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Home / News / Latest Articles / Rotary Position Sensors

Rotary Position Sensors

March 15, 2021

Position sensors are very diverse, but in the world of high performance automation, the encoder is a critical element. Position sensor encoders provide feedback for both rotary and linear servo motor control, as well as position information for metrology applications.

Rotary Position Sensors

Rotary position sensors monitor movement along an axis and generate an output signal that varies depending on underlying technology and principal of operation. It is based on the same basic principle as a linear position sensor, except the device translates angular positions into useful output signals. Rotary encoders may be absolute or incremental. Read the article linked below to learn more about the working principles of rotary position sensors:

How Rotary Encoders Work

Position Sensor Technologies

Rotary position sensors can be further defined based on the underlying technologies. Several sensor types can be used for both absolute and incremental position monitoring. The following is a brief selection of some of the primary types of sensor technologies:

  • Capacitive position sensors
  • Inductive sensors
  • Magnetic position sensors
  • Optical sensors
  • Potentiometric position sensors
  • Ultrasonic sensors

Although different sensing paradigms are preferred for different applications, optical position sensors typically offer the greatest accuracy and the highest resolution.

Optical Rotary Encoders

Optical encoders use photosensitive detectors and optical gratings to precisely indicate absolute or incremental position for rotary sensors. Interferential systems eclipse both transmissive and reflective encoders in terms of accuracy, compactness, repeatability, and resolution. They generate precise position data by impinging a laser beam on a diffraction grating printed on the rotary scale. This diffracts the incoming beam, generating a high contrast interference pattern on the detection array. Optical encoders require a readhead, which is used regardless of the scale being used.

Mercury I Interferential Optical Rotary Encoders

At Celera Motion, we offer compact interferential optical encoders with the MercuryTM Series encoders. The Mercury™ Series optical encoders are position sensors that can be used for rotary position sensing. The miniature rotary sensor fits into tight spaces and has wide alignment tolerances for easy installation. Mercury Series M1000 has analog outputs that can be interpolated by the customer’s electronics for resolution up to 5 nm.

Mercury™ Series

Mercury™ M1000 Rotary Grating Specifications

Highest Accuracy Class+/- 2 arc-seconds
Diametersup to 108mm
IndexYes
MaterialSoda lime glass
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion8ppm/°C
MountingHub

Mercury™ Series M1000 Rotary Scale Specifications

 Mercury II Optical Rotary Encoders

The Mercury II™ Series can also be used for rotary applications.  This technology achieves the highest resolution in its class, up to 1.2 nm. Low cyclical error, surpassing other 20μm encoders, enables smooth velocity control, high precision, and fast positioning. Low jitter and low power consumption are important specifications when choosing a position sensor for your application, and the Mercury II delivers this with optimal performance. Broad alignment tolerances, a full +/-2 degrees, makes Mercury II the easiest and the fastest rotary position sensor to install and align – in under 30 seconds!

Mercury II™ Series

Mercury II™ 5800 Rotary Grating Specifications

Highest Accuracy Class+/- 2 arc-seconds
Diametersup to 108mm
IndexYes
MaterialSoda lime glass
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion8ppm/°C
MountingHub

Mercury II™ 5800 Rotary Scale Specifications

Mercury II™ 6000 Rotary Grating Specifications

Highest Accuracy Class+/- 2 arc-seconds
Diametersup to 120mm
IndexYes
MaterialSoda lime glass
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion8ppm/°C
MountingHub

Mercury II™ 6000 Rotary Scale Specifications

Rotary Inductive Encoders

Inductive position sensors work on the basic principles of resolvers using laminar windings to generate inductive fields. Rather than using adjacent conductors (coil windings), induction sensors use PCB traces which are excited by frequencies in the nominal range 1-10MHz. There are enormous benefits to using printed traces rather than adjacent windings, including lower cost, smaller device formats, and greater device integration into multi-layer PCBs.

At Celera Motion, we supply inductive angle encoders with the Ultra IncOderTM Series. This pre-calibrated rotary position sensor is a non-contact system trusted by aerospace, industrial, and medical device manufacturers around the world.

 

Mini Ultra IncOder

Mini Ultra IncOder™ – 58 mm

For more information on which rotary position sensor would best suit your application needs, please contact a member of the Celera Motion team today.

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