Quanser Remote Book-Signing Event at ACC 2008, Seattle

At the 2008 American Control Conference (ACC), Dr. Michael Grimble, author and renowned professor from University of Strathclyde, UK, demonstrated a rotary control that mimics complex hand movements - a truly novel way of autographing books that Margaret Awood invented.

As ACC delegates looked on, the LongPen robotic arm etched Dr. Grimble's autograph on a copy of his latest book (pictured here).


Dr. Grimble some distance away at The Mathworks booth (our partner company), was signing a tablet PC (pictured here) - an interface through which real-time memory calls allow a person to enter their signature and have it remotely written by the system. The LongPen was designed using Quanser real-time control software which is seamlessly integrated with The Mathworks Simulink graphical design environment.

Thanks to Quanser's rapid control prototyping, hardware in-the-loop testing software (QuaRC), and some very smart engineers, when autograph-seeking controls enthusiasts are not too busy reading their favourite books, they can create pretty amazing robots with Quanser’s control hardware and software.

The attendees of ACC 2008 had a chance to win one of two remotely signed copies of Prof. Grimble's latest book. The lucky winners are:
- Mr. Hamid Teimoori from the University of New South Wales, Australia
and
- Dr. Jack W. Langelaan from The Pennsylvania State University
Congratulations!