Michael D. Sidman, Ph.D.

SIDMAN Engineering, INC.

Mechatronics  ▪  Motor & Motion Control  ▪  Servo Systems 

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SERVO SENSING AND ACTUATION
 IN DISK AND TAPE DRIVES

pRACTICAL ON-SITE COURSE FOR SERVO, MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS AND TECHNICAL MANAGERS IN THE STORAGE INDUSTRY


COURSE OBJECTIVE

To understand the many optical and magnetic servo actuation and position sensing encoding/demodulation schemes
used in magnetic recording machines and the tradeoffs involved.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This practical and comprehensive one day survey course will familiarize you with a wide range of state-of-the-art sensing and actuation techniques used in the servo control of high performance storage and computer peripheral products. Students profit from a very interactive and interdisciplinary classroom environment. By scheduling this course on-site, attendees are able to freely discuss design issues of interest to them and to receive expert advice.

Dr. Sidman is a recognized leader in both servo system product development and applied research. As a pioneer in high performance digital servo systems with 35 years of experience, he brings a practical perspective and unique interdisciplinary approach that unite a design team's diverse skills. Participants also benefit from Dr. Sidman's extensive experience in the simulation and optimization of dynamic systems.

COURSE OUTLINE

  • Historical perspective of servo tracking in magnetic and optical disk drives
  • Survey of various disk drive and tape drive position transduction schemes
  • Issues in the development of tracking error budget, including sensing errors and physical disturbances
  • Survey of servo mechanisms and actuation methods: old, new and things to avoid
  • Course discussion of servo architecture and other issues of concern to attendees

Participants each receive about 300 pages of course notes containing detailed information about disk and tape drive servo sensing and actuation techniques used in products.

COURSE FEATURES

  • On-site instruction
  • Advice on client's specific design issues
  • Resolution of design controversies
  • Practical application and trade-offs of digital control techniques
  • Unifies mechanical, electrical and control system dynamics
  • Design technique caveats and solutions

APPLICATIONS

  • Tape drive servo systems
  • Magnetic and optical disk drive servo systems
  • Computer system peripherals
  • Motion control applications
  • High performance servo systems and products
  • Electromechanical systems and products
  • Mechatronics

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This course is intended for engineers and technical managers involved in storage industry product design. Those most benefiting include mechanical, electrical and control system designers of digital servo systems, drive mechanics, real time/DSP hardware and software, and those wishing to keep abreast of rapidly evolving control technology.  

INSTRUCTOR

       

Dr. Sidman is a recognized leader in both servo system product development and applied research with over 40 years experience spanning a wide range of industries. As a pioneer and expert in high performance digital servo systems and adaptive control, he brings a practical perspective and unique interdisciplinary approach that integrates the diverse skills of your design team. Participants also benefit from Dr. Sidman's extensive experience in the simulation and optimization of dynamic systems.

Dr. Sidman is the named inventor on 18 U.S. patents, author of many technical papers and received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1986. As Digital Equipment Corporation's top servo systems guru, Dr. Sidman was responsible for developing novel servomechanical technology for disk drives and founded DEC's Servo-Mechanical Advanced Development Group.   The Adaptive Runout Correction System (ARCS) developed by Dr.  Sidman in 1977-78 is considered to be the first use of digital signal processing in a disk drive. Dr. Sidman also pioneered and demonstrated active shock and vibration correction using angular accelerometer feedback and the use of high bandwidth actively damped head positioning microactuators in HDDs.  Dr. Sidman is a Senior Member of the IEEE and Past Section Chair of the ASME and has been a Third Party Provider for The MathWorks since 1994. He founded his engineering consulting business in 1989. 

Disk Drive Servo System Simulation Model

Digital Servo Systems Short Course

MATLAB/SIMULINK/TOOLBOX Training

Training Courses Overview

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