DAC-QUAD! Smooth, Analog Movements for All Your Needs

Welcome back, one and all! This week we jump into the last member of the miniBrick family-the DAC-Quad– it is an excellent companion to an animatronic or show that needs help moving and swinging around! The general specs are outlined down below, along with all the pretty pictures and fun stories from our GilderMaster, CEO and owner- Doug Mobley.

The Facts

The DAC-Quad is used when you need to control anything that needs a 0-10 vdc analog control voltage. These include animated shows, lighting, motion base simulators, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, special effects, signs, fountains, and more.

A Digital device is either on or off, like a light switch. An Analog device is on, off, or at any point between. A common example of an analog device is a lamp dimmer. In animation, analog movements give the fluid, lifelike movements that are needed to bring an animated figure to life. Analog movements can be moved as quickly or slowly as you desire, and stopped at any point within their range of movement. Features of the DAC-Quad include:

• The DAC-Quad controls four 0-10 vdc outputs or four PCM outputs for controlling model airplane-style servomotors. These mirror the analog outputs. Analog outputs are oversampled to four times the incoming frame rate using a 16 bit DAC. This makes the outputs smooth enough to run a large motion base. Analog endpoints can be set anywhere within the 0-10 vdc range, or even reversed. Each ServoMotor output can be adjusted anywhere between 0.5 and 2.5 milliseconds to give you a 90º ServoMotor rotation.
• Accepts eight or twelve bit resolution commands from your Pc•MACs Animation Programming System.
• Built-in Ease-In when shows or DMX-512 starts or stops. These keep the outputs from jumping.
• Networkable! The DAC-Quad can act as a ‘master’, sending up to 512 channels of DMX-512 data to other GilderGear and DMX-512-compatible equipment that act as a ‘slaves’, or the DAC-Quad can receive DMX-512 from an external source, and itself be a ‘slave’. Error checking prevents any updates from bad DMX-512 data. As a ‘Master’, the DAC-Quad has the DMX-512 output capacity to run most shows.
• Micro Sd Flash card for a virtually unlimited show capacity. Up to 255 shows can be loaded onto a DAC-Quad at one time. In many installations, the DAC-Quad can take the place of a lighting board.
• Indicator LEDs for heartbeat, trigger inputs, analog outputs, and DMX-512 status.
• Two optoisolated inputs or the RS-232 serial port can be used to start, stop, or access shows.
• The DAC-Quad cards can be mounted in ‘inaccessible’ locations, since they are Controlled and Configured through the RS-232 serial port.
• Analog outputs are compatible with most Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) and intelligent motor controllers, EFB-QUAD, PID-QUAD, AMP-Bipolar, etc..
• The DAC-Quad runs on 15 to 24 vdc. If not using the analog outputs, a lower 7-24 vdc can be used.
• Identical in size and shape to a Br-miniBrick8. Can be mounted on Snap-Track, DIN rail (using the optional DinAdapt clips), or just screw or velcro it to the backside of whatever it is controlling.

Some Sweet Deets!

The DAC-Quad is quite similar to the SER-DMX, with a couple key differences- the DAC-Quad has 4 servo motors and 16 bit resolution, which is a bit higher rez than the SER-DMX. The DAC-Quad was also the third child in the miniBrick family, behind the miniBrick 4 and miniBrick 8.

It’s also used for converting 3 DOF (degrees of freedom). For example, in theme parks or entertainment, this would allow for a rig to roll, tilt and heave (move up and down). This is particularly useful for interactive cinemas and theme parks! For example, a more complicated DOF was used on the now defunct Star Tours ride at Disneyland, which used a 6 DOS rig to make you feel like you were gliding/crashing in space!

Along with moving heavy rigs in various directions, the DAC-Quad is used for 0-10 volt speed signals to VFD’s and other motor controllers in fountains and other robotics. One such example is a fountain at the steps of the Pennsylvania State House. They needed a retrofit for the fountain, which was made by and attended to by a very respected fountain company. We refit the fountain with the DAC-Quad, the whole project cost them much less than is they had the original fountain company come out and fix it! Not only that, the fountain blasts 300 horsepower– something the DAC-Quad can handle with ease! An interesting note is if you sit right next to or on top of the fountain, all that power can be felt sitting there– it feels like the building is moving! And the rigs are a couple stories below the fountain!

Here’s a nice, long video about the DAC-Quad, along with the SER-DMX and BR-ANA!

That’s it for this week! Come by next week as we plunge into another topic to tantalize your technological taste buds!

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