B&D Gyro Screwdriver

[Lenp]

Has anybody figured out what sensor is used in the new Black & Decker Gyro screwdriver?
It is twist controlled and has a neutral, or starting point set by the user's grip.
They use the term 'gyro', but I doubt it!
Clever, yes. Useful, well time will tell!
Here it is http://www.blackanddecker.com/power-tools/BDCS40G.aspx

Len

[sghioto]

I'd suspect a 2 axis accelerometer chip is at the heart of the system.

Steve G.

[Lenp]

I doubt it is a accelerometer. The rate of movement seems unimportant, but the angular position is critical.
When the tool is grasped, the position when the grip switch is pressed is the zero reference position.
When the tool is rotated, just a small amount, the motor starts in that direction, more rotation is more speed until the max speed is reached.
Turning the tool back to the neutral position turns off the motor. The rate of change appears to not be considered, just the angular direction.
It really does mimic a gyro's directional performance. The tool works in any physical position so is not gravity based.
Hummmm...

Len

[Robert Reed]

Could it be as simple as a spring loaded (return to neutral) potentiometer whose wiper turns with the handle twist?
Yee God-what am I thinking? No microchip and loads of software in this digital age, just can't happen!

[sghioto]

The tool works in any physical position so is not gravity based.

It could still be an accelerometer since it's position has to be calibrated and recalibrated if you change the initial position. A simple dual axis linear accelerometer would output different voltages depending on the direction turned regardless of the rate of change and easily processed by the microchip.

Steve G

[dacflyer]

why can't they just keep stuff simple? Grrrrr
always having to over complicate something simple...and charge more.

[Lenp]

Ok, maybe it is using an accelerometer like the Memsic 2125
The old school accelerometers I am familiar with were directional, as in an aircraft pitch, roll and yaw.

Len

[sghioto]

Ok, maybe it is using an accelerometer like the Memsic 2125

Exactly. Basically a tilt sensor

Steve G

[Janitor Tzap]

It may just be a simple tilt switch.

Back when the ATARI 2600 was the big thing.
A company came out with a hand controller for it,
that used a very simple tilt switch setup.
Basically a box with a ball bearing in it.
The bottom of the box had a copper PCB Common GND,
The sides had Copper PCB as well, but not the top.
Thus, it was a 4 way switch, with the ball bearing as the wiper too close the contacts.

I later saw a toy that used a similar Box-Ball Bearing for a sound chip.
It used four steal wires that went through the plastic box at certain places.
So when you tilted the box, the Bearing moved touching two wires, closing a circuit.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Edd]

.


Not mums the word . . . but " MEMS " the word"
as per:

http://www.automationexcellence.com/pro ... -gyroscope


73's de Edd
[email protected]. . . . . . . . (Interstellar~~~~~Warp~~~~Speed)
[email protected]. . . . . . . . (Firewalled*Spam*Cookies*Crumbs)

A man should be greater than some of his parts.




.

[Bob Scott]

Haha! What's next? A hammer with an aiming computer? Smart nails?

[dacflyer]

HA! already ahead of you on the hammer.. my hammers are already variable speed and has a built in nail extractor, right handed and left handed use.

[Lenp]

Ok, so for all these years I have accumulated a ton of screw drivers, but, I have yet to find a screw undriver!