Home » RSI magazine » Ask the Experts » Babolat Sensor

Babolat Sensor

Q: I’m thinking about buying a new stringing machine, and one of the machines I’m considering is the Babolat Sensor, despite its price. However, I’ve heard that the Sensor doesn’t have speed control, unlike most of the less expensive machines I’m looking at. Is it possible to set the speed on the Sensor?

A: No, you cannot set the speed of the tension head on the Babolat Sensor because its electronic control system sets tension head speed automatically after looking at parameters such as the tension setting, the pre-stretch setting, and the stiffness of the string. The first two parameters are set by the person doing the stringing, but the last parameter, string stiffness, is measured by the Sensor on each pull by examining how much time it takes the tension head to reach a percentage of the reference tension. By the time tension on the string reaches 50 to 60 percent of the reference tension, the machine has calculated the string stiffness, and the internal regulation loop takes over. The result is that the reference head reaches tension, with the optimum pulling speed for each type of string, without overshoot or oscillation, and without the need for manually setting the speed.

From the August 2004 issue
Permalink