In-air motion control by iPhone

Air Mouse app turns iPhone4 into in-air motion controller for PC-connected home theater and business presentations

Movea has announced its Air Mouse application for the iPhone4 is now available for £1.19 (USD 1.99) in the App Store. The new Air Mouse app empowers iPhone4 users to transform their phone into an in-air motion controller for home media and presentation uses.

Utilizing the iPhone4’s gyroscope and Wi-Fi connectivity, Movea’s Air Mouse application enables users to kick back and relax while watching high quality, web-based entertainment from the comfort of their couch and is the perfect navigation tool for online and home media center digital entertainment. With the new Air Mouse app, the user’s natural hand movements can drive more powerful presentation delivery, more interactive classroom lectures, and more immersive motion gaming. With Movea’s Air Mouse app and the iPhone4’s Wi-Fi range of over 100 feet, presenters have the freedom to move around the room to captivate and engage their audiences.

“We are excited to enable iPhone4 users to transform their phones into a powerful, motion-sensing peripheral to create poetry in motion for more effective communications and more immersive entertainment experiences,” said Bryan Hoadley, Executive Vice President of worldwide sales and General Manager of Movea, Inc.

Accompanying the iPhone4 app is Movea’s powerful MotionTools software, available for Mac or PC. MotionTools gives users a suite of effects and tools that allow them to customize, activate and control desktop applications with the flick of their wrist. MotionTools includes a wide range of tools for web browsers, media players, and presentations:

·Dynamic display scroll, pan, and zoom

·Pen drawing, image stamps, and highlighter

·Cut, paste, and other menu keystroke shortcuts

·Internet, and other application hotkeys

·Media player and volume controls

·Presentation tools

MotionTools and the Air Mouse app enable a presenter to turn their computer’s cursor into a highlighter, laser pointer or pen. MotionTools also has built in gesture recognition that allows users to gently swipe their phone in the air to launch applications, skip through songs in a playlist, activate presentation effects, navigate the web, and much, much more

CAN I/O expansion modules

New CANbus I/O modules suit Trio CANI/O or CANopen protocols for flexible machine control expansion

Trio Motion Technology has launched a new range of modular DIN-rail mounted CAN I/O expansion modules that feature switchable TrioCAN I/O and CANopen DS401 protocols to allow use across its Motion Coordinator motion and machine control families as well as providing as a competitively priced decentralised I/O extension system for third party CANopen devices.

The range includes separate and combined 16-point digital input and output modules, an 8-input + 4-output analogue module, and an 8-channel relay output module – all with standard industrial signal levels and fully certified EMC emission and immunity ratings. The new modules may be freely mixed to a maximum of 32 CAN addresses for the P317, P318, P319 and P327 all at 500kHz in Trio Mode or up to 1MHz in CANopen Mode.This allows generous and flexible I/O expansion capability with considerably reduced machine wiring for OEMs and systems integrators using Trio motion controllers or CANopen device users requiring standalone digital or analogue system expansion for signal processing, actuators, feedback signal and sensor monitoring etc.

Supplied in compact ABS enclosures, each measuring only 26 mm wide x 85 mm deep x 130 mm high, the new range is designed for efficient panel installation and convenient monitoring with all modules featuring individual channel status LEDs and removable front and top mounted screw terminal blocks for power supply and I/O interfacing. For straightforward set up, module address and CAN protocol selection is via front panel DIP switches conveniently located behind a small window with a card slot which is aligned with the status LEDs and may be marked as a visual channel reference. The range of CAN modules have been EMC tested against and passed the EN 61000-6-2 : 2005 for industrial noise immunity and EN61000-6-4 : 2007 for industrial noise emissions.

When used with Trio's flagship MC464 Motion Coordinator and across the full Trio Motion Coordinator range where a TrioCAN I/O communication card is fitted, the Motion Perfect 2 programming environment automatically configures all I/O channels over the complete CAN bus with plug and play simplicity. The integrated controller I/O and external CAN I/O is seamlessly programmed with a choice of Trio's TrioBASIC programming language, or G-code, or with IEC61131-3 on the advanced MC464 Motion Coordinator motion and machine control system. For those wishing to use the CANopen DS401 protocol, Trio provides comprehensive documentation and technical support to ensure trouble-free system integration.

The P319 is a combined 16 channel digital I/O module that replaces Trio's previous P316 CAN expansion module with a functionally identical I/O rating that allows drop in product replacement but in a much smaller footprint design, and at a single unit list price some 33% less than its predecessor. The 16 bidirectional I/O points are rated at 16 to 24V with 2500V isolation and output capacity at 250 mA per channel with full overcurrent and temperature protection. Power requirements are 24V at 1.5 W.

The P318 CAN 16 Input Module and P317 CAN 16 Output Module share identical specifications to the bidirectional module but offer 16 full input or output points. Up to 256 digital I/O points may be configured on the bus for digital modules.

Trio's new P326 CAN Analogue I/O module combines eight +/- 10 V inputs and four +/- 10 V outputs, both having 1kV isolation from the CAN bus. The 12-bit resolution will allow use in the vast majority of analogue I/O control applications and up to four modules in Trio Mode (32 input channels and 16 output channels) and 32 in CANopen Mode(256 input channels and 128 output channels) may be configured over a distance of up to 100 m in each CAN network.

The new P327 CAN Relay Module provides eight outputs configured as four switch over contacts and four normally open contacts rated for 0.5 A at 125 VAC and 1 A at 24 VDC. Up to 16 modules in Trio Mode and 32 in CANopen Mode provide a maximum relay output count of up to 256 channels.