Re: translators

ballendo@... wrote:

> ballendo wrote:
> > Some old stepper drivers were called
> > "translators", and some older texts refer to them as such.
>
> Jon E added> Using the term translate to mean move in a linear
> >>direction.
>
> Jon,
>
> Could be , but more likely it refers to small electrical signals
> being "translated" into the amplified outputs needed to drive the
> stepper coils. At least that's what I gathered when I read the
> accompanying text at the time, which generally said as much...

No, absolutely not! I have read the manual which came with a Superior
Electric Slo-Syn translator unit, and the description and typical
applications
described made it clear why they chose this name. This unit would take
a switch (or relay) closure, and move a stepper motor so many steps in
such a direction. They were intended for use in manufacturing systems
to move part carriages, position fixtures, load or unload boxes, etc.
The early ones had rows of thumbwheel switches where you entered the
number of steps to move, the max velocity, the acceleration rate, etc.

A translator is different from a stepper driver. In fact, many of the
translators
were just devices to count out pulses, and were connected to a stepper
driver to actually drive the motors.

Jon