Thread: encoders
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Unread 08-02-2005, 14:40
Workaphobia Workaphobia is offline
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AKA: Jon
FRC #1546 (Chaos Inc.)
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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Re: encoders

I've got a few encoder questions. I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend $100 of my team's money on Greyhill optical quadrature encoders, when the kit already includes HAL-effect sensors. Things are beginning to look bleak in terms of the amount of time we have until ship-date, and it'll be hard enough finding someone in the construction section of the team to mount any sensor as it is.

First, I understand that quadrature encoders can detect direction, and that in addition optical encoders are more reliable, but would this high-end technology really be useful for a team that just needs to reliably determine how far the bot has traveled (or turned)?

Second, will Kevin's code work with non-quadrature encoders? I assume it wouldn't - in that case, is it difficult to write my own code to interface with them, or is it as simple as reading an input?

Third, is it possible to use encoders without interrupts, and just poll how many clicks have elapsed, or would polling only return whether or not it is currently clicked?

Thanks.