Curtiss-Wright’s Industrial division today announced the launch of the NRH305DR, a new ‘no-contact’ rotary position sensor that extends the company’s portfolio of position sensors and offers an optimal combination of performance, safety and cost for OEMs designing vehicles and control systems.
Sharing many of the same features and benefits as the NRH300DP model launched in 2016, the new NRH305DR rotary position sensor – from the Penny & Giles brand family – enhances system performance by incorporating two completely independent power supplies and output channels for full electrical redundancy, operating from a 5Vdc regulated supply.
With an 8mm low-profile sensor body and small footprint, this fully-encapsulated, IP68/IP69K-rated sensor offers exceptional levels of performance against water, dust, shock, vibration and temperature. The separate magnet assembly that activates the sensor can have a permissible air gap between 1.5mm and 8mm (depending on magnet style) and can accommodate up to ±2mm radial offset to ease setup and installation.
Versatile, factory-programmable electronics can be easily set to one of two analog voltage output ranges or one of three PWM frequencies. Additionally, the polarities of each of the analog outputs can be independently set, with on-board diagnostic functions ensuring the outputs are put into safe, pre-defined states should an internal sensor error be detected.
Features and benefits of the NRH305DR include:
• No-contact design and sensing technology provides wear-free operation
• Can be factory set to correspond to rotations of 20° to 360° in 1° increments
• Industry-standard 38mm mounting centers – for easy replacement or upgrades
• Analog output from 0.5-4.5V or 0.2-4.8V
• Transmissive measurements can be made through non-magnetic materials
The new NRH305DR – which replaces the company’s legacy NRH285DR rotary position sensor – uses proven, wear-free Hall-effect sensing technology. The design features a number of magnet arrangement options, and includes an over-molded magnet carrier that simplifies the interfacing of the magnet and sensor during installation. Optional bolt, plug or loose carrier variations are also available.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) today announced that it will be attending this September’s 65th IAA Commercial Vehicles exhibition in Hannover, Germany. The Company will promote products from its Industrial division, which has extensive experience in designing and manufacturing solutions for the monitoring and control of vehicles, including applications throughout the on-highway commercial vehicle sector.
The Industrial division includes a number of established specialist business units with expertise in the design, testing and manufacture of a range of components and sub-system solutions for the safe and reliable operation and control of mobile and static machinery including on- and off-highway vehicles, heavy trucks, buses, military vehicles and motorsport.
Arens Controls
Arens Controls designs and manufactures a range of operator interface control systems and power management products – including manual transmission shift controls, by-wire shift controls and shift-by-wire systems, power inverters and power distribution modules. Many of these systems can be found in applications in the rapidly developing hybrid vehicle market and on today’s most advanced commercial vehicles including medium and heavy-duty trucks, school and transit buses, recreational vehicles, and agricultural and off-highway equipment.
Penny + Giles
The extensive Penny & Giles range of rotary, tilt and linear position sensors offers angle measurements from 10° to 360°and stroke length measurements from 5mm to 2000mm; they have been developed to meet the operating requirements of many position-sensing applications in the automotive and industrial sectors. Using Hall-effect, inductive or potentiometric technologies, sensors are packaged in compact or rugged housings with IP68 and IP69K environmental protections and mountings that give users a wide range of flexible installation options. The company also offers a range of solenoids and solenoid valves that include standard and configurable designs and styles that can be modified to suit specific applications or custom-designed for large scale OEM applications.
Williams Controls
Williams Controls is a global market leader in electronic throttle control systems for commercial, off-road, heavy-duty or recreational vehicle applications. The business also designs throttle systems to meet the most demanding specifications and its ergonomic designs include floor and firewall mounting configurations, optional kick down and customizable treadle covers. In addition, the company manufactures a standard range of electronic throttle controls that can minimize tooling costs for many applications. Williams Controls can also take basic ergonomic, dimensional, electrical and aesthetic requirements from OEMs; and provide a complete custom design service. The design, development and product qualification are all part of the customization process.
Curtiss-Wright’s Industrial division is a recognized leader in the production of critical controls and assemblies for specialty vehicles, including sensors, electronic throttle controls and joysticks. For further information about products and other innovative solutions available from Curtiss-Wright’s Industrial division, please visit www.cw-industrial.com or call +44 (0)1425 271444.
About Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.
Penny + Giles, a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls and designer and manufacturer of high precision sensing technology, is helping gearbox specialist Geartronics to significantly improve the shift times and reliability of its motorsport paddleshift system using Penny + Giles SRH280DP Hall effect rotary sensors.
Commenting on the change to Penny + Giles Hall effect sensor technology, Geartronics managing director Neil Wallace explains: “The strategy to successfully get out of one gear and engage the next as quickly as possible is not just a case of cutting the engine or blipping the throttle for a few milliseconds and hoping for the best!”
Gear up-shifts or down-shifts are essentially a two-stage process - first to disengage the current gear, then to engage the next gear. The times for both processes vary depending on complex dynamic factors acting on the vehicle at the time, which are impossible to model or predict.
The Geartronics 'closed-loop' control system uses a gearbox control unit (GCU) in conjunction with Penny + Giles SRH280DP sensor inputs to modify its own operation - in real-time. In the context of semi-automatic gear selection, the closed-loop system monitors the gear position sensor to determine the precise angular position of the gearbox selector barrel. This information is fed back to the GCU control algorithm so the pneumatic actuator, engine torque reduction or throttle blip can be turned on and off as necessary to effect the fastest and most reliable gear shifts.
Neil emphasises that a closed-loop system is absolutely reliant on receiving accurate feedback from the sensor, so the Penny + Giles SRH280DP Hall effect sensor is effectively the cornerstone of the system.
By contrast, an 'open-loop' system has no feedback mechanism, and simply relies on fixed timers to govern the various shift events. An open-loop system therefore applies the same engine cut or throttle blip duration for every shift, regardless of whether those times are appropriate for each individual shift requirement.
Geartronics’ sequential gearbox shift systems are used in extreme autosport environments such as formula and GT car racing and rallying, and, more recently, have been specified on the Ariel Atom V8 road car. Combining sophisticated electronic control and extremely accurate Penny + Giles rotary sensors, the pneumatic shifter mechanism directly controls the gearbox cam-drum or barrel, and eliminates the requirement for driver operated shift linkages.
A committed user of Penny + Giles SRS280 resistive rotary position sensors for more than nine years, Geartronics began specifying a competitor’s sensors following the introduction of Hall effect technology, but as Neil Wallace explains, they very quickly proved unreliable, were causing numerous problems, and in some applications, were failing within a couple of hours due to the high levels of vibration generated by V8 race engines.
“Fortunately, at around the same time we learned that Penny + Giles had introduced its own hall-effect sensor, the SRH280DP, so we began testing them on our shifter systems and saw an immediate improvement. In fact, when they were installed mid-season on two single-seat V8 racing cars, they proved 100% reliable for the remainder of the season.”
He says that the non-contact technology used in Penny + Giles Hall effect sensors is more reliable as it’s not affected by vibration – an important benefit compared to the wear experienced with resistive contacts, and adds that direct comparison is difficult as Geartronics hasn’t had a Penny + Giles SRH280DP fail.
Penny + Giles provides Geartronics with a mix of standard and bespoke SRH280 sensors including the special, double-output SRH DP versions that can be used to send separate signals to both the GCU and the engine management system (ECU) or data acquisition systems.
Summing up Neil Wallace says that for any semi-automatic shift system to work consistently and reliably under all conditions, the GCU needs, ‘as an absolute minimum’, to measure the gearbox barrel position, throttle position and engine speed, and that’s exactly what the Penny + Giles SRH280DP Hall effect sensors help us to do.
Geartronics provides its sequential gearbox shift systems to winners in a wide range of motorsport disciplines such as British and European Hillclimb Championships, open-wheel ‘formula’ racing, GT & sportscar endurance racing and rallying.
For enthusiasts requiring more information, a YouTube video (Search: Steiner Marcel La Roche 2011) shows an under bonnet view of a system operating real time in a Steiner Motosport Osella FA30.
Penny + Giles’ popular SRH280 contactless rotary position sensors use a factory programmable non-contact Hall effect sensor system. The SRH280P & SRH280DP provide reliable and accurate rotary position measurement in extreme motorsport and industrial environments where shock and vibration can occur. These sensors use the popular 38mm flanged housing with an environmental protection rating to IP68.
SRH280P & SRH280DP operate from either 5Vdc regulated or 9-30Vdc unregulated power supply and are available with analog (0.5 - 4.5Vdc and 0.1 - 4.9Vdc) or digital (PWM) output signals.
The sensor is factory programmable, allowing you to specify the output signal type, the measurement range (0-20° to 0-360° in 1° increments) and the output direction (clockwise or anticlockwise). It has a 12 bit resolution (0.025%) over the selected measuring range, and operates from -40 to +140°C when powered at 5Vdc.
Key Features include contactless Hall effect technology; single or dual output channels; 5Vdc or 9-30Vdc supply; total sensor measurement range from 0-20° to 0-360°; analog or digital (PWM) output; 12 bit resolution over selected measuring range; low noise level (1mVrms) on output signal; operating temperature -40° to +140°C; environmental protection to IP68; crush-proof mounting flange with steel inserts, and rapid availability.
