magnetic encoder

[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!

[techhelpbb]

I'm unclear on what you desire from this topic.

Do you want possible applications because that's a *very* long list and for some of them there could be alternatives.

Do you have a price point in mind for this item for comparison sake?

[techhelpbb]

Any rotational system in which there is no rotational limiter could benefit from a non-contact way to measure rotation. This way if you over-shoot you don't destroy something like you would with a hard limit. Course you can do this with optical interrupters.

You could use this in fluid control applications where you need to measure the rotation of a valve whose body was contained in a vessel as well. Picture a magnetic stirrer.

It could be used in biomedical applications because blood is actually quite problematic to work with. Picture a value, a stent, or perhaps some form of implantable pump.

It could be used in aerospace applications for monitoring the rotation of apparatus through the walls of the pressurized environment.

It could be used in turbines for monitoring the rotation of the veins or turbine itself.

It could be used in fuel pumping environments.

Perhaps it could be used to measure the rotation of a fluids draining from a vessel if the fluids had something ferrous in them or floating on them.

It could be used to sense the rotation of 2 vehicles in a near contact situation.

It could be used in a variable compression or Wankel engine.

It could be used to measure the velocity of gasses.

There is a company that makes large RC car style servos with the magnetic encoders from Melexis.

It could easily be used in brushless motors.

It could be used in HVAC on vents and registers.

It could be used in security locking mechanisms.

If could be used to maintain timing in mechanical systems that engage and disengage.

It could be used in hydraulic or pneumatic motors.

It could be used to measure the rotation of a 2 part connector, solid or hollow (for hydraulic, pneumatic, or electrical).

It could be used in a rotary UPS to measure the rotation of the flywheel.

It could be used to measure the rotation of high power antenna elements.

Call MIT they can use if for this:
http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/...culpting-sand/

Bet you could use them in the countless LEGO models:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/25158...nt.html?tk=out

It has military application, but I'm not Tony Stark and we're not going to talk about that here.

[EricVanWyk]

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:

1. A medical product had a sterilized/unsterilized barrier.
2. A commercial product had a part spinning on a hydro-dynamic bearing.
3. An industrial product needed position information on something on the inside of a high pressure vessel.

[student@wu]

Thank you very much!!!!!!!!

Absolutely impressive! You helped us a lot!

regards

[philso]

I hope to convince our management at work to consider using some parts from Austria Microsystems to replace the optical encoder connected to the knob on the front of the control panel of the 3-phase motor controllers that we manufacture. We have models that are meant to be installed outdoors in harsh environments (in Siberia, on an oil drilling platform or in the dessert). The optical encoder requires a hole in our enclosure for the shaft. The Austria Microsystem part would not.

[student@wu]

Originally Posted by philso

I hope to convince our management at work to consider using some parts from Austria Microsystems to replace the optical encoder connected to the knob on the front of the control panel of the 3-phase motor controllers that we manufacture. We have models that are meant to be installed outdoors in harsh environments (in Siberia, on an oil drilling platform or in the dessert). The optical encoder requires a hole in our enclosure for the shaft. The Austria Microsystem part would not.

Very interesting, Philso... Good luck in doing that!

regards