One of the benefits of being with Quanser is visiting universities and seeing ground breaking research taking place with the platforms we’ve developed. The other benefit is getting exposed to the generosity of researchers in sharing their passion for discovery with the world. These researchers are very vocal about the work that they’re doing and know that it will lead to a benefit for humanity.
An example can be seen through Dr. Chinpei Tang, a post-doc working with Dr. Mark Spong at UT Dallas, who’s working to tackle the issue of collaborative lifting by robots. One day, hernias and slipped discs may be history as robots are able to handle grunt hauling in groups. In the process of doing his work, Chinpei’s also conquering the task of tele-operation of robot collectives and using new platforms for targeting controllers.
Video of QUARC being used on Gumstix:
Another example is Dr. Marcia O’Malley and the students that are part of the MAHI (Mechatronics and Haptics Interfaces) Lab at Rice University. They are working on projects that will help rehabilitate those who’ve had injuries affecting their movement. Ozkan Celik, one of Marcia’s students, has conducted research on “illusory kinesthetic feedback” (more here) that uses vibrations to provide the sensation of moving one’s arm – even to beyond the arm’s range of movement. Another aspect of their research is using game controllers for possible low cost rehabilitation solutions.
These researchers use tools such as QUARC and Quanser data acquisition cards for conducting their work. They’re passion is present when they speak about their research and they’re open to working with others in their field.
If you’re using a Quanser tool for your research, why not post a video on YouTube and send us a link? We love hearing about it.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Come Fly an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
The Annual Conference and Exposition organized by ASEE is one of the most important events in our calendar. It is the forum where we traditionally introduce our latest innovations. Last year, Quanser's Mechatronic Controls Collection was unveiled at ASEE, so what can you expect this year in Louisville? Quite a lot.
If you want to try flying an unmanned aerial vehicle, you should start in our Innovation Hub located on the Exhibit Floor. An interactive demo featuring Qball aerial vehicle and Qbot ground vehicle will give you a sense of capabilities of our indoor Unmanned Vehicle Systems Lab. Interactive 20 minutes demos run Monday & Tuesday starting every hour from
11 am to 5 pm.
Unmanned vehicle systems and other cutting-edge technologies are developed by innovators in Quanser - engineering graduates from universities and colleges literally around the world. Join us at 1.30 pm on Tuesday June 22 in the Room 101 to learn how you can enable your engineering students to become future innovators. Keith Blanchet, Director of Business Development at Quanser will be joined by Dr. Hakan Gurocak from Washington State University and ABET Program Evaluator for a technical session titled How to Create the Next Generation of Innovators.
Want to learn about the latest tools for teaching and research? Visit us in the booth 415 for live demos of 3 DOF Gyroscope and other systems. Check the QUARC Interactive Trainer: our virtual Mr. Q, assisted by our real-life engineers, will walk you through the features and capabilities of QUARC real-time control software and show you how QUARC Interactive Trainer can help your students get familiar with the rapid prototyping environment.
Virtual Laboratories from Quanser take the engineering education one step further - and possibly outside of the lab. Based on the real-world systems, Virtual Paper Machine experiment exposes students to control design challenges without a need for hardware equipment. Learn more in our booth!
Looking forward to seeing you at ASEE 2010 in Louisville!
If you want to try flying an unmanned aerial vehicle, you should start in our Innovation Hub located on the Exhibit Floor. An interactive demo featuring Qball aerial vehicle and Qbot ground vehicle will give you a sense of capabilities of our indoor Unmanned Vehicle Systems Lab. Interactive 20 minutes demos run Monday & Tuesday starting every hour from
11 am to 5 pm.
Unmanned vehicle systems and other cutting-edge technologies are developed by innovators in Quanser - engineering graduates from universities and colleges literally around the world. Join us at 1.30 pm on Tuesday June 22 in the Room 101 to learn how you can enable your engineering students to become future innovators. Keith Blanchet, Director of Business Development at Quanser will be joined by Dr. Hakan Gurocak from Washington State University and ABET Program Evaluator for a technical session titled How to Create the Next Generation of Innovators.
Want to learn about the latest tools for teaching and research? Visit us in the booth 415 for live demos of 3 DOF Gyroscope and other systems. Check the QUARC Interactive Trainer: our virtual Mr. Q, assisted by our real-life engineers, will walk you through the features and capabilities of QUARC real-time control software and show you how QUARC Interactive Trainer can help your students get familiar with the rapid prototyping environment.Virtual Laboratories from Quanser take the engineering education one step further - and possibly outside of the lab. Based on the real-world systems, Virtual Paper Machine experiment exposes students to control design challenges without a need for hardware equipment. Learn more in our booth!
Looking forward to seeing you at ASEE 2010 in Louisville!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Hexapod ver.2010: Faster, Stronger and More Compact
Back in 2009 we released the original Hexapod, a 6 DOF parallel robot capable of producing highly accurate motions while moving payloads of 100 kg. The device is currently in use around the world, serving research facilities and universities, with applications ranging from earthquake research to bite analysis of Saber Tooth Tiger.
Although the performance of the first version is excellent, we acted on a feedback from our customers to improve the Hexapod, so that it can meet their needs even better. Users were looking for higher payload capabilities and more compact system - and we delivered. We are pleased to announce that a new generation of the Quanser Hexapod is now available.
The system has been made much more compact: all power amplification, brake logic, data acquisition and interfacing electronics have been moved into the base of the Hexapod. Whereas the original device required a separate Q8 interfacing card, two large rack-mount amplifiers with a set of five thick cables, all you need is now is a single USB cable to connect the Hexapod to your QUARC-enabled PC or laptop.
The torque capacity of each of the six motors have been more than doubled, ultimately increasing the payload capacity to 250 kg. This was accomplished without losing any of the device's accuracy. At the same time, we improved the design of a passive joint to handle the increased payloads.
With all these improvements, the users get a system even stiffer than before.
- Derry Crymble -
Although the performance of the first version is excellent, we acted on a feedback from our customers to improve the Hexapod, so that it can meet their needs even better. Users were looking for higher payload capabilities and more compact system - and we delivered. We are pleased to announce that a new generation of the Quanser Hexapod is now available.
The system has been made much more compact: all power amplification, brake logic, data acquisition and interfacing electronics have been moved into the base of the Hexapod. Whereas the original device required a separate Q8 interfacing card, two large rack-mount amplifiers with a set of five thick cables, all you need is now is a single USB cable to connect the Hexapod to your QUARC-enabled PC or laptop.
The torque capacity of each of the six motors have been more than doubled, ultimately increasing the payload capacity to 250 kg. This was accomplished without losing any of the device's accuracy. At the same time, we improved the design of a passive joint to handle the increased payloads.With all these improvements, the users get a system even stiffer than before.
- Derry Crymble -
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Quanser Joined Ontario Premier on a Mission to Israel
Back in February, Quanser hosted Ontario Premier who announced a trade mission to Israel and the West Bank. Few days ago, Paul Gilbert, Quanser's CEO returned from the 2010 Ontario Life Sciences Mission. Together with the representatives of other 30+ companies and institutions he was promoting healthcare industry research, innovations and new technologies originating in Ontario.
As a part of the official program, senior Ontario and Israeli government officials discussed opportunities for building stronger business ties in life sciences between Canada and Israel. Israeli companies from the sector were invited for a series of one-on-one sessions to discuss specific opportunities with their Ontario counterparts.
Six years of research and hard work in the field of robotics and real-time control brought Quanser endorsement not only from the Ontario government. Quanser is being recognized around the world as a leader in the field and we see more and more interest in our technology. With its history of R&D in robotics for surgical simulation, teleoperation and rehabilitation, quite a few Israeli companies were interested in utilizing Quanser's haptic technology in their products - whether for medical simulation devices or in rehabilitation robotics field.
The mission also strengthened our relationship with other Ontario institutions that took part in it, such as University of Western Ontario, York University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, or Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR).
Being in Israel, Paul took an opportunity to meet in person with some of Quanser clients. Accompanied by Ittai from Techenware, Quanser's distributor in Israel, they visited Technion University, Ben Gurion University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem to discuss Quanser technology. Most of the professors were interested in our teaching platforms for undergraduate engineering education. From the research point of view, the interest gravitated towards the unmanned vehicles and autonomous robotics and their application in agriculture - from melon picking, to a specific point irrigation. Israeli researchers were also interested in our ability to implement haptics with unmanned robotics. Using the vision and a sense of touch on autonomous vehicles would allow them to do some interesting things in the area of agriculture.
Hebrew University also expressed its interest in integrating our haptic technology in their research into a specific surgical operations - an advanced field with highly complex mathematical models involved.
As a result of these discussions at the universities, a senior researcher from Israel is coming to visit Quanser to discuss significant research projects - collaborations among top Israeli universities - which could happen in the next few years.
Obviously, Paul came back from the trip with a basket full of potential opportunities which we will be developing in the course of the next few years.
As a part of the official program, senior Ontario and Israeli government officials discussed opportunities for building stronger business ties in life sciences between Canada and Israel. Israeli companies from the sector were invited for a series of one-on-one sessions to discuss specific opportunities with their Ontario counterparts.
Six years of research and hard work in the field of robotics and real-time control brought Quanser endorsement not only from the Ontario government. Quanser is being recognized around the world as a leader in the field and we see more and more interest in our technology. With its history of R&D in robotics for surgical simulation, teleoperation and rehabilitation, quite a few Israeli companies were interested in utilizing Quanser's haptic technology in their products - whether for medical simulation devices or in rehabilitation robotics field.
The mission also strengthened our relationship with other Ontario institutions that took part in it, such as University of Western Ontario, York University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, or Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR).
Being in Israel, Paul took an opportunity to meet in person with some of Quanser clients. Accompanied by Ittai from Techenware, Quanser's distributor in Israel, they visited Technion University, Ben Gurion University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem to discuss Quanser technology. Most of the professors were interested in our teaching platforms for undergraduate engineering education. From the research point of view, the interest gravitated towards the unmanned vehicles and autonomous robotics and their application in agriculture - from melon picking, to a specific point irrigation. Israeli researchers were also interested in our ability to implement haptics with unmanned robotics. Using the vision and a sense of touch on autonomous vehicles would allow them to do some interesting things in the area of agriculture.
Hebrew University also expressed its interest in integrating our haptic technology in their research into a specific surgical operations - an advanced field with highly complex mathematical models involved.
As a result of these discussions at the universities, a senior researcher from Israel is coming to visit Quanser to discuss significant research projects - collaborations among top Israeli universities - which could happen in the next few years.
Obviously, Paul came back from the trip with a basket full of potential opportunities which we will be developing in the course of the next few years.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Quanser at OCE Discovery
Two weeks ago, Amin, Patrick, and I were at the Ontario Centres of Excellence Discovery conference in downtown Toronto. Hearing Steve Wozniak talk about his relationship with the "other Steve" and seeing many cutting edge research projects underway made the two days zip by.
We were demoing the HD^2 High Definition Haptic Device at our booth. I get a huge thrill out of seeing people try the HD^2 out for the first time. Their reactions are amazing! You get those who squirm as they try out virtual needle insertion or those who jump right into the technical side, playing around with the controller of the rehab device demo.
The HD2 is like the manna of haptic devices. You can get it to produce a huge array of surfaces - squishy tissue, hard rubber, thick and viscous fluids, bones. Of course, this is like me telling you how something tastes. Your best bet is to try the device out yourself some time when you meet us at a show like OCE or if you're ever close to Markham, Ontario.
Some videos of the demos we showed:
We were demoing the HD^2 High Definition Haptic Device at our booth. I get a huge thrill out of seeing people try the HD^2 out for the first time. Their reactions are amazing! You get those who squirm as they try out virtual needle insertion or those who jump right into the technical side, playing around with the controller of the rehab device demo.
The HD2 is like the manna of haptic devices. You can get it to produce a huge array of surfaces - squishy tissue, hard rubber, thick and viscous fluids, bones. Of course, this is like me telling you how something tastes. Your best bet is to try the device out yourself some time when you meet us at a show like OCE or if you're ever close to Markham, Ontario.
Some videos of the demos we showed:
Thursday, April 29, 2010
What Do You Get with a QUARC 2.0 Demo License
Have you tried QUARC 2.0, the latest version of our rapid control prototyping software? You can easily get a free 30 days license which allows you to run the built-in demos even without the hardware, or build and run your own real-time control models in Simulink.
The built-in demos will:
- Introduce you to the basic QUARC features and integration with Simulink
- Show you how to use Quanser's Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) framework
- Demonstrates QUARC communication capabilities based on Quanser's Stream API framework
- Explain and show dynamic reconfiguration capabilty
- Present some of the third-party devices you can interface to with QUARC
- Walk you through the possible QUARC 3D Visualization features
- Help you get familiar with QUARC MATLAB functions, such as I/O operations, communications using the Quanser protocol-independent Stream API, or automating QUARC operations from a MATLAB script, etc.
Let's look at some of them a bit closer:
QUARC Communication Demos
One of the demos consists of two Simulink models: a server and a client. It demonstrates how to use the Basic Communication Blockset from the QUARC Targets Library to establish a connection between two Simulink models.
QUARC Visualization Demos
The QUARC Visualization demos demonstrate a wide range of features, including loading of a mesh and texture and displaying it in the standalone Quanser 3D viewer. You will learn how to animate and create a hierarchical relationship between the body and the propeller of an airplane or how to use the QUARC Visualization blocks with dummy actors to simplify actor animation.
We have created a Visualization of a KUKA KR5 sixx R850 Robot, so you can control it virtually, without having the actual robot in your lab.
QUARC MATLAB Demos
One of the demos demonstrates a Simulink model and a MATLAB GUI created using the GUIDE application. The MATLAB GUI can be used to build, start and stop the QUARC model in addition to perform real-time plotting and online parameter tuning on the model.
QUARC Model Referencing Demo
This demo showcases QUARC's ability to support the model referencing feature from Simulink
But it is always best to try it for yourself - so don't hesitate and ask for your free 30 days demo license here. You can also contact one of our Academic Solutions Specialists that will walk you through the QUARC's features and capabilities during a personal, one-on-one live demo. Click here to request it.
The built-in demos will:
- Introduce you to the basic QUARC features and integration with Simulink
- Show you how to use Quanser's Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) framework
- Demonstrates QUARC communication capabilities based on Quanser's Stream API framework
- Explain and show dynamic reconfiguration capabilty
- Present some of the third-party devices you can interface to with QUARC
- Walk you through the possible QUARC 3D Visualization features
- Help you get familiar with QUARC MATLAB functions, such as I/O operations, communications using the Quanser protocol-independent Stream API, or automating QUARC operations from a MATLAB script, etc.
Let's look at some of them a bit closer:
QUARC Communication Demos
One of the demos consists of two Simulink models: a server and a client. It demonstrates how to use the Basic Communication Blockset from the QUARC Targets Library to establish a connection between two Simulink models.
QUARC Visualization Demos
The QUARC Visualization demos demonstrate a wide range of features, including loading of a mesh and texture and displaying it in the standalone Quanser 3D viewer. You will learn how to animate and create a hierarchical relationship between the body and the propeller of an airplane or how to use the QUARC Visualization blocks with dummy actors to simplify actor animation.
We have created a Visualization of a KUKA KR5 sixx R850 Robot, so you can control it virtually, without having the actual robot in your lab.
QUARC MATLAB Demos
One of the demos demonstrates a Simulink model and a MATLAB GUI created using the GUIDE application. The MATLAB GUI can be used to build, start and stop the QUARC model in addition to perform real-time plotting and online parameter tuning on the model.
QUARC Model Referencing Demo
This demo showcases QUARC's ability to support the model referencing feature from Simulink
But it is always best to try it for yourself - so don't hesitate and ask for your free 30 days demo license here. You can also contact one of our Academic Solutions Specialists that will walk you through the QUARC's features and capabilities during a personal, one-on-one live demo. Click here to request it.
Quanser Introduces VoltPAQ - a New Generation of Power Amplifiers
Most of the people working with Quanser's experiments are familiar with the UPM power amplifiers. As reliable as they are, they were designed a while ago and even with the improvements, the time has come to move forward. Our Electronics Group took this task over and came up with a whole new series of linear power amplifiers named VoltPAQ. Using the latest technology, we achieved high performance parameters, while reducing the size and weight of the VoltPAQ unit. All these make the new amplifiers even more affordable.
Design rendering of the new VoltPAQ-X1 power amplifier
VoltPAQ was designed to run Quanser experiments. There are more than 80 of them and to address their various requirements, we came up with three VolPAQ variations: with one (X1), two (X2) and four (X4) output channels. Each VoltPAQ channel has maximum voltage output of +/-24V, maximum current output of 4.2A and power output of 100W.
To extend the capabilities of VoltPAQ, we also offer an Analog Box. It will allow you to read and power external sensors. The Analog Box easily connects sensors on Quanser's experiments to our data acquisition boards while providing clean power to sensitive sensors.
VoltPAQs can be used to drive multiple actuators and are suitable for single and multi-DOF experiments, such as the 3 DOF Helicopter. This compact and portable solution for power amplification will be released this summer. To learn more, contact us at info@quanser.com
- Fayez Khan -
Design rendering of the new VoltPAQ-X1 power amplifierVoltPAQ was designed to run Quanser experiments. There are more than 80 of them and to address their various requirements, we came up with three VolPAQ variations: with one (X1), two (X2) and four (X4) output channels. Each VoltPAQ channel has maximum voltage output of +/-24V, maximum current output of 4.2A and power output of 100W.
To extend the capabilities of VoltPAQ, we also offer an Analog Box. It will allow you to read and power external sensors. The Analog Box easily connects sensors on Quanser's experiments to our data acquisition boards while providing clean power to sensitive sensors.
VoltPAQs can be used to drive multiple actuators and are suitable for single and multi-DOF experiments, such as the 3 DOF Helicopter. This compact and portable solution for power amplification will be released this summer. To learn more, contact us at info@quanser.com
- Fayez Khan -
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