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Originally Posted by steven114
if you want continuous rotation go for some sort of {optical|mechanical} encoder
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That may not always be satisfactory. I have an encoder that clicks 32 times per revolution. This turns into 8 counts per revolution in code when using interrupts. With a continuous pot, you may get up to 1024 counts per revolution. If you were counting something that went fast and didn't need too much precision, like the drive train, then you would use an encoder, so you could monitor it with hardware interrupts. If you were using something that was slower and in need of more precision, but still made multiple rotations, like a winch or something, a continuous potentiometer would make more sense, because you wouldn't need interrupts; you could just poll it every 26.2ms without missing any data. While it is safe to say that it's always a good idea to use a potentiometer when you're making less than one complete revolution, encoders are not always the ideal solution for multiple revolutions.