What type of encoders to use?

[jwwrobotics]

Hello, I am from a rookie FRC team and we are looking for encoders to use with our drive train. I would like some feedback about which type of encoder to buy, as we do not really know the difference.

The axles we are currently using are .375 inches in diameter, so the encoder recommended on the first website (http://www.usdigital.com/products/encoders/incremental/rotary/kit/E4P) doesn't seem like it will work.

I found two others that seemed like they would work:
The H-option of http://www.usdigital.com/products/encoders/incremental/rotary/kit/E2
and the H-option of http://www.usdigital.com/products/encoders/incremental/rotary/kit/E6

Has anyone used these that can recommend one over the other, or a different one entirely?

Also, the last two are 5 pin output, whereas the recommended one was a 4 pin output. Is this important or will both work?

Thank you very much.

[nathan_hui]

You probably don't want to put encoders directly on the axles of the wheels. For one, I'm guessing you're using the kit chassis, which would mean idle axles. Ideally, the encoders for the kit chassis would go on the backside of the Toughbox.

For the pinout, you'll have to modify the pins anyhow. The E4P has +5V,A,GND,B, but that needs to be split into two 3 pin connections (GND, +5V, A) and (NC, NC, B) in order to interface with the Digital Sidecar. You'd need to do the same or similar for the E2 and E6 encoders (ignore the index channel).