I
S CONVERTER
T
E
R
LSB
STROBE
OR
USE
DELAYED
MSB GATE OUTPUT
MSB
or DELAYED
CB S/D BUFFER TO COMPUTER, STROBE SIGNAL
CONVERTER REGISTER PRINTER, ETC. FROM SOURCE
ONE-SHOT
DELAY
LSB LSB
STROBE
FROM DATA
SOURCE
90
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS
INH
INH
300 ns MAX
;;;; ;;;
EM 150 ns MIN
;;;; ;;;
DATA 1-8
100 ns MAX
VALID
;;;;;; ;
EL 150 ns MAX
;;;;;;;
DATA 9-16
VALID
100 ns MAX
91
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS
EM EL
INH
;;;
300 ns MAX
EM, EL
150 ns MAX
DATA 1-16
VALID
;;;;;;
;; 100 ns MAX
92
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS
Another large group of interface problems concerns • For noise, broadly tuned bandpass filtering, with
preserving the integrity of the input signals. Figures negligible phase shift in the pass band, which is
9.2a - 9.2b illustrate several important techniques centered on the carrier frequency.
commonly used to avoid error-inducing conditions at
the data and reference inputs of an S/D converter. Note that Figure 9.2a implies coupling paths that are
not normally considered in high level DC input cir-
Figure 9.2a shows recommended safeguards against cuits, but that may become more important at 400 Hz
the error sources that may be introduced by long-line (and its harmonics) in high-precision devices. Note
cabling between remote transducers and the convert- also that the best of modern S/D or R/D converter
er inputs. These error sources have all been dis- designs provide very well isolated, guarded and bal-
cussed earlier (see page 69) and need only to be list- anced high-impedance input circuits. Note also that
ed here: common-mode voltages: ground-loop sig- cable impedance may be a problem, if the input
nals; electromagnetic pickup; and electrostatic pickup. impedance at 400 Hz is too low.
The remedies suggested by Figure 9.2a are as fol- Figure 9.2b shows a simple means of provided high
lows: CMRR to a resolver-to-digital converter, the input of
which is not well balanced. The unity-gain differential-
• For common-mode voltage (CMV), use of a care- input buffers provide balanced, high-impedance inputs,
fully balanced isolation circuit, providing high low output impedance, and excellent long-term gain
CMRR (common-mode rejection ratio). This accuracy. Offsets are unimportant because the signals
CMRR also attenuates ground-loop signals that are AC coupled. Note that this aid is not required if the
may be included in the signal path. converter is designed with a proper input circuit.
• For electromagnetic pickup, triple-twist shielding Let us now consider two input-circuit problems fre-
of the cables and the input transformer ... and pos- quently encountered in module or PC board configu-
sibly of the entire converter, if the disturbing field is rations (and other similar high-density system con-
very strong. structions), and simple means of preventing them.
One concerns digital-to-analog feedback caused by
• For electrostatic pickup, shielding of the cables and common grounds and stray coupling, and the other
(probably) an electrostatic shield on the transformer. concerns pickup of power-supply spikes (and even
BALANCED DIGITAL
CX R/D
SCOTT-T OUTPUT + R R
CONV.
TRIPLE TWISTED ISOLATION θ
VRef -
(12 TURNS/FT) kR1
SHIELDED INSULATED -
Vref
CABLE Vx INPUT
VRef R1 +
Vy INPUT
SAME CIRCUIT AS ABOVE
ELECTROSTATIC
SHIELD GROUNDED
LOCALLY
93
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS AND INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS
S1
S1 0 - 200V
S2 R1 S2
R1 AC
AC REF V
V
REF S3
R2
R2 S3
94
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CARDS
SECTION X
34 11
REF IN REF IN 11
REF IN
1 GND 1 GND 1
GND
RL RL
RH RH S1 18 S1 RL
S1 18 S1 RH
SB-36210 S2 37 S2 SB-36210 S1
S2 37 S2 Series SB-36210
S3 19 S3 Series S2 37 COS
SYNCHRO* Series
S3 19 S3 RESOLVER*
S4 30 S4 S3 19 SIN DIRECT
S4 18 (GROUND)
95
SYNCHRO/RESOLVER CARDS
this low cost card gives you the ability to accurately Providing a low-cost alternative to bench top instru-
simulate synchro or resolver outputs. ments gives today's engineer the tools to properly
evaluate systems at the component level reducing the
If more drive capability is required, the DSC-36022 cost impact when systems are tested at higher levels
one- to four-channel PC-based card has sockets for of integration and problems are found. Visit DDC’s
the DSC-644 and DSC-544 modular digital-to-syn- website for a complete listing of PCI, ISA, PC-104,
chro/resolver converters. The DSC-644 series con- PMC and VME cards.
verter will provide 1.5 VA of drive at 11.8 V L-L syn-
chro and resolver or 90 V L-L synchro. When using Software, such as Windows, GUIs, Labview, Linux,
the DSC-644 modules you will also require an exter- and DataSims can be downloaded from DDC's web-
nal ±15 DC voltage supply. The DSC-544 series will site at www.ddc-web.com, or obtained through DDC's
provide 1.5 VA synchro 90 V L-L at 60 Hz (-I version) Applications Engineering Department.
or 4.5 VA at 90 V L-L at 400 Hz (-H version). This is
a reference powered digital-to-synchro converter that
will provide accuracy up to 4 minutes with no exter-
nal DC power supplies required. See Figure 10.2.
17
17 RH RH
RH RH 35
35 RL RL
RL RL 36
S/D 36 DSC-36022 R/D S1 S1 DSC-36022
CONVERTER S1 S1 CHANNEL1 CONVERTER 18 CHANNEL1
SYNCHRO S2 S2 RESOLVER
S2 18
S2 37
S3 S3
37 (with DSC-544
S3 S3 19 S4
or DSC-644) S4 (with DSC-644)
WHEN USING DSC-644 MODULE YOU MUST CONNECT ±15 VOLTS TO THE 37-PIN "D" CONNECTOR
96
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
SECTION XI
In this section we will illustrate a combination of tra- is fed the cosθ output of the D/R. Thus, the multipli-
ditional applications of synchro and resolver convert- er outputs are proportional to the X and Y coordi-
ers and how the increased functionality of the new nates of the vector representing the sensed parame-
generation of converters can be applied to solving ter at the scanning angle θ. These outputs drive the
system needs. x and y deflection yokes of a storage oscilloscope (or
the inputs of an X-Y recorder). If there is to be a one-
Example #1: Coordinate Transformation (Polar to second scan every 20 seconds, the maximum accu-
Rectangular) rate tracking rate required is 360°/sec or 1 rps.
Figure 11.1 shows a very useful and fundamental Note that it is essential that the sine and cosine out-
application of a synchro transducer and converter: to puts be DC level; that they both be bipolar (four-
resolve a polar vector into rectangular-coordinate quadrant); that they be free of spikes or other tran-
components. One typical application might be in sients; and that they be independent of the refer-
doing studies of temperature, salinity, conductivity, ence-carrier frequency and amplitude (over a rea-
PH, or other physical or chemical gradients or distri- sonable range) and of the scale factor of the CT.
butions in a test tank by scanning a probe around a
fixed-diameter path, one full revolution at each of Example #2: Using an S/D in the CT Mode in a
several regularly-speeded test times after the initial Servo System
excitation of the phenomenon being measured. The
output of the probe is then fed to the inputs of a pair One of the most straightforward applications of an
of analog multipliers, one of which is also fed the sinθ S/D converter in a servo system application is shown
output of the DC-coupled D/R, and the other of which in Figure 11.2. In this application, changes in posi-
Ix = 10K E1 Cosθ
CX
10 Cosθ M K
SYNCHRO- DIGITAL-TO- 10 E1 COSθ
SINE/COSINE DEFLECTION
Eref TO-DIGITAL
CONVERTER COILS OF
CONVERTER
M CRT DISPLAY
10 Sinθ K
10 E1 SINθ
Iy = 10K E1 Sinθ
θ Z Cosθ
Z
Rin Rf θ Z Sinθ
Es E1 = Es (Rf/Rin)
EMF GENERATED
BY PROBE
SHAFT
COUPLED
TO SEARCH
PROBE
T5
T4
T1 T3
T2
97
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
tion are commanded by the computer through sig- Example #4: Interfacing an S/D or R/D with an
nals fed to the solid-state CT, or Control Transformer. IBM PC
The synchro is measuring the current position (θ),
and the computer is writing the new position (φ) to An S/D can be connected to an IBM PC through the
the CT (an S/D in the CT mode). The output is IBM PC or PCI bus located at address HEX 300
e = sin(θ-φ). The CT then drives the positioning through 303. This location is reserved by the PC for
motors through DC power amplifiers. interface cards. Figure 11.4 illustrates the timing
considerations for the interface; Figure 11.5 illus-
Example #3: Using the Velocity (VEL) Output to trates the connection to the IBM PC bus.
Stabilize a Position Loop
Operation is as follows:
With a tachometer quality output, the VEL of the
newer generation of S/Ds and R/Ds can be used to 1. The port address where the S/D or R/D is located
stabilize a position servo and thereby eliminate the is hard wired with jumpers into the 74LS688
traditional tachometer and its gears. Figure 11.3 address decoder. This address is HEX 300
shows the block diagram of such an application. through 303 and is reserved for prototype cards.
Quite high performance can be achieved in such sys-
tems by taking full advantage of the reference fre- 2. Address line A1 selects the upper or lower 8 bits
quency and bandwidth programmability of the newer of the S/D or R/D to be placed on the bus. When
converters. A1 is high, bits 1-8 are selected and when A1 is
low, bits 9-16 are selected.
SYNCHRO OR
RESOLVER CLK OUT
ALE OUT
REF
SOURCE OUT
ADDR
VALID ADDRESS
AMP
I/O 500nsec MIN PULSE IN
READY
S/D OR R/D
D/A COMPUTER I/O R OUT
CONVERTER
VEL
98
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
BIT 16 (LSB)
BIT 15
BIT 14
BIT 13
BIT 12
BIT 11
IBM
BUS
Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4
I/O READ
G 74LS374
ALE
A1 A2 A3 A4
G P=Q
A9 P0 Q0 3 STATE
BUFFER
A8 P1 Q1
A7 P2 Q2
ADDRESS ADDRESS
A6 P3 DECODER Q3 SELECTION
74LS688 JUMPERS
A5 P4 Q4
A4 P5 Q5
A3 P6 Q6
A2 P7 Q7
A1
A0
I/O READY
99
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
b. Send address 300 HEX to keep the S/D or ond bandwidth in the RD-19230 for switching resolu-
R/D in the INHIBIT mode and place bits 9-16 on tion on the fly are as follows:
the bus. Read and store data on D0 to D7.
1.The SHIFT pin should be tied to the resolution con-
c. Read address 301 HEX or 303 HEX to trol line D0. For a set up with 100Hz bandwidth (RB
release the S/D or R/D from the INHIBIT mode = 30k ohms and CBW = 0.033 µF), the delay for the
(allow data to track) and prepare for the next mea- shift line is 250ms maximum. When shift is logic
surement. No valid data will be on the bus during high, the VEL1 components are chosen, and when
this command. shift is logic 0, the VEL2 components are chosen.
5. Since the output data is not valid until 0.5 µs after 2.The second set of BW components (CBW2, RB2,
the INHIBIT command is invoked, the I/O READY CBW2/10) should be of the same value as the first
line is held low for this period of time. When I/O set of BW components (CBW1, RB1, CBW1/10). This
READY returns to the high level, the data on the second set of components should be installed on
bus reads on the next negative clock edge. VEL2 and VEL SJ2.
Example #5: Using BIT or “Low Glitch Switch on Note: The bandwidth components must be cho-
the Fly” to Speed Up Slew Rate sen so that the tracking rate to BW ratio is not
exceeded for the resolutions that will be used.
In many servo systems it is desirable to slew to a
given point very quickly and then track with some 3.Connect RV between VEL and -VCO.
conflicting requirements since there is usually a
trade off to be made between high speed and high 4.UP/DN will program the direction of the gain. Prior
precision in a servo system. With the new R/Ds to switching the resolution, the user must program
offering pin-programmable resolution and a BIT the direction. If the resolution is increasing (UP/DN
(Built-in-Test) output you can have the best of both logic 0), the gain will be increased by a factor of
worlds. By using the BIT signal to lower the resolu- four. If the resolution is decreasing
tion the converter can slew faster and with more pre- (UP/DN logic 1), the gain will be decreased by four
cision automatically as the need to slew fast disap- (or decreased to one fourth).
pears.
For example:
Note that when the resolution is changed the analog
velocity (VEL) scaling also changes and since the If the application required a switch between 14- and
VEL output is from an integrator with a capacitor 16-bit resolution only, the following five steps could
feedback, the VEL cannot change instantaneously. be followed:
Therefore, when changing resolution while moving
there will be a transient with a magnitude propor- i) The shift pin should be tied to the resolution con-
tional to the velocity and a duration determined by trol line D0 and the D1 resolution control line
the converter bandwidth. should remain a logic high. On initial turn-on, the
D0 and shift line would be set to a logic low for 14-
Switch Resolution On The Fly – Implementation bit mode. The second set of bandwidth compo-
nents (CBW2 RB2, CBW2/10) will be active.
For applications that cannot tolerate the glitch in
position and velocity, switching resolution on the fly ii) From 14-bit resolution the application is required
should be used. The RD-19230 will track four times to increase the resolution to 16-bits. The gain is
faster for each step down in resolution (i.e., a step then required to increase. The UP/DN pin should
from 16 bits to 14 bits). The steps for using the sec- be set to a logic low.
100
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
iii) When the condition requiring the higher resolu- 3. D0: an input resolution control line to the RD-
tion is met, the D0 and shift line will be set to a 19230
logic high for 16-bit mode. The first set of band-
width components (CBW1, RBW1, CBW1/10) will be 4. BIT: built-in-test output pin of the RD-19230
active.
When this system type does not use the switch res-
iv) The next option in the application is to switch olution on the fly implementation, the velocity and the
back to 14-bit mode. The UP/DN pin should be set digital position data response is similar to the
to a logic high to prepare the second set of band- response caused by a large step (179 degree step -
width components for a decrease in resolution. refer to Figure 11.6). Since this is a type II tracking
loop, the system will:
v) When the condition requiring the lower resolution
is met, the D0 and shift line will be set to a logic 1 - overshoot the correct value
low for 14-bit mode. The second set of bandwidth 2 - approach the correct value
components (CBW2, RBW2, CBW2/10) will be active. 3 - overshoot the correct value again
4 - then settle to the correct value
Benefit of Switching on the Fly
The overshoot will develop a large error [SIN(θ−φ)] in
Figure 11.6 shows a system at a constant velocity the converter. This error will exceed 100 LSBs caus-
that changes to a higher resolution. The signals that ing the BIT to flag for a fault condition.
have been recorded are:
When this system uses the switch resolution on the
1. VEL: velocity output pin on the RD-19230 fly implementation, the velocity signal and digital
position data make a smoother transition similar to
2. DAC: this is the analog representation of the error the response caused by a small step (refer to
between the input to the digital-to-resolver Figure 11.6) and the BIT does not indicate a fault
converter and the digital output of the RD-19230 condition.
Without switching Resolution on the Fly Implementation With switching Resolution on the Fly Implementation
0V 0V
VEL VEL
-5V -5V
DAC 0V DAC 0V
5V
D0
5V 0V
D0
0V 5V
BIT
5V 0V
BIT
0V
50msec per division 50msec per division
101
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
θ
TURNS COUNTING S1 φ
DIGITAL
ANALOG S2 S/D (OR R/D) OUTPUT
INPUT CONVERTER TO SYSTEM
CB S3
U S4
SDC-19204
OR RDC-19200
U T REF
MC B.I.T.E.
OUTPUT
C1 C0
UP/DOWN
COUNTER
AC ERROR
SSCT THRESHOLD
CONVERTER DETECTOR
sin (θ − φ)
4 BITS
Figure 11.7. Turns Counting Connection Diagram. Figure 11.9. On-Line Self-Test for S/D.
ANALOG OUTPUT
TO SYSTEM
CB
REF
S1 S2 S3 S4
0.5 μs MIN
MAJOR CARRY D/S OR D/R
MC DIGITAL
CONVERTER
INPUT
20 ns MIN
;;;;;;
0.5 μs MIN
DOWN
0.5 μs MIN
COUNT
DIRECTION (U)
UP DIGITAL S/D OR R/D
COMPARATOR CONVERTER
COUNT 0.5 μs MIN
;
0.5 μs MIN
B.I.T.E. REF
DON'T CARE OUTPUT
Figure 11.8. Direction Output (U) Timing. Figure 11.10. On-Line Self-Test for D/S.
Example #6: Using Major Carry (MC) and Example #7: An On-Line Self-Test
Direction (U) in Multiturn Applications
In some systems the internal BIT (Built-in-Test) func-
The MC and U lines of some S/Ds or R/Ds can tion of an S/D or R/D is not adequate and an addi-
be used in multiturn applications as shown in tional level of built-in-test is required. One approach,
Figures 11.7 and 11.8. The MC signal is similar shown in Figure 11.9, is to connect a solid-state CT
to the four-bit up-down counter CO (Carry OUT), (SSCT) to the input and output of the S/D or R/D and
that is, it is normally high and goes low for all 1's monitor the Error Output (e) with a threshold detec-
when counting up or all 0's when counting down. tor. The SSCT inputs are the analog input angle θ
The Direction Output, U, is at a logic 1 to count and the S/D output angle (digital) φ. The AC error
up and a logic 0 to count down. The logic level output (e) will be the difference, or more exactly
at U is valid at least 0.5 µs before and at least sin(θ - φ). The threshold detector must be set con-
20 ns after the leading edge of CB (Converter sistent with the accuracy of the S/D or R/D, the SSCT
Busy). and the expected transient errors due to acceleration
102
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
in the system. The advantage of this scheme is that receiver (TR) locks up at 180° from the D/S con-
it is on line and monitors continuously. verter angle, the TR essentially acts as a generator
aiding the D/S converter output rather than bucking
A similar scheme can be implemented for D/S or D/R it as it does in normal operation. In this situation
converters as shown in Figure 11.10. Here, the D/S the amplifier will be called upon to drive the resis-
or D/R is followed by an S/D or R/D and a digital tive portion of the TR's impedance (ZSO) and to
comparator. The same factors must be taken into absorb an additional equal current from the TR.
consideration here too. Also, be careful to allow Some form of protection is very desirable in this sit-
enough settling time for the S/D or R/D, particularly uation to prevent burning out the amplifiers and/or
in the case of step inputs. synchro.
Example #8: Boosting the Output of D/S and D/R Figure 11.12 shows how two external power ampli-
Converters fiers may be used to drive one or more three-wire
synchro receivers in parallel (or a high-power torque
Figure 11.11 shows the use of differential operational synchro). This is possible because of the Y-connec-
amplifiers to boost both the average and the peak tion configuration of the synchro receiver stator wind-
power capabilities of a digital-to-resolver converter. ings. It can be shown that supplying the high-level
(The same amplifiers may be used to boost the out- energy to two of the three input lines, and directly
put capabilities of digital-to-synchro, synchro-to-DC connecting the third (ground is the common connec-
and synchro-to-sine/cosine DC converters). Modern tion) is just as effective as using three power boost-
synchro-drive amplifiers are generally available with ers. One word of caution: do not allow the ground-
output voltage ranges up to ±90 Volts, at voltampere return current from the third terminal to flow through
levels as high as ±25 VA. They are especially well any of the low-level analog-circuit ground paths -
suited to driving multiple synchros. e.g., the ±15 V power-supply common. Instead, con-
nect the third synchro input directly to the third out-
It is important to note that not all high power ampli- put terminal on the D/S converter, and ground that
fiers are suitable for use as synchro drivers third output terminal to common.
because of the low power factor of the load. In dri-
ving a highly inductive load, most of the real power Caution: Modular D/S converters that have trans-
must be dissipated in the amplifier, since the cur- former isolation on the output may have one out-
rent levels and phase shifts can be quite high. put tied to ground; hybrid D/S converters that
Another important consideration is overload pro- have amplifier outputs cannot have one output
tection and/or current limiting. If a synchro torque tied to ground—damage to the hybrid may result.
10k
POWER AMPLIFIERS Vref
Vx 10k
-
+
D/S
D/R MULTIPLE
CONVERTER
CONVERTER RESOLVERS
+ 10k
- TORQUE SYNCHRO
Vy
10k
Figure 11.12. Using Two Power Amplifiers to Drive a
Figure 11.11. Boosting Output of D/R Converter. Three-Wire Synchro from a D/S Converter.
103
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
Example #9: Synchronizing Two Rotating Shafts whose analog input is the slave shaft CX. The SSCT
output will now be the difference of the input angles,
In some applications the phase and speed of AC Error (e). This is for use in driving the slave shaft
remotely located shafts must be synchronized as if motor. A separate start-up circuit is needed because
they were locked together by gears. This can be the output of the SSCT is only linear over a small
accomplished in two ways. angular range, usually about 10-12 degrees.
The first is shown in Figure 11.13. In this method The second method is to simply use two S/Ds or
one shaft (the master) has a CX and S/D or R/D R/Ds, a µP and a D/A as shown in Figure 11.14. The
while the other has a CX and a SSCT. The output of advantage of this scheme is the simplified start up
the master S/D feeds the digital input of the SSCT synchronizing because the µP can bring the speeds
MASTER SLAVE
MOTOR MOTOR
MOTOR
CONTROLLER
SHAFT #1 SHAFT #2
Cx Cx
START-UP
CIRCUIT
REF REF
AC
SSCT ERROR PHASE SHAPING
S/D OR R/D
CONVERTER
e SENSITIVE CIRCUIT
AMP
CONVERTER
DETECTOR
MASTER SLAVE
MOTOR MOTOR
MOTOR
CONTROLLER
SHAFT #1 SHAFT #2
Cx Cx
REF REF
D/A SHAPING
µP AMP
CONVERTER CIRCUIT
104
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
into sync first, then the phasing. Additionally, the are high level whereas inductosyn signals are low
hardware implementation is simplified. This level. As long as we keep these differences in mind
scheme can also be used to control speed differ- there should be no surprises.
entials between remotely located shafts. This
provides great flexibility since all variations from sys- In using an R/D you should treat the inductosyn as a
tem to system or job set-up to job set-up are com- special case resolver. Excite the fixed scale as if it
pletely under software control while the hardware were the reference but excite it with a current source
remains constant. so the phase will be fixed. See the manufacturers
recommendations for the proper level. To compen-
Example #10: Using an R/D With an Inductosyn sate for the phase shift through the inductosyn,
phase shift the reference input to the R/D converter.
Figure 11.15 shows how some of the new wide- The output of the slider will be in sin/cos format but
bandwidth R/Ds, such as the RDC-19220 series, can at a very low level, in the 20 mV range. Since the
be used as an inductosyn-to-digital converter. Type R/D needs on the order of 2.0 volts, it must be ampli-
II tracking converters are excellent for inductosyn fied to that level by a pair of matched gain amplifiers.
applications because of their noise immunity, negligi- These should be kept as close to the slider pattern
ble drift, and fresh data. as possible due to the low level of the signals. The
outputs being higher and having low impedance can
In adapting an R/D to an inductosyn a few key points drive the cable to the converter better. The actual
must be kept in mind. Although conceptually quite gain required of the amplifier will vary depending on
similar, the resolver is an inductive device whereas the inductosyn, its level of excitation and the spacing
the inductosyn is resistive; phase shift through a of the scale and slider. Actual gain is not critical but
resolver is generally minimal whereas the phase shift the two amplifiers must be matched and track over
through an inductosyn is substantial; resolver signals temperature.
INDUCTOSYN
INDUCTOSYN SLIDER
SCALE
DUAL
MATCHED
INDUCTOSYN RESOLVER-
2 Vrms
PREAMPS TO-DIGITAL
CONVERTER
DIGITAL
OUTPUT
QUADRATURE
POWER
OSCILLATOR RDC-19220
OSC-15801 SERIES
RH RL
CHASSIS GROUND
CIRCUIT GROUND
QUADRATURE
OUTPUT
0
90 PHASE
SHIFT
105
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
Example #11: A 7 VA Power Amplifier for Driving 18884 for 90 V 400 Hz, and 18885 for 90 V 60 Hz.
Synchros With these 90 V transformers you can drive a Zso as
low as 868 Ohms.
In some applications a little more drive capability
than is available in the 5 VA output of the DSC-10510 If resolver format output is required use the sin/cos
is required or desired. In cases like this it is recom- outputs of the converter and the circuits shown in
mended you use either the DSC-11520 or DSC- Figures 11.17 and 11.18. Figure 11.17 is a straight
11522 low power (2 mA) D/S converter with a sepa- unity gain buffer giving an output of 6.8 Vrms while
rate power amplifier as shown in Figure 11.16. This Figure 11.18 gives 11.8 Vrms output.
circuit can drive up to 7 VA and can be used for either
11.8 V L-L or 90 V L-L applications. Example #12: A Solid-State Scott-T
Note: DDC’s DSC-10510 will drive 7 VA for 11.8 VL- Figure 11.19 shows a solid-state Scott-T amplifier
L. useful for adapting an R/D converter to an 11.8V syn-
chro application. It converts the synchro signals S1,
The op amp is rated at 1 Amp peak and will provide S2 and S3 to the direct input resolver format signals
up to 7 VA output driving an 11.8 V synchro with a sin and cos. The accuracy of this Scott-T is deter-
Zso as low as 15 Ohms (similar to the UA791KM that mined by the match of the resistors R1 through R9.
is no longer available). If transformer isolation is This circuit presents a light but unbalanced load to the
required use DDC's P/N 18883 for 11.8 V output, synchro and, for this reason, should not be used in
+15V +15V
+
DSC-11520 3
C7
6 R1
– C1 GND
2
1 +
RH U1 C7
S1 5 4 R2
32 OUTPUT TRANSFORMER -15V
RL +
9 SECTIONS TA AND TB
10 (OPTIONAL)
DIGITAL -15V C2
INPUTS
+15V
1 4
3 S1
6 R1 2 5
– 2 C1 TA
1 3 6 11.8V
U2 S3 SYNCHRO
S3 5 4 R2
OUTPUT
34, 35 + 9
10 8 10
S2
-15V C2
TB
7 9
+15V
3
6 R1
– 2 C1
1 11.8VL-L
U3
S2 5 4 R2
33, 36 + 9 COMPONENTS
106
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
+15V
DSC-11520 3
6 R1
– C1
2
RH 1
U1 +SIN
+SIN 5 4 R2
35 +
RL 9
10 +15V
C +
DIGITAL
INPUTS -15V C7
33
GND
+
C7
-15V
+15V
3
6 R1
– 2 C1
1
U2 +COS
5 4 R2
+COS
36 + 9
10
C
-15V 1:1 GAIN
+15V
3
DSC-11520 6 R1
– 2 C1
1
RH U1 S3
+SIN 5 4 R 7.33k*
RL 35 +
9
10
C4 +15V
DIGITAL -15V
3
INPUTS
10k* 6 R1
– C1
2
1
U2 S1
4
5 R2
33 +
9
10
C4
+15V
-15V
3
6 R1
– 2
C
1
U3 S2
5 4 R
+COS 7.33k
36 +
9
10
C6 +15V
-15V 3
10k* 6 R1
– C1
2
1
U4 S4
4 R2
5 +
9
10
C5
-15V
107
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
R6
R1
S1 –
WHERE:
R2
S2 + +SIN SIN ~ S3 – S1
2
COS ~ [ S2 – ( S1 + S3 )]
R8 2 √3
R9
R2 U2D
2k 74AC86
13
C2 11
RDC-19220 220 pF A
12
U2A
74AC86 R1 U2B
LSB +1 2 2k 74AC86
3 4
1 C1 6 B
LSB 220 pF 5
R3 U2C
2k 74AC86
9
CB/NRP
C3 8
120 pF 10 NRP
EL
D1
1N4148
-5 V
NOTE: CMOS LOGIC IS RECOMMENDED. TTL AND TTL
COMPATIBLE LOGIC WILL SKEW THE DELAYS.
108
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
combination with series dropping resistors. The val- phase and quadrature signals are derived from the
ues given in the figure are for an 11.8 V synchro to LSB and next LSB as shown.
2.0 V resolver configuration suitable for adapting an
R/D (such as DDC's RDC-19202, RDC-19220 series, DDC’s latest RD-19230 monolithic R/D converter
or RD-19230 converter) to a synchro application. By provides the incremental encoder signals without the
changing the feedback and input resistor values most addition of external circuitry (see Figure 11.21). The
line-to-line values can be accommodated. RD-19230 allows you to program the resolution of
the A and B lines independently of the digital angle
Note: DDC suggests that the resistor tolerances are data. Please refer to the RD-19230 data sheet for
matched to within 0.02%. additional information.
Example #13: Replacing an Incremental Encoder Example #14: A Binary Two-Speed Converter
With a Synchro or Resolver
Figure 11.22 shows a 1:32 two-speed S/D imple-
In updating older systems many designers would like mented with two single-speed tracking S/Ds. The
to replace an incremental encoder transducer to outputs of the fine speed S/D are brought out direct-
improve reliability and maintainability. At the same ly but shifted in bit value by the speed ratio. That is,
time they would like to retain as much of the existing all the bits are shifted by 1/32 (the MSB becomes the
circuitry as possible for economic reasons. One way 6th bit and the LSB becomes the 19th). The coarse
to accomplish this is shown in Figure 11.20. Here data provides the rest of the MSBs with the 5483 pro-
the synchro or resolver feeds a standard new gener- viding the crossover ambiguity correction based on
ation R/D converter. The Converter Busy is changed comparing the two MSBs of the fine speed data with
to the zero index or north marker pulse while the in- the two overlapping bits of the coarse speed data. If
the bits match, the coarse data is correct and is used
RD-19230
1 MSB
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
BIT 16 LSB
1 1 1 1
0 2 4 6
A
109
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
C1
A4
1
B4 E4
C2
S1 A3
2
B3 E3
C3
A2
5483 3
B2 E2
C4
A1
4
E1
COARSE S2 COARSE
SYNCHRO S/D B1
CONVERTER B3
C5
A3
C6
A2 E4
5483
S3 B2 5
E3
C7
A1
E2
B1 CO
1/6 5404
1/6 5404
1/6 5404
F1 6 DIGITAL
OUTPUT
F2 7
S1
F3 8
F4 9
F5 10
F6 11
F7 12
FINE
FINE S/D
S2
SYNCHRO CONVERTER F8 13
F9 14
F10 15
F11 16
F12 17
F13 18
S3
F14 19
for the 1 through 5 MSB outputs. If the fine is 1 LSB trates a simplified block diagram of a single axis µP
larger than the coarse then 1 LSB correction is based position servo while Figure 11.24 shows the
added to the coarse data. The premise is that the interface to Motorola's 6809 in detail. The diagram
fine speed synchro defines the position and the also indicates a significant economy of resolver
coarse synchro really just keeps track of which revo- based feedback: both position and velocity informa-
lution the fine speed synchro is on, in effect just tion are readily derived from the same transducer.
counting turns. If the difference is greater than 1 LSB DC velocity feedback information is developed intrin-
the system is out of sync or a failure has occurred. sically in the R/D converter as part of the conversion
See Two Speed Theory figure 2.16. process. In addition to being necessary in situations
where velocity and acceleration are to be tightly con-
Example #15: Single Axis Servo Interfacing to a trolled, velocity feedback is used in the two most
Motorola 6809 µP common digital control algorithms: "minimum-time"
or "bang-bang" control and proportional-integral-
Whereas some of the components in this example derivative (PID) control.
may no longer be available, the example is still listed
for the purpose of understanding the technique of Figure 11.25 illustrates the classical block diagram
interfacing with a microprocessor. Please note that for a "minimum-time" or "bang-bang" type position
the newer R/D converters have a 16-bit parallel word control scheme. In this particular example, it is
available through a 16-bit bus. Figure 11.23 illus- assumed that the dynamics of the motor and
110
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
POWER
POSITION MICROPROCESSOR D-A MOTOR GEARING
AMPLIFIER LOAD
ROM, RAM, 510 CONVERTER
SETPOINT
POSITION ENCODER
VELOCITY
FEEDBACK
Y1
Y2 74LS138 G
Y3
+15V +5V A-B-C
A13~A15
RH RL +15V VL
ENM
S1
BITS 1~6 E
RH S1
6809 Q
S3 SDC-14565
S3
REFERENCE D0~D7
RESOLVER S2 INH
OSCILLATOR
S2
S4
RL
BITS 7~14
S4
100
e
VEL V ENL
V CS DO-07
CB2
+ – 6821
DIFFERENTIAL CA2
100k .1
AMPLIFIER/ CA1 PB0~PB7 CB1
FILTER
+5V S.C.
E.O.C.
8-BIT
+15V + 5k A-D
CONVERTER
FILTERED
5k LM311 DC VELOCITY
–
.1 10k RDL BIT
111
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
mechanical system loading may be accurately direct speed measuring device such as a DC
modeled as a double integrator. That is, it tachometer provides accurate, fresh velocity infor-
assumes that the overall load on the motor is mation, but it entails the use of an additional electro-
chiefly inertial, with rotational inertia J, a reason- mechanical part and an A/D converter. A similar
ably close approximation in many applications, by quality signal is available in new generation S/D and
applying either full accelerating torque or full decel- R/D converters. A low-pass filter to eliminate carrier
erating torque, the servomotor's load may be pro- ripple followed by a low-cost A/D converter can be
grammed to travel from its origin to destination used to interface this velocity output to the µP.
points in minimum time. The control law for such a
system would be: Along with the "bang-bang" type of control, the other
type of digital position control algorithm commonly
. . used is the PID technique. With this scheme, the
+ | Imax | if e ≤ 0 and e > + e2 / 2 | Amax. |
. . motor command signal is derived from the raw error
or e > 0 and e ≥ – e2 / 2 | Amax. |
signal, and its digitized time derivative and integral.
The relative amounts of the three terms are general-
IMOTOR =
. . ly tuned on-line to optimize loop response. The pro-
– | Imax | if e < 0 and e ≤ + e2 / 2 | Amax. |
. . portional term, modified by the derivative term for
or e ≥ 0 and e < – e2 / 2 | Amax. |
damping, constitutes the essential control law for
translating between set-point positions. The integral
Where | Amax | = +KT | max/J |; KT is the motor term provides a measure of stability near the null
torque constant. Note that for this control law, the and compensates for long-term disturbances such
motor current may assume only the two limiting val- as static friction. Dynamic response is often
ues of ±| Imax. | resulting in corresponding accelera- improved by clamping the integral term to zero dur-
tion of ±| Amax. |. ing periods of motion, allowing it to come into play
only when the loop is near null.
It is important to note that accurate velocity feedback
is an essential ingredient in this design. Using a The PID type control law, while not providing a mini-
mum time response as in the "bang-bang" system,
offers the advantages of improved accuracy as well
CONTROLLER
MOTOR AND LOAD
.e
u = +|Imax| . X
+ e u = ± |Imax| ± |Amax| X
r e Kt I I
j S S
–
.
e u = – |Imax|
VELOCITY FEEDBACK
–1
POSITION FEEDBACK
112
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
as superior stability (jitter-free) near the error null. It need for a reducing gearbox in applications such as
should be emphasized, however, that both algo- the screwdown, where single-turn position is not
rithms require a source of fresh, accurate angular inherently available. The principle disadvantage is
velocity feedback as well as the encoded position that it is "absolute/incremental" rather than
feedback. In some advanced controller schemes, "absolute/absolute." That is, at any given time, the
the two algorithms are combined, reaping the advan- single-turn shaft position is known exactly (absolute
tages of both. The "bang-bang" law is used for the position), but the turns count must be maintained by
large step changes; the PID control law is then uti- counting full revolutions of the input shaft angle
lized near the error null. (incremental measurement). This turns-counting
function may be implemented in either hardware or
Example #16: Interfacing a Microprocessor to a software.
Multiturn Positioning Servo
The primary disadvantage is that if there is a
In an increasing number of applications, it is desir- momentary loss of power in either the transducer,
able to use multiturn as opposed to single-turn posi- converter or counting electronics the turns count
tion feedback. An example of multiturn measure- may be lost. In addition, software turns-counting has
ment is a screw-down system on a steel rolling mill the added disadvantage of limiting the maximum
as illustrated in Figure 11.26. permissible angular shaft speed (in rps) to one half
the system sampling rate. If this speed is exceeded,
The essential advantage of multiturn position mea- one or more turns counts can be missed. Where
surement is that it provides improved resolution and these constraints are not limiting the multiturn
therefore improved accuracy over single-turn sens- scheme offers distinct economic benefits.
ing. A second advantage is that it eliminates the
REFERENCE TRI-
TURNS STATE
OSCILLATOR COUNTERS
SCREW-DOWN BUFFER
APPARATUS
DIRECTION
OF
SCREWDOWN
TRAVEL SUPERVISORY
CONTROL
MOVING
COMPUTER
ROLLER
DIRECTION OF
STEEL WEB TRAVEL
FIXED
ROLLER
113
APPLICATION TIPS AND EXAMPLES
+5 V +15 V
0.1 µF 0.1 µF
RH RH
BIT 16 (LSB) BIT 16 (LSB)
RL RL
A +5 V
B
-VSUM
CBW CBW
ENM BURR BROWN
10 RBW DAC 703
ENL
VEL
RV
-VCO
GND AGND -VCC VDD COMMON
0.1 µF
-15 V +5 V
-5 V
NOTES: 1. CONCEPT DRAWING. SEE MANUFACTURERS' DATA SHEETS FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION.
2. RH AND RL ARE SWAPPED TO PROVIDE 2'S COMPLEMENT OPERATION. NORMAL WIRING OF
RH AND RL PROVIDES OFFSET BINARY OPERATION.
114
INDEX
INDEX
115
INDEX
internal 85 isolation transformer 20, 28, 32, 33, 58, 63, 65, 69, 83
loading 87, 88
settling time and slew rate 86, 87 J
static 88
transient 86 jitter 21, 22, 33, 70, 72, 81, 113
worst-case error analyses 85
errors, error sources, in S/D conversion L
acceleration 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 80
amplitude 83 leakage reactance 52, 65, 67
external 69 least significant bit (LSB) 9, 36, 69, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 81, 86,
harmonic 82 110
interface 70 light-emitting diode (LED), drivers, in test setups 35, 36, 78, 79
internal 69 "limit of error" of systems 17, 71
jitter 81 Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) 1, 2, 3, 4, 46,
linearity 77 47, 48
nonmonotonic 77, 78 linearity 21, 37, 52, 65, 70, 77, 78, 79, 85, 88
quantization 81 loading error 70, 87, 88
skew 81 loading, mechanical of angle transducer 3
speed voltage 76, 77 loss of signal (LOS) 21, 81
staleness 80
static 79 M
summarized 69, 70, 71
tracking rate 73, 80 major carry (MC) 20, 102
velocity 70, 71, 72, 80 mathematics, fundamental, of synchros and resolvers 4, 7, 8,
worst-case error statement 70 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
"missing code," nonmonotonic 78
F modular design 63
"Monte Carlo" technique 36
feedback transformer 57, 58 monotonicity 3, 18, 69, 72, 77, 78
follow-up servo systems 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 most significant bit (MSB) 9, 48, 49, 50, 80, 109
format conversion transformers 65 Motorola 6809 interface 110, 113
function generator multiplexer, addressing of 31
circuits 50, 51, 52 multiplexing, synchro-to-digital converters 31
programmed 49, 50, 51, 52 multiplexing,synchro-to-digital conversion 32, 33
ratio transformer 50, 85 multipliers, sine and cosine 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34,
35, 50, 97
G
N
gain error and drift 70, 79, 83
glitch 86, 87 noise 2, 3, 4, 9, 17, 18, 21, 27, 65, 69, 70, 72, 77, 80, 81, 85,
93, 105
H nonmonotonicity 69, 78, 85
null 3, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 45, 47, 48, 55, 56, 57, 59, 62, 63,
harmonic oscillator 16, 18, 29, 30, 31, 39, 40, 41, 42, 78 65, 67, 71, 94, 112, 113
hybrid servo and synchro systems 11, 12, 13 null, stable and unstable, in two-speed systems 13, 56
hysteresis threshold and quantizing uncertainty 20, 21, 81
O
I
offset, input (voltage and current) 70, 79, 93
IBM PC interface 98
inductosyn-to-digital converter 105 P
inhibit (INH) 21, 64
integrator 18, 20, 21, 30, 31 performance, of shaft angle transducer 1, 2, 3
integrity of input signals 93 phase angle, spacial and time 7, 59
interconnections with computers, programs 87, 98, 99, 110, phase correction 25
113 polarity selection 49, 50
interface circuits 89, 91, 92, 93, 94 position feedback servo system 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13,
116
INDEX
117
INDEX
VA (volt-amperes) 60
velocity (VEL) 20, 21, 29, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 47, 98, 100, 101,
110, 112, 113
velocity error 21, 29, 35, 70, 71, 72, 80
velocity range 21
voltage ramp, for S/DC converter 39
voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 20, 21, 45, 46, 73, 80
118