Hello Andy, these boxes (we called them, politicaly incorrect, The Nipples) were sold with IBM workstations first (IBM RISC PC 6150) as standard equipment to go with system 8500(?) graphic processors on CATIA licenses. Nipples 1 to 3 were set up to control X-, Y- and Z position of 3D models and Nr.4 controlled zoom factor. It was said that the knobs could be customized to the needs of the CD worker, but we never found out how. We had them at our left hand side, tablet with cross hair mouse at the right, and so this was a very convenient work position with two hands engaged. The control box was connected together with the tablet to a four input RS232 collector box that slid under the CAD monitor screen. All this was powered with 5 volts from the 8500 graphics computer.
The Nipples were eight real panel encoders with 256 pulses per turn. Later on, IBM discontinued the 8500 line and instead sold SGI graphic processors with CATIA. Outer appearance and working procedure stayed the same, but the new Nipples controls now were potentiometers with AD converter IC's to make pulses from the analog motion of the knobs. These motions were, of course, inexact and only good for intuitive work with the human closing the control loop. When CATIA systems were abandoned in my company to give way to (cheaper) autodesk applications, this equipment was on its way to the computer junk container where I managed to rescue some. Since the original IBM panel encoders are good linear pulse generators with an outer diameter of only about 35 mm, I planned to use them for a small CNC machine application (which is still slumbering in my "plans for later" shelf folder). One mm travel per turn of the screws would give a resolution of 0.002 mm using both flanges ot the encoder pulses, plenty for a little table mill. Instead, I fitted stepper motors to the screw as it is now. However, I never found out how the encoder pulses were turned into RS232 protocol and how to decode them in a control computer. Make sure you get some information on this question or you will have no fun with The Nipples. If you find out something, I would be grateful to share this information with you. Maybe I can replace the steppers with servo motors and encoders to make my table mill more dynamic! In any case, put your heavy hand on those control boxes, especiall if there is an IBM signet on them! Peter andy pugh schrieb: > There are half a dozen of these in the skip at work: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial_box > Does anyone think they are worth rescuing? > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
