Electricity Distribution Tower Testing-Technical Details
The tilt sensor acts as the feedback sensor in a servo controlled loop
which applies tension at exactly the required angle for the test schedule
The tilt sensor is attached to the test cable where it is fixed to the
tower -high up.
An array of such sensors under computer control tests the tower under all
possible variations of load and stress.
Where the test is carried out to the point of catastrophic failure, the
sensors fall from there position up on the tower down to the ground.
Shock levels are hard to estimate, but the key fact to note is this
practical test is far more severe than laboratory shock tests where shocks
are only administered to the test sensor a small number of times.
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Fish Attitude Sensor-Technical Details
For these studies not all the fish in a shoal need to be instrumented
(unfortunately). This is because the shoals swim more or less in the same
direction.
The ultrasonic echo from a shoal depends on the cross section the fish
presents to the incoming beam
-head on gives a smaller echo than side-on for instance.
Technically the design problems were to make the sensor as small as
possible as light as possible and very low power consumption to give a long
battery life.
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Oil Production Platform Construction-Technical Details
This is a surveying type of application where conventional techniques using
theodolites won't work because the whole structure is floating, and hence
in continual motion.
This makes it impossible to set the theodolite level before commencing
Measurements.
We solved the problem by installing reference sensors on the base of the
platform, and sending the measured angles by radio telemetry all over the
site.
A remote receiver picked up these measurements, and using a difference
technique, enabled the theodolite reference plane to be accurately aligned
with the original datum plane
Alignment accuracy over the height of the continuously cast concrete towers
placed the top of the towers to within 100mm.
This was necessary so that the concrete deck, which was made at another
site, could be dropped over the towers and locate into the correct positon.
After construction the platform was towed to its intended location and sunk
carefully onto the sea bed leaving only the top 10 metres of what is shown
on the picture above the sea surface.
During the construction of this massive structure, concrete was mixed and
poured at the rate of 12000 cubic metres per week.
The base of the structure is bigger than London's Trafalgar Square and over
3 metres thick.
Our sensors were accurate enough to measure the minute bending of this base
caused by the wave action of a passing ferry.
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Spacecraft Guidance Testing-Technical Details
As well as the need to carefully design the sensors so they don't give off
gases which increase the time taken to pump down the test chamber to high
vacuum, the very wide range of temperatures and pressure make this a very
demanding application.
We used microprocessor techniques and sophisticated algorithms to leverage
the system accuracy and reduce drift to less than 0.02%/degree Celsius.
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Polar Ice Cap Studies-Technical Details
At -40 to -50 Centigrade most mechanical sensors freeze solid or their
stiction increases due to frozen lubricating oil. Our sensors get a bit
sluggish as the liquid cools down but it doesn't freeze so there is still
NO hysteresis and NO stiction.
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Pile Drilling-Technical Details
A particular application of note was in monitoring the attitude of a pile being driven into a bank. Continuous vibration levels up to 12g at 50Hz were encountered, the equipment was designed to measure angles of up to 30 degrees to an accuracy of 2 minutes of arc.
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Radiation Environments-Technical Details
Applications where the ELECTROLEVEL Transducer has been specified for use in
a high radiation environment are:-
Monitoring the reinforced concrete walls of Nuclear Fuel Storage Bunkers;
Attitude control in remotely operated robots for Nuclear Power Station
maintenance and decomissioning.
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Gun Muzzle Clinometer-Technical Details
This application demonstrates the ability of the ELECTROLEVEL to survive
the shock environment experienced by equipment mounted directly on the
barrel of a large calibre gun.
In the proving trials the equipment measured gun droop satisfactorily and
consistently after firing some hundreds of rounds of ammunition involving
shock levels as high as 400g.
For further details of this application refer to the sales office.
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Rail Mounted Cranes-Technical Details
Any rail mounted vehicle experiences the out of level or "cant" of the
track, which is deliberately banked up on bends so that passenger trains travelling
over it at nominal speed don't get pushed to one side by the centrifugal
forces, and so their coffee doesn't spill.
When doing maintenance or breakdown recovery with rail mounted cranes, the
safe working load depends on which side of the train the jib is operating
and how much cant there is.
The transducer measuring this cant angle must not only survive the harsh
environment of the train bogie, but must be fail safe, so that any failures
in the transducer or its associated electronics, result in a false positive
alarm (failsafe) rather than no alarm when there should be one.
The design study for this contract included the development and
implementation of a packaging system for the electronics to withstand not
only the shock-induced stresses, but also fatigue induced failures caused
by the repeated application of such shocks .
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Badger-Technical Details
Key specifications for this application are very low battery drain for a long service life, and small size and weight to cause minimum intrusion to the animal's quality of life.
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