Abstract: Apparatus for the dynamic in-circuit testing of digital electronic devices employs a hardware testing circuit that is set by a microcomputer which takes no direct part in the test, so that the test hardware speed is not limited by the computer speed. The apparatus comprises a library of devices equivalent to the devices to be tested, the library including a ROM containing the information regarding the devices needed by the microcomputer for its purpose. An internal interface or router receives signals from the test device that are input signals to its terminals and routes them directly to the corresponding selected device in the library where it becomes an input to that device also. Signals from the test device that are output signals are routed instead to a comparison block where they are compared with the respective output signals from the library reference device.

Abstract: A system for restoring a numerically controlled machine tool to its former condition after a power interruption, the numerical control system being of the type in which a position sensor senses the current position of a movable member or of a drive motor of the machine tool and generates a current position signal in accordance with said current position, the movable member being positioned on the basis of a commanded position signal and the current position signal. The positional control information which prevails immediately prior to an interruption in the electric power which is applied to the machine tool and to the numerical control device is stored in a non-volatile memory before the power interruption occurs.

Abstract: A method and system for generation of a quadratic curve signal expressed by f(x, y)=0 nonparametrically on coordinates X, Y, wherein, when linear micro-coefficients in the directions x, y are points (x, y) are given as fx, fy, respectively, the signs of fx, fy are decided and fx, fy are compared for dimensions with each other, thereby limiting the point to be selected next, to two points; then the value of new f(x,y) obtainable through selecting each point, are calculated; absolute values of the new f(x, y) are compared, the point giving the smaller value being selected as the next point; and repeating the aforementioned procedure, thereby to generate a quadratic curve signal expressed by f(x, y)=0.

Abstract: Testing apparatus monitors signals at selected test points in a tested device. An operator specifies sets of signals defining a display window during which all signals at the selected test points will be available to the operator for immediate or later examination. One set of signals defines the beginning of the window. Another set defines the end of the window, but only after other sets or conditions, also specified by the operator, occur. For each set, the operator specifies test points monitored, signal states expected and what happens when the expected states occur.

Abstract: A system for remotely controlling several devices in which both the indicia identifying the controlled device as well as the function indicia are generated by means of the selection of a single input control. A keyboard is bi-directionally scanned in detecting the user-selected input control signal. The control signal is then decoded to provide an indication of the function input signal as well as an indication of the particular device being addressed. The thus decoded signals are then used to generate a predetermined output pulse code for remotely controlling one of a plurality of functions in one of the plurality of controlled devices. The output pulse code includes a start bit (or bits) and various numbers and combinations of data bits depending upon the device addressed. The indicia identifying the controlled device are generated either by hard-wiring an address decoder to the user-operated input signal generator, i.e.

Abstract: A feedback system for a robot controller provides feedback signals representing incremental motion along an axis in either a first or second direction based upon a pair of encoder signals from a position encoder. The feedback system includes circuitry which produces a pair of signals indicating the state of the first encoder signal and whether the first encoder signal has changed state, and circuitry which produces a pair of signals indicating the state of the second encoder signal and whether the second encoder signal has changed state. A read only memory receives these four signals at its address inputs and produces the first and second feedback signals at its data outputs based upon stored microcode. The encoder signals may be in the form of pulsed up/down feedback, where one of the two encoder signals contains pulses and the other encoder signal remains unchanged.

Abstract: An adaptive control for a process is disclosed which utilizes a process parameter calculator made up of simple function blocks which generate a plurality of process parameters, and a tuning parameter calculator, also made up of simple function blocks, for calculating tuning parameters from the process parameters.The process parameter calculator is provided with values for various disturbances, a set point, a control output from a process controller and process structure data including process sensitivity and nominal operating data. From these values, the process parameters are determined. The tuning parameter calculator is provided in addition to the process parameters, with performance parameters and design function for generating tuning parameters that are applied to the controller for modifying the control output in response thereto.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for real time editing, or modifying, of a stored program of prerecorded ON and OFF commands for a bistable workpiece-treating device mounted for movement by a robot. The editing occurs while both the ON/OFF program and a program of prerecorded robot motion commands which drive the robot are being processed by the robot controller, with the ON/OFF commands, as edited, being output to the bistable device for execution along with the robot commands, as well as stored in the memory as substitute commands for subsequent re-execution.

Abstract: Digital data apparatus comprising a processing unit which can have access to different numbers of memory units over a common data bus. The processing unit can address the memory units with select signals over individual leads of an address bus. Address codes containing select signals are valid when they select only a single memory unit. The validity of an address code is determined in the processing unit by comparing it with a corresponding identification code read over the data bus from a memory unit addressed by the code. Because an address code containing more than one select signal may select more than one memory unit, each address code has associated with it a number of flag bits which signify how many select signals the address code contains, and the corresponding identification code includes these flag bits. When an address code selects more than one memory unit there will be conflict on the data bus between the address code protions of the read identification codes.

Abstract: A control method and apparatus for a metal-forming machine such as a cold heading machine are described. The described method and apparatus monitor machine operation during production and permit relatively large deviations from a prescribed norm over a short term without shutting down the machine, while ensuring longer term compliance to relatively small tolerances from the norm. The described controller first determines an average of a measured parameter such as the hit energy applied to a group of workpieces resulting in acceptable metal-forming during a training mode and then stores this average as a target value. The controller then establishes a set of tolerance windows to be used to control forming operations in a production mode.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for adjusting the positions of switch members such as a deceleration limit switch installed on a machine tool in a numerical control system for controlling the machine tool on the basis of numerical control data and for executing predetermined numerical control processing on the basis of signals produced by the switch members. When the switch member such as a limit switch is actuated, a display device displays the current position of a movable member on the machine tool, or a numerical value corresponding to the current position of the movable member. Whether the switch member is installed on the machine tool at the correct position is determined on the basis of the displayed current position or numerical value corresponding thereto. When it is determined that the switch member is installed at an incorrect position, the switch member is positionally adjusted on the basis of the indication given by the display device.

Abstract: A vending machine control circuit having a plurality of capacitively coupled switches for enabling a customer to indicate his choice of a product to be vended. A logic circuit is responsive thereto for controlling the vending of products by the generation of vend signals directed to a plurality of vend solenoids. Out-of-product switches are wired in series with the vend solenoids such that if a solenoid is activated, but no current flows therethrough, a current sensing circuit is utilized to detect that the product is out-of-stock. This is a significant improvement over prior art control circuits, particularly from the standpoint of decreased wiring requirements in the vending machine.The control circuit has an early power failure detecting circuit which allows critical tasks within the machine to be finished prior to removal of the power. This feature allows the machine to shut down in an orderly manner, and enables the totalizer to maintain track of sales even in the event of a power failure.

Abstract: A microprocessor system is provided with added memories (1-M) to expand its address spaces beyond its address word length capacity by using indirect addressing instructions of a type having a detectable operations code and dedicating designated address spaces of memory to each of the added memories, one space to a memory. By decoding each operations code of instructions read from main memory into a decoder (16) to identify indirect addressing instructions of the specified type, and then decoding the address that follows in a decoder (20) to determine which added memory is associated therewith, the associated added memory is selectively enabled through a unit (22) while the main memory is disabled to permit the instruction to be executed on the location to which the effective address of the indirect address instruction points, either before the indirect address is read from main memory or afterwards, depending on how the system is arranged by a switch (S.sub.1).

Abstract: Method and apparatus for filling polygons displayed by a color CRT monitor of a raster graphic system. A graphic controller produces control signals which control the mode of operation of the system, two of which are a fast polygon write, or fast-fill write, mode and a fast polygon display, or display fast-fill, mode. When the system is in the fast polygon write mode, the graphic controller reads fast-fill toggle bits from a frame memory of boundary pixels defining initial and terminal pixels of each fill element. The fast-fill toggle bits of boundary pixels are set if the toggle bit read from memory was not set and, if set, it will reset it. In the fast polygon display mode, the system senses the initial boundary pixel of each fill element by its fast-fill toggle bit being set and applies the color address of the initial boundary pixel to a color look-up memory until the terminal pixel of the fill element is read from the memory.

Abstract: An adaptive control for a dynamic system or process which can be described mathematically as having dominant eigen values and which utilizes the phase response variation with frequency and more precisely uses the rate of change of phase with frequency to measure dynamic characteristics of the system or process and by comparison with known optimum values of rates of change of phase based on a criterion as herein defined determines the changes required to controlled parameters or to a controlling computer in order to achieve and maintain optimum or near optimum performance of the dynamic system or process.

Abstract: A dental treatment apparatus comprising at least one dental treatment instrument, a control data store in which certain fixed control data values are stored and from which they can be called-up as and when necessary, and a display device. In order to permit modification of the control data emitted in each case from the control data store, without the need to refer to the display device, a control member is coupled with the control data store and converts the control data emitted in each case from the control data store into corresponding analog voltages, which can be modified by the emission of an analog voltage corresponding to a desired modification, and which act as operating signals for the instruments.

Abstract: A servomechanism avoids load-damaging conditions by being shut down whenever a power-amplifier saturation detector fails to detect a change in the saturation state of the power amplifier in response to the periodic and momentary replacement of the demand signal by one or other of two test signals, which of the two test signals is selected being dependent upon the expected direction of possible saturation of the power amplifier and the polarity of both test signals being the same as the polarity of the applied demand signal.

Abstract: There is shown and described a floating point processor having improved architecture and configuration. The floating point processor (FPP) performs addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and square root operations. Usually, the square root operation is not built into the FPP hardware because of the increased complexity of the design, and, therefore, cost of the goods. Rather, the square root operation is usually implemented by firmware or software. The device of this invention performs the floating point square root operation in hardware rather than in software or firmware while adding very little additional hardware to existing circuitry which is required for the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operations. In addition, the operations are performed as rapidly as, or more rapidly than, prior art devices.

Abstract: A smear-desmear filter having the frequency depending group delay characteristics is implemented by a transversal filter having a plurality of delay elements each having the delay time 1/(2f.sub.2), where f.sub.2 is the highest frequency component of an input signal, tap weight coefficient means for providing the product of the output of the tap and the predetermined coefficient which is supplied from a digital memory, and an adder for summing up all the outputs of the tap weight coefficient means. A tap and/or a tap weight coefficient means is provided for every m number of delay elements, where m is an integer larger than 2, thus, the number of tap weight coefficient means is merely 1/m of the number of the delay elements. The tap weight stored in said the digital memory is determined by the position (n) of a tap, a delay time (.tau.) of each delay element, the required delay expansion width (a), and the value of said integer (m). The obtained delay characteristics is sinusoidal in the given frequency band.

Abstract: A universal trigonometric function generator which is selectively programmable by pin-strapping to generate any of the standard trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant and cosecant). The circuit includes two identical sine-function generating networks each of which produces an output signal proportional to the sine of a corresponding angle input. These networks are so interrelated that the composite output signal is proportional to the angle input of one network and inversely proportional to the angle input of the other network, producing an output ##EQU1## where A is a controllable amplitude, .theta..sub.1 -.theta..sub.2 is the angle input to one network, and .phi..sub.1 -.phi..sub.2 is the angle input to the other network. By selectively connecting the input terminals for .theta..sub.1, .theta..sub.2, .phi..sub.1, .phi..sub.2 to an angle control signal and reference voltages corresponding to 0.degree. and 90.degree., any one of the standard trigonometric functions can be generated.