Oh! magnetic media ABS!
On Tue, 6 Apr 1999, Jason Willgruber wrote:
I wonder is it would be possible to devise something
that would use some
sort of disc with a bunch of holes in it and the sensors from an old (8"?)
floppy drive?
A desperate attempt to get this somewhat back on topic :)
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
===============================
---------------Original Message-----
From: Stan Perkins <stan(a)netcom.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, April 06, 1999 3:01 PM
Subject: Re: OT: ABS - or is it Pure BS/wheel sensors
It's probably a similar system to the one used by Etak with their early
car navigation systems. Basically, they used a special adhesive tape
that contained a small bar magnet every inch along its length. This was
applied to the circumference of the inside of each front wheel rim, and
a Hall effect sensor was attached to a point on the front axle (usually
to a part of the brake caliper assembly) where it was within an inch of
this tape as it passed by. Each magnet passage would produce a countable
pulse, and the Etak computer could determine the wheel speed and
direction of rotation for each front wheel. *Supposedly* it could also
detect a turn by the differential speed of the front wheels, but it also
had a flux gate compass to help determine direction and turns.
A pretty clever system that worked quite well, considering it was all
done without reference to external navigation data sources like GPS,
LORAN, etc!
Since your system apparently produces only a single pulse per
revolution, I would guess there's one magnet somewhere on each wheel
rim. The speed resolution with only a single pulse per revolution is
probably not good enough for ABS use.
Hope this helps,
Stan
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
215 Shady Lea Road,
North Kingstown, RI 02852
"Casta est qui nemo rogavit."
- Ovid