MAGNETIC SPINDLE BEARING FOR AN OPTICAL-DISK BUFFER

THE ADVENT OF OPTICAL DISK RECORDING TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE POSSIBLE A FAMILY OF HIGH-DATA-RATE, HIGH-CAPABILITY MEMORY DEVICES. BEARINGS ARE AN ENABLING TECHNOLOGY AREA WHERE IMPROVEMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ALLOW THESE SYSTEMS TO BE UTILIZED IN SPACE APPLICATIONS. AIR BEARINGS, UTILIZED IN GROUND-BASED SYSTEMS, ARE IMPRACTICAL IN SPACE. EXPERIENCE WITH ROLLING ELEMENT BEARINGS HAS BEEN LIMITED AND UNSATISFACTORY. WITH PROPER DEVELOPMENT, MAGNETIC BEARINGS REPRESENT AN IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR THE ROTATING SPINDLE OF THESE DEVICES. THEY COMBINE LOW NOISE, EXCELLENT POSITIONING ACCURACY, WITH ZERO WEAR AND NO LUBRICATION REQUIREMENT. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WOULD DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING MAGNETIC BEARINGS FOR THE SPINDLE SHAFT OF A HIGH-PERFORMANCE OPTICAL DISK BUFFER. THE EFFORTWILL INCLUDE DEFINITION OF THE MAGNETIC BEARING SPECIFICATIONS, DESIGN OF THE ACTUATOR CONFIGURATION, DETERMINATION OF THE CONTROLLER CHARACTERISTICS, DESIGN OF THE POSITION SENSOR, AND DEFINITION OF THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY REQUIREMENTS.