WAM Types

Letter Cheatsheet

WAMxx-
{puck}	O	Optical System
{puck}	M	Magnetic System
{puck}	H	High-Voltage Magnetic System
{safety}	A	AA Safety Board (like this)
{safety}	B	AB Safety Board (like this)
{safety}	D	AD Safety Board
{safety}	E	AE Safety Board (like this)
{m4}	2	M4 on left side, over M2 (newer)
{m4}	3	M4 on right side, over M3 (older)
{tensioner}	C	coil spring type (assumed no TVS)
{tensioner}	L	leaf spring type, without TVS
{tensioner}	T	leaf spring type, with TVS
{tensioner}	S	leaf spring type, with screws (assumed with TVS)
WRISTxx-
{puck}	O	Optical System
{puck}	M	Magnetic System
{puck}	H	High-Voltage Magnetic System
{cable}	N	Thin stage-1 cables
{cable}	K	Thick stage-1 cables
COMP-
{rtos}	Q	QNX with a Janz CAN Card
{rtos}	Rs	RTAI with a Barrett-supplied Shuttle SK43G computer
{rtos}	Rc	RTAI with a Barrett-supplied Travla C137 computer
{rtos}	Rx	RTAI with a customer-supplied computer
{rtos}	Xa	Xenomai with a Barrett-supplied Antec NSK1380 computer
{rtos}	Xb	Xenomai with a Barrett-supplied Lian-Li PC-7 computer
{rtos}	Xc	Xenomai with a Barrett-supplied Antec P50 computer
{rtos}	Xp	Xenomai on the WAM's internal PC104 computer
{rtos}	Xx	Xenomai with a customer-supplied computer

Overview

A WAM system is composed of three parts - a WAM base (4-dof), an optional Wrist (3-dof), and a Control Computer. Each of these is versioned independently; for instance, a recent system may be WAM15-ME2S, WRIST26-MK, COMP-Xa. You can abbreviate to WAM15-ME2S-MK-Xa if you'd like.

WAM Types

Note: this description applies only to silver WAMs with pucks. If you have a black WAM or a motor controller cabinet, you should contact your local museum to arrange a donation, and then contact us to purchase a new WAM.

A WAM's identifier is defined as:

WAM{num}-{pucks}{safety}{m4}{tensioner}

For example, one of our in-house WAMs is:

WAM15-ME2S

Designator Description

WAM Number {num}

This is the serial number of your WAM. It is usually located on the side of the upper plate of the WAM's base, near the back plate, under the latched base cover wrap. As of 2009, this is a two-digit number.

Puck Type {puck}

• O - optical pucks
• M - magnetic pucks
• H - high-voltage magnetic pucks

Earlier WAMs used 40960 cts/rev optical encoders in the pucks for motor position feedback. Newer WAMs use 4096 cts/rev magnetic encoders. How to tell:

grep Enc /var/log/syslog

"Enc-40960" = Optical (O), "Enc-4096" = Magnetic (M)

WAMs with high-voltage magnetic pucks (H) shipped with a 160 Volt DC power supply. If you run your WAM at 160 Volts, then you have type "H" pucks.

Firmware version

You can use the following command to determine your WAM's puck firmware version (with WAM in Shift-IDLE mode):

~/btclient/src/btutil/btutil -e

The first line of the response will indicate the puck firmware version. The line with "ID=10" will indicate the Safety Board firmware version.

Safety Board Type {safety}

• A - AA Safety Board (like this)
• B - AB Safety Board (like this)
• D - AD Safety Board
• E - AE Safety Board (like this)

How to tell:

• If you have a D-Link wireless Ethernet access point attached to the backplate of your WAM, you have an "E"-type Safety Board (stop here).
• Else, if you can log in and control your WAM over wired/wireless Ethernet (if you have an internal PC/104 computer in your WAM), you have a "D"-type Safety Board (stop here).
• Else, if you have an Ethernet port on the backplate of your WAM, you have a "B"-type Safety Board (stop here).
• Else, you have an "A"-type Safety Board.

Note: there is no AC safety board in the field.

Motor 4 Placement {m4}

• 2 - the WAM's left-hand side (+Y) in home position, over M2 (newer)
• 3 - the WAM's right-hand side (-Y) in home position, over M3 (older)

Type-2 WAMs require joint transform matrices with either -18 or -1/18 (-0.0555556) in the [4,4] position.

Type-3 WAMs require joint transform matrices with either +18 or +1/18 in the [4,4] position. The latest software configuration files have Type-2 (negative) values by default, so if you have a Type-3 Motor 4, you will need to change the transform matrices to match your WAM. The config file parser does not understand fractions (like 1/18), so please use 0.0555556 instead.

Autotensioner Type {tensioner}

• C - coil spring type (assumed no TVS)
• L - leaf spring type, without TVS, watch voltage
• T - leaf spring type, with TVS
• S - leaf spring type, with screws (assumed with TVS)

Note: TVS = transient voltage suppressor

How to tell:

• This will become important when we release autotensioning software
• We will post pictures to help you identify your autotensioner type
• Do not worry about this feature yet

Wrist Types

A WAM's identifier is defined as:

WRIST{num}-{pucks}{cables}

Wrist Number {num}

This is the serial number of your wrist. It is usually located on the outside cover of the wrist. As of 2009, this is a two-digit number.

Puck Type {puck}

• O - optical pucks
• M - magnetic pucks
• H - high-voltage magnetic pucks

How to tell: The wrist puck type matches the WAM 4DOF puck type (see above).

Cable Thickness {cable}

• N - thin stage-1 cables (earlier wrists)
• K - thick stage-1 cables (newer wrists)

How to tell: Remove the wrist cover by squeezing the cover and sliding the clasp up past J7. Turn J5 so that M7 is above the wrist cover seam. Gently open the cover just wide enough to clear M7 and slide it up past J7. Examine the stage-1 cables (near the base of the wrist). If you think it might be possible for someone to floss their teeth with that cable, you have thin cables.

Control PC Types

A control PC's identifier is defined as:

COMP-{rtos}

Real-Time OS {rtos}

• Q - QNX with a Janz CAN Card
• Rs - RTAI with Barrett-supplied ​Shuttle computer, ESD CAN Card
• Rc - RTAI with a Barrett-supplied ​Travla C137 computer, ESD CAN Card
• Rx - RTAI with a customer-supplied computer and CAN Card
• Xa - Xenomai with a Barrett-supplied ​Antec NSK1380 computer, Peak CAN Card
• Xb - Xenomai with a Barrett-supplied ​Lian-Li PC-7 computer, Peak CAN Card
• Xc - Xenomai with a Barrett-supplied ​Antec P50 computer, Peak CAN Card
• Xp - Xenomai on the WAM's internal PC104 computer, Peak CAN Card
• Xx - Xenomai with a customer-supplied computer and CAN Card

How to find your…

• Linux distribution:

  cat /etc/*version /etc/*release 2>/dev/null
  

• Linux kernel version:

  uname -a
  

• CAN card model:

  lspci -v |grep -i -E "janz|esd|peak"
  

• WAM software version:

  svn info ~/btclient |grep Revision
  

Other Notes

• Blue power cable updated: swapped ground & earth-ground, added connector keying features

Shortcuts

• If Safety board type = D or E, then puck type = M (magnetic)
• If H, then B