The Best Encoders for Drivetrain

[SJaladi]

Originally Posted by BSV

Dumb newbie question: So what would be the best way to add one (okay, actually two) of these to a kit bot? Any special mounting needed? Thanks!

Looking at this drawing you can see that there is a portion of the main output shaft sticking out of the back of the gearbox. You can slide a piece of surgical tubing over that portion of the shaft and then use a small ziptie to cinch it so that it stays on the shaft. Then you can fabricate some kind of simple plate to secure the Grayhill encoder to. It can be really simple we made ours with a small scrap of polycarbonate and a hand drill. then once the encoder is secure you can simple slide the other end of the surgical tubing over the encoder shaft and secure with a ziptie and you should be all set. It's also interesting to note that by using the surgical tubing method you don't have to make the shaft of the encoder and the gearbox exactly concentric. A few mm either way won't hurt the function of the encoder.