A method for controlling a surgical device is provided. The method includes manipulating the surgical device to perform a procedure on a patient; determining whether a relationship between an anatomy of the patient and a position, an orientation, a velocity, and/or an acceleration of a surgical tool of the surgical device corresponds to a desired relationship between the anatomy and the position, the orientation, the velocity, and/or the acceleration of the surgical tool; and imposing a constraint on the surgical device if the relationship does not correspond to the desired relationship and/or a detection device is unable to detect a position of the anatomy and/or the position of the surgical tool.

Method and apparatus for controlling a haptic device

A method and system is provided for programming the digital filter compensation coefficients of a digitally controlled switched mode power supply within a distributed power system. The distributed power system comprises a plurality of point-of-load (POL) regulators each comprising at least one power switch adapted to convey power to a load and a digital controller adapted to control operation of the power switch responsive to a feedback measurement. The digital controller further comprises a digital filter having a transfer function defined by plural filter coefficients. A serial data bus operatively connects each of the plurality of POL regulators. A system controller is connected to the serial data bus and is adapted to communicate digital data to the plurality of POL regulators via the serial data bus. The digital data includes programming data for programming the plural filter coefficients. The system controller further comprises a user interface adapted to receive the programming data therefrom.

Method and system for communicating filter compensation coefficients for a digital power control system

An electric power-steering device has a speed-reducing mechanism (17) for reducing the speed of an output shaft (16) of an electric motor (15). The speed-reducing mechanism (17) has an internal gear (39) engaged and rotated with the output shaft (16) and an external gear (40) with which the internal gear (39) internally meshes. A drive pulley (41) rotatable together with the external gear (40) and a driven pulley (42) provided so as to surround a steering shaft are connected by an endless belt (43). Speed reduction is obtained by the internal gear (39) and the external gear (40), and the speed-reducing mechanism (17) as a whole achieves a high reduction ratio without greatly reducing the diameter of the drive pulley (41).

Electric power-steering device

A Factorized Power Architecture (“FPA”) method and apparatus includes a front end power regulator (“PRM) which provides one or more controlled DC bus voltages which are distributed through the system and converted to the desired load voltages using one or more DC voltage transformation modules (“VTMs”) at the point of load. VTMs convert the DC bus voltage to the DC voltage required by the load using a fixed transformation ratio K=V out /V in and with a low output resistance. VTMs exhibit high power density, efficiency and, owing to their inherent simplicity and component utilization, reliability. VTMs may be paralleled and share power without dedicated protocol and control interfaces, supporting scalability and fault tolerance. Feedback may be provided from a feedback controller at the point of load to the front end or to upstream, on-board power regulator modules (“PRMs”) to achieve precise regulation.

Factorized power architecture with point of load sine amplitude converters

There are provided a magnetoresistance effect element, a magnetic head, a magnetic head assembly and a magnetic recording system, which have high sensitivity and high reliability. The magnetoresistance effect element has two ferromagnetic layers, a non-magnetic layer provided between the ferromagnetic layers, and a layer containing an oxide or nitride as a principal component, wherein the layer containing the oxide or nitride as the principal component contains a magnetic transition metal element which does not bond to oxygen and nitrogen and which is at least one of Co, Fe and Ni.

Magnetoresistance effect element

A device for detecting a load torque using angle detectors fitted with a certain spacing on a shaft which is rotated by a drive source and on the basis of a relative angular difference of angles detected by the angle detectors. The device includes two rotary drums or discs fitted with a certain spacing on the drive side and load side of the shaft, with a plurality of magnetic poles for generating magnetic signals being formed on the surface thereof, and a magnetic sensor disposed to confront the surface of the rotary drums or discs, with magnetic resistance effect elements which vary in internal resistance in response to the magnetism of the magnetic poles being provided thereon. The amount of torsion created by the load on the load side of the rotary shaft is measured as a phase difference of outputs of the magnetic sensor, and the torque is detected in terms of the angular difference between the magnetic drums or discs. The device is operative to detect a torque in both storage and rotation, and capable of detection within a period of magnetic signal, whereby high-accuracy, high-resolution torque detection is made possible.

Torque detecting apparatus

The invention relates to a power supply system having plural converters connected in parallel. The current of each of the plural converters is detected and each of the converters is controlled so as to match each of the converters to a maximum current value from among the detected current values. In the parallel converters, when one or more converter fails, having an output current of zero, the remaining converters are each partially charged equally to maintain the load current. Since a common bus is arranged between plural converters and plural loads, it is possible to carry out a redundant operation having a high reliability. Since a stable output can be obtained without being affected by the failed converter, a power supply system having the redundancy and the high reliability can be attained.

Power supply system for supplying electric power to a load through plural converters

This specification discloses inventions of a rotation detecting device for a rotary shaft and of a rotation controlling apparatus using this rotation detecting device. The rotation detecting device according to the invention comprises a signal generator for generating two signals vary their amplitude in accordance with the rotation angle of the rotary shaft and have a predetermined phase difference therebetween, part for correcting the respective center voltages output from the signal generator, part for correcting a deviation from the phase deviation between the two signals, and part for correcting the rotating amounts of the rotary shaft on the basis of the corrected two signal. The rotating amounts are represented in terms of rotating angles. A rotating torque can be obtained by calculating a difference between the rotating angles measured at two points apart from each other on the rotary shaft. The rotary shaft can be controlled in accordance with the rotating angle or the rotating torque.

Device for detecting rotation of rotary shaft and rotation controlling apparatus using the same

A control process and apparatus for positioning an electric motor provided with a rotation angle detector at a designated position positively at a high speed without being accompanied with hunting notwithstanding variation in the motor current and inertia of a load The control process activated upon starting of the motor and ending at the stoppage of the motor at the designated position includes a first control region in which acceleration of the motor having been started is detected and subsequently a constant speed operation of the motor is effected at a maximum speed A deceleration initiating time point is determined in dependence on the acceleration A second control region is provided in which the motor is decelerated in accordance with a deceleration pattern determined in dependence on a rotation angle extending between a position corresponding to the deceleration initiating time point and the commanded stop position, and motor torque and inertia of load is detected at the deceleration initiating time point During a third control region the motor is progressively decelerated by reducing correspondingly the gain of voltage (current) applied to the motor when the motor position approaches to the commanded stop position The control process also includes a fourth control region in which, when the motor stops short of or beyond the commanded position, the duty ratio of voltage applied to the motor is progressively increased to thereby re-start the motor toward the commanded position, and a fifth control region in which the motor is held at the commanded stop position

Method and apparatus for position control of an electric motor

A method and apparatus for controlling the angular position of a motor by controlling the revolution of the motor in response to a given positioning command value commanding a predetermined angular position of the motor shaft so as to stop the motor shaft at the predetermined angular position, wherein the acceleration of the motor being accelerated in the initial acceleration stage of the motor position control operation is calculated, and on the basis of the calculated acceleration and a commanded maximum velocity, the remainder angular distance between the deceleration starting angular position and the desired angular position of the motor and the deceleration command value in the deceleration stage are calculated so as to control the deceleration of the motor on the basis of the calculated values.

Tadashi Takahashi

Papers

Torque detecting apparatus

Power supply system for supplying electric power to a load through plural converters

Device for detecting rotation of rotary shaft and rotation controlling apparatus using the same

Method and apparatus for position control of an electric motor

Method for controlling angular position and apparatus therefor