Controls Update

July 22, 1998

Controls work is proceeding on three fronts; Teleoperation, Vehicle
Control, and the Linear Test Stand.  

Teleoperation - All necessary joystick hardware is now in house and
testing and programming of the controls interface is ready to begin.
Display hardware is still outstanding (HUD, Kinetics box, etc), but 
for now we will use a conventional display running QNX and Photon.

The teleoperation station will be an Antro Cart "Adjusta Cart" which 
allows us to operate the teleoperation station while both sitting and
standing.

Vehicle Control - No significant changes in the structure of the control
system since the last update.  Profibus under QNX is now operational and
a sample program which accesses the devices has been written and compiled.

Franz is making progress on the walking control algorythm and vehicle step
size is gradually increasing.

Linear Test Stand - The worst-case load cell has been identified.  A lighter
duty load cell is still to be selected and should be chosen in the next day 
or so.  Examination of the load cell limits has revealed a potential point
of failure in the test stand.  Specifically, if the cylinder reaches its
stops, the sudden deceleration of the test load may generate forces in
in excess of the load cell's structural limits.  We therefore need to include
both software and mechanical stops in the test stand to prevent destruction
of the load cell and/or the cylinder.


