WAM Arm – User’s Manual
www.barrett.com
© 2008 Barrett Technology®, Inc.
Document: D1001, Version: AH.00
74 of 80
Appendix C FAQ
Q1:
What types of motions are possible with the WAM Arm, and what mechanisms are used
to control them?
A1:
The WAM Arm has a workspace that can be approx a sphere 1 meter in diameter
centered between the WAM’s “shoulders”. It can reach any position and orientation that
does not require the arm to intersect with itself or some obstacle in a workspace ____.
While most of the joints are connected to standard cable drives, joints 2 and 3 (the roll
and pitch of the Arm) are both controlled by motors 2 and 3 using Barrett’s patented
cable differential (see Figure 47). In addition, all motors and the Safety Board are
controlled by Barrett’s Puck™ miniature brushless motor controller (see Figure 48). The
Puck™ serves a multitude of purposes (see Section 9.1 and Appendix D for details).
Figure 47 – Cable Differential
Figure 48 – Pucks™ – Miniature
Brushless Motor Controllers
Q2:
What materials is the WAM made of?
A2:
The WAM (both the Arm and the Wrist) are made mostly from aircraft-grade aluminum,
but also contains some steel (ball bearings, stainless drive cables, fasteners), carbon-fiber-
epoxy internal structures, titanium (Ti-6Al-4V), PEEK, copper motor-stator coils and
bus/signal wiring, cobalt motor laminations, ceramic rotor magnets, Teflon-impregnated
ceramics for cable pulley surfaces, Kydex acrylic-polyvinyl chloride covers, RTV, FR4
phenolic, adhesives, beryllium-copper, and gold.
Q3:
Does my WAM use optical or magnetic encoders?
A3:
Your WAM uses magnetic encoders if it has a serial number greater than 20 (WAM-
05020 or greater), or if you were notified that your encoders were updated to magnetic
encoders during a repair or replacement. Otherwise your WAM has optical encoders.
The property CTS can also be used to differentiate between optical and magnetic
encoders -- if CTS is 40960, then the encoder is optical, if CTS is 4096 then the encoder
is magnetic.
Q4:
What qualities of a WAM depend on whether the WAM implements optical or magnetic
encoders?
A4:
The number of encoder ticks per motor revolution:
•
Optical Encoders – There are 40960 encoder ticks per motor revolution for each
motor.
•
Magnetic Encoders – There are 4096 encoder ticks per motor revolution for each
motor.
The procedure for motor controllers when the WAM is first powered on: