Quote:
Originally Posted by student@wu
Dear all,
In the course of a project headed by the University of Economics and Business Vienna, we are looking for potential application fields of a magnetic encoder.
Basically the technology allows measuring the position of a magnet.
Can you imagine a field, where for instance one or several of the following problems occur;
• Positions have to be measured contactless
• Extreme external conditions (dust, other magnetic fields, temperature, vibrations) have to be passed over
• Maintenance is difficult due to the high complexity of the final product/application
• Linear, rotating or three-dimensional positions have to be measured
• The space is limited and expensive
• It is vivid to avoid/know about malfunctions of position tracking systems
• Easy implementing and catch/use of the signal is necessary
• An energy effective solution is important.
Or do you know somebody who could imagine that or needs that?
Thank you very much!  |
Austria Microsystems has graciously donated their rotary magnetic encoders to FRC, so "high school robotics competition" is one proven use case. We had a "kicker" that we needed to measure the absolute angle on. We decided to use an absolute rotary magnetic encoder because the impulse at the end of the kick was skipping ticks on optical encoders, and we didn't want to risk slipping a potentiometer. We didn't absolutely need to use the magnetic encoder, but it sure was convenient.
In industry, I've used magnetic encoders primarily in situations where I can't afford to break a containment barrier. They are getting cheap enough that it is often cheaper than adding another moving part and the associated bearings, seals, etc. I used them in three specific applications at work:
- A medical product had a sterilized/unsterilized barrier.
- A commercial product had a part spinning on a hydro-dynamic bearing.
- An industrial product needed position information on something on the inside of a high pressure vessel.