Rotary Encoder External Uses

[testingthisgame]

Basically, the mentor believes that there is an external use for a rotary encoder than reading the rotations of an axle. His idea is that we have a mechanism that pivots like a scale and somehow you should be able to read the partial revolutions along this scale like contraption by attaching it near the center part of the contraption. I don't have much information on how exactly it works but it is my belief that it only works through attaching it to an axle directly, but we as a team are not completely sure.


So, is it possible to attach a rotary encoder near the center rotating point of a scale and measure the partial rotation of the scale?