Pedal actuator with nonlinear sensor
OwnerWayne Lee Stahnkeinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A piano is equipped with an actuator that moves the piano pedal mechanism in a manner that reproduces the pedaling effects of an original performance with high accuracy. The actuator comprises a solenoid, a permanent magnet, a velocity sense coil, and a Hall-effect sensor. The Hall-effect sensor provides an indication of the displacement of the solenoid plunger in accordance with an inverse-square law. Closed-loop feedback control is provided to effect a very true reproduction of pedaling effects. Automatic calibration allows for simple installation.
Claims73
An actuator assembly used to drive a mechanical portion of a musical instrument, comprising:
- an actuator operable to drive the mechanical portion of the musical instrument;
- a nonlinear sensor operable to sense a displacement of an element movable by of the actuator;
- control logic operable to calculate a drive to be applied to the actuator, the drive being calculated based on a commanded position and an output of the nonlinear sensor;
- and
- wherein the control logic determines a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
An actuator assembly used to drive a mechanical portion of a musical instrument, comprising:
- an actuator operable to drive the mechanical portion of the musical instrument;
- a nonlinear sensor operable to sense a displacement of a moveable element of the actuator assembly;
- and
- control logic operable to calculate a drive to be applied to the actuator, the drive being calculated based on a commanded position and an output of the nonlinear sensor,
- wherein the control logic contains a controller that determines a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
A control circuit used to calculate a drive to be provided to an actuator, comprising:
- control logic operable to calculate a drive to be applied to the actuator, the drive being calculated based on a commanded position and an input received from a nonlinear sensor, the nonlinear sensor operable to sense a displacement of a moveable element of the actuator;
- and
- wherein the control logic determines a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
A control circuit used to calculate a drive to be provided to an actuator, comprising:
- control logic operable to calculate a drive to be applied to the actuator, the drive being calculated based on a commanded position and an input received from a nonlinear sensor,
- wherein the control logic contains a controller that determines a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
A method for calculating a drive to be applied to an actuator, the method comprising:
- receiving a nonlinear sensor output from a nonlinear sensor, the nonlinear sensor operable to sense a displacement of an element moveable by of the actuator;
- receiving a commanded position;
- calculating a drive to be applied to the actuator based on the nonlinear sensor output and the commanded position;
- and
- determining a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
A method for calculating a drive to be applied to an actuator, the method comprising:
- receiving a nonlinear sensor output from a nonlinear sensor, the nonlinear sensor operable to sense a displacement of a moveable element of an actuator assembly;
- receiving a commanded position;
- and
- calculating a drive to be applied to the actuator based on the nonlinear sensor output and the commanded position;
- and
- determining a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions executable to perform a method comprising:
- receiving a nonlinear sensor output from a nonlinear sensor, the nonlinear sensor operable to sense displacement of an element moveable by of the actuator;
- receiving a commanded position;
- calculating a drive to be applied to the actuator based on the nonlinear sensor output and the commanded position;
- and
- determining a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions executable to perform a method comprising:
- receiving a nonlinear sensor output from a nonlinear sensor, the nonlinear sensor operable to sense displacement of a moveable element of an actuator assembly;
- receiving a commanded position;
- and
- calculating a drive to be applied to an actuator based on the nonlinear sensor output and the commanded position;
- and
- determining a velocity, wherein the velocity is used to stabilize the drive.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.