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\|\\M1BDR30;\M2SIGN57;\M3NGR25;\M4NGR20;\F2\CVICARM
\F3\C154 EAST DANA STREET
\CMOUNTAIN VIEW, CA. 94041
\F4\←L\-R\/'7;\+R\→.\→S   Telephone:
\←S\→.415-965-0557
\F1\CDecember 22, 1975



Mr. Russell Noftsker
Pertron Controls Corp.
15904 Strathern St. Suite 5
Van Nuys, CA 91406


Dear Russ:
\J
	This letter is sent in response to your letter of December 1.
I'd  like  to start  with  a  status report  on  the  electronics you
designed and built for Vicarm.

	As of today, we have not yet shipped the  manipulator system.
This is  primarily because we  have not  yet succeeded in  making your
electronics  operate properly.  You should  know that as delivered to
us your  electronics was  not operational.   Modifications have  been
required  to every  card delivered  or designed.   This  includes the
servo cards,  the  driver cards,  the  brake cards,  and  the  manual
control card.   As of this moment  we are still working  on amplifier
stability problems.   A suitable solution to  this may even require a
new driver card for the current  system, and certainly a new one  for
future systems.  We have yet to  even attempt to adjust the servos to
meet response and overshoot requirements.

	In December of 1974, I approached you about the possibilities
of your assisting me with the design of a servo  system for the model
Stanford arm.   At that time, I already had  a quote from Dave Bailey
on position  servo and  driver cards  to supplement  the control  and
logic cards already developed by him.   I had even begun construction
of  the chassis and power  supplies.  You stated  that you could take
over the task of  making this system  work, and could accomplish  the
job in  a matter of  weeks (I  remember your estimates  as mentioning
February  or March.   Not only  that, you  assured me  that the costs
would be  comparable with  the prices Dave  Bailey was  quoting.   In
fact, you  agreed that it would  be a good idea to  use Dave Bailey's
digital control and analog cards.  I even purchased these for use.

	Since that time, only two  systems have been built.   Neither
one  came anywhere  close  to  being  a really  deliverable  unit  as
completed  by you.  The  N.B.S. unit should never  have been shipped,
and I have had to promise them  another unit.  They even claim to  be
afraid  to use  the  system,  because of  the  many small  operating
problems.  Likewise, with the G.M. arm system.  We believed you when
you assured us that your designs were debugged, thoroughly tested and
could be  relied upon to work  with a minimum of debugging.   We even
made up P.C. cards to your drawings.   Well, the sad fact is that  we
are  presently making  over  the brake  and  manual control cards,  and  are
seriously  thinking of redesigning  the driver  card.  All  this will
have to be done before shipment of the G.M. order.

	Vicarm invested a lot of time, money, effort and  prestige in
this effort to develop an arm driver unit.  We realize that you
too  put in a large effort.  But we  also realize that a good part of
this effort was  related to duplication  of already developed  areas,
such as the brake logic  and switching logic.  In addition, you spent
much time repetitively debugging and  fixing p.c. cards which  should
have been debugged  in breadboard stage.   In spite of the  fact that
Vicarm provided  you with a power supply  and sample motor, you never
did show  us a  complete breadboard  of anything.    We trusted  your
statements that everything  was going to work in short  order, and in
fact,  assisted you  by  fabricating some  boards ourselves  to speed
things up.

	You have sent us a  bill.  This December 1 bill is  the first
formal bill you have  sent since agreeing to help us  make this system.  On
numerous occaisions prior to  now, I asked you  to price things  out.
During this past year, besides some  individual components bills, you
gave me  only one price.  That price was  $200 per joint for delivery
of the complete  servo for  an arm.   I questioned you  on what  this
included  and I  understood  it  to mean  that  you  would deliver  a
completely tested  servo card, a completely tested driver card, and a
completely  tested  power  transistor  assembly,  all  mounted  on  a
heatsink with the backplane  wired. Counting seven (7) joints per arm,
that would be $1,400  per arm for those  units. Well, I thought  your
price reasonable...  in fact maybe too reasonable.  And by your bill,
it  seems that you  now have second  afterthoughts, as  your price is
roughly three times what I thought  you had in mind.  Not only  that,
you are  quoting roughly three  times that price for  future systems,
(or  else the price of  the power supply, cabinet  and brake logic is
astronomical).

	Well, I have discussed your bill and services with Brian, and
others, and Vicarm  feels that your bill is  out of line, considering
the state of the delivered work, and the effort required on  Vicarm's
part to secure what was eventually delivered, and the effort required
to actually sell your work.  Thus, Vicarm is prepared to pay you what
we feel is a fair sum for the net result of your effort.  Vicarm will
pay you  $4,500 for all you  have done to date,  providing you agree to return
the  power supply,  motors, and  all other  items loaned to  you from
Vicarm, and also deliver 5  copies of the Servo Card and  Driver Card
schematics to us.

Upon reciept of a letter  from you agreeing to this sum as payment in
full for  all expenses  and services  rendered to  date, Vicarm  will
immediately mail  you a  check for  $3,000 ($4,500  - $1,500  already
paid). We look forward to hearing from you shortly.\.

\←L\→S\←R\-L\/'2;\+L\→L

Yours sincerely,



Victor Scheinman
    President

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