A motor control apparatus (2) according to the present disclosure is configured to control motors (#1-#3), automatically acquire identification information of a plurality of encoders (#1-#5), the encoders (#1-#5) being configured to be connected in series under a control of the motor control apparatus (2) and to detect position information of the motors (#1-#3) or position information of a mechanical apparatus configured to be driven by the motors (#1-#3), and store the identification information and the motor control unit in a non-volatile memory (11) in association with each other.

The present invention relates to multi-limb actuated kinematics (1) having a plurality of drive units (11-16) connected to one another as a serial kinematic chain, the drive units (11-16) respectively having a control unit (11b, 12b, 16b), which are designed to operate at least one drive (11c, 12c, 16c) of the drive unit (11-16) to carry out the movement of the drive unit (11-16), the control units (11b, 12b, 16b) of the drive units (11-16) being connected to one another by a first data line (A.sub.10, A.sub.11, A.sub.12, A.sub.13, A.sub.16, A.sub.17) such that they transmit signals and being designed to receive at least data for operating the drive (11c, 12c, 16c) via the first data line (A.sub.10, A.sub.11, A.sub.12, A.sub.13, A.sub.16, A.sub.17). The multi-limb actuated kinematics (1) are characterised in that the control units (11b, 12b, 16b) of the drive units (11-16) are further connected to one another by a second data line (B.sub.10, B.sub.11, B.sub.12, B.sub.13, B.sub.16, B.sub.17, B.sub.19) such that they transmit signals and are designed to forward the data of the second data line (B.sub.10, B.sub.11, B.sub.12, B.sub.13, B.sub.16, B.sub.17, B.sub.19).

A signal transmission circuit includes a first photocoupler to which a transmission signal is input, an edge detection circuit which is disposed in a primary side of the first photocoupler, the edge detection circuit being configured to detect a rising edge and a falling edge of the transmission signal, and an edge demodulation circuit which is disposed in a secondary side of the first photocoupler, the demodulation circuit being configured to demodulate the transmission signal by using only one of the rising edge and the falling edge of an edge detection signal output from the edge detection circuit via the first photocoupler.

A motor control apparatus (2) according to the present disclosure is configured to control motors (#1-#3), automatically acquire identification information of a plurality of encoders (#1-#5), the encoders (#1-#5) being configured to be connected in series under a control of the motor control apparatus (2) and to detect position information of the motors (#1-#3) or position information of a mechanical apparatus configured to be driven by the motors (#1-#3), and store the identification information and the motor control unit in a non-volatile memory (11) in association with each other.

A signal transmission circuit includes a first photocoupler to which a transmission signal is input, an edge detection circuit which is disposed in a primary side of the first photocoupler, the edge detection circuit being configured to detect a rising edge and a falling edge of the transmission signal, and an edge demodulation circuit which is disposed in a secondary side of the first photocoupler, the demodulation circuit being configured to demodulate the transmission signal by using only one of the rising edge and the falling edge of an edge detection signal output from the edge detection circuit via the first photocoupler.

A Sensor network system (10) with a plurality of sensor devices (12_1 12_5), each comprising: a detection unit (16, 18) for detecting a physical quantity and for providing a corresponding measurement signal, a computing unit (20) for processing the measurement signal and for providing measurement data (M_1-M_5) which is based on the measurement signal, and a data interface (22) via which output data (A_1-A_5) can be read out, is known.

In order to provide an efficient sensor network system (10), according to the present invention, a central evaluation unit (24) is provided, which is configured to: determine individual output data (A_1-A_5) for the at least two sensor devices (12_1-12_5) based on the measurement data (M_1-M_5) of at least two of the sensor devices (12) via a central evaluation algorithm, and provide the determined output data (A_1-A_5) to the respective sensor device (12_1-12_5).