MECHATRONICS

DISPLACEMENT, POSITION & PROXIMITY SENSORS II

PUSHPARAJ MANI PATHAK

MECHANICAL & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEEING, IIT ROORKEE

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Optical Encoders

• An encoder is a device that converts a linear or angular

displacement into a sequence of pulses.
• By counting these pulses we can obtain the linear or angular
displacement.
• Encoders come in two basic forms, i.e., incremental encoders
and absolute encoders.
• Incremental encoders give the rotation with respect to some
reference position whereas absolute encoders give the actual
position.
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Absolute Encoder

• Absolute encoder are used for the measurement of angular

displacement.
• Here we get the output in the form of a binary number of
several digits.
• Here each number represents a particular angular position.

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Absolute Encoder

• In four bit absolute encoder the

rotating disc has four concentric
circles of slots.
• There are four light emitting
diodes (LEDs) to emit the light
and four photo resistors to
detect the light.
Four bit absolute encoder

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• These slots are arranged in
such a way that the
sequential out put from the
sensors is a number in binary
code.
• The number of tracks decides
the number of bits in the
binary number. Four bit absolute encoder

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• For four tracks, there will be
four bits and the number of
positions that can be detected
will be 24.
• Thus the resolution of encoder
will be 360/24 i.e., 22.5˚.

Four bit absolute encoder

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• The most common types of numerical encoding used in the
absolute encoders are gray codes.
• The gray code is designed so that only one track (one bit) will
change state for each count transition, unlike the binary code
where multiple tracks (bits) change at certain count
transitions.
• For the gray code, the uncertainty during a transition is only
one count, unlike with the binary code, where the uncertainty
could be multiple counts.
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Decimal code Rotation range Binary code Gray code
(deg.)
0 0-22.5 0000 0000
1 22.5-45 0001 0001
2 45-67.5 0010 0011
3 67.5-90 0011 0010
4 90-112.5 0100 0110
5 112.5-135 0101 0111
6 135-157.5 0110 0101
7 15.75-180 0111 0100
8 180-202.5 1000 1100
9 202.5-225 1001 1101
10 225-247.5 1010 1111
11 247.5-270 1011 1110
12 270-292.5 1100 1010
13 292.5-315 1101 1011
14 315-337.5 1110 1001
15 337.5-360 1111 1000
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Orange 1024PPR ABZ 3- Autonics Absolute
Phase Incremental Optical Rotary Encoder,
Rotary Encoder EP50S8-256-3R-N-24

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Capacitive Proximity Sensor

• One form of capacitive proximity

sensor consists of a single capacitor
plate probe with the other plate being
Object
formed by the object (metallic and
earthed)
• As the object approaches the ‘plate
separation’ of the capacitor changes.
• This is detectable when the object is
close to the probe.
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Pneumatic Sensors

• Use compressed air

• Displacement or
proximity of the object
is transformed into
change of pressure

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Switch

• A switch is a device that is used for making and breaking

electrical connections in a circuit.
• Thus 0 or 1 signals can be transmitted by the act of opening
or closing a switch.
• The term limit switch is used when the switches are opened
or closed by the displacement of an object and used to
indicate the limit of its displacement before action has to
be initiated.

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• Mechanical switches are specified in terms of their number of poles
and throws.
• Poles are the number of separate circuits that can be completed by
the same switching action
• Throws are the number of individual contacts for each pole.
• There are many types of these devices.
• Beside the general type of switch (toggle, slide, pushbutton, etc)
there are many configurations of the contacts possible.
• Often you will see a switch in a schematic referred to as a SPST
(Single Pole Single Throw) or DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw).
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• A switch with a single throw has it's lines either connected
or unconnected. In other words there are two terminals
with are electrically connected only when the switch is
activated.
• A switch with a double throw has an extra terminal for each
pole so that there are two electrical paths possible instead
of just one.
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• Another term used often with switches is Normally Open or
Normally Closed.
• Most pushbutton-style switches are "normally open",
meaning that the switch contacts are in the open-circuit
position when the switch is in the non-depressed state.
• Microswitches often have both normally open and normally
closed contacts and a common contact.
• When wiring a touch sensor with a microswitch, it is
customary to use the normally open mode.

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• Two common uses of switches in mechatronics are power
cutoff and as an input sensor.
• The microswitch is a type of touch sensors.
• A microswitches is a small, momentary switches that can be
attached to bumpers to signal when the robot has run into an
obstacle.
• A micro switch is housed in a rectangular body and has a very
small button which is the external switching point.

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• Usually, micro switches are also equipped with lever arms to
reduce the force needed to actuate the switch.
• Switch Debouncing
• Most switches are mechanical and vibrate when switched
from one position to another

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• Switch Circuitry
• The following figure shows how a single
throw switch can be wired to a sensor
input port.
• When the switch is opened, the sensor
input is pulled to the +5V supply by the
pull up resistor.
• When the switch is closed, the input is
tied to ground, generating a zero
voltage signal.

MIED, IITR 18
Proximity Switches

• These switches can be activated

by the presence of an object.
• The output is either on or off.
• Microswitch is a small electrical
switch which requires physical
contact and a small operating
force to close the contacts.

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Reed Switch

• It consists of two magnetic switch contacts

sealed in a glass tube.
• When a magnet is brought close to the
switch, the magnetic reeds are attracted
to each other and close the switch
contacts.
• It is a non-contact proximity switch.
• Used in
– checking the closure of doors.
– tachometers
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Photosensitive Devices
Light Photo-
LED detector
• Photosensitive devices can be used
to detect the presence of an opaque Opaque
object by its object
– breaking a beam of light, or
infrared radiation, falling on such Light
LED
a device
– or by detecting the light reflected Photo-
back by the object detector Opaque
object

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Hall Effect Sensors

• Working Principle (E.R. Hall, 1879):

• When a beam of charged particles passes through a magnetic
field, forces act on the particles and the beam is deflected
from its straight line path (Hall effect).
• A current flowing in a conductor is like a beam of moving
charges and thus can be deflected by a magnetic field.

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• Consider electrons moving in a conductive Magnetic field
plate with a magnetic field applied at right Current
angles to the plane of the plate. - +
- +
• As a consequence of the magnetic field, - +
the moving electrons are deflected to one
side of the plate and thus that side
becomes negatively charged, while the VH
opposite side becomes positively charged.

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• This charge separation produces an electric field in Magnetic field
the material.
Current
• The charge separation continues until the forces on - +
the charged particles from the electric field just - +
balance the forces produced by the magnetic field. - +
• The result is transverse potential difference VH as,
𝑉𝐻 = 𝐾𝐻 . 𝐵.𝐼
𝑡
Where, KH is a constant (Hall Coefficient), B = VH
magnetic flux density, I = current, t = plate
thickness
• So for constant I, VH is a measure of B.
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• Two types: linear, threshold
• Can be used to measure displacement, position and proximity.

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 Ground
Ground Hall sensor
• Application Supply
– Fluid level detector Magnet
– In brushless DC motors
• In brushless DC motors it is necessary to
Float
determine when the permanent magnet
rotor is correctly aligned with the windings
on the stator so that the current through Housing
the windings can be switched on at right
Fluid level detector
instant to maintain the direction of rotation.

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Velocity and Motion

• Linear and angular velocity measurements and thus detect

motion.
• Application of motion detectors are found in security systems
to detect intruders.

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Incremental Encoders

• No. of pulses produced per

second are determined.
• Thus angular velocity can be
measured.

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Tachogenerator

• It is used to measure angular velocity.

• Two forms (i) the variable reluctance
tachogenerator, (ii) a.c. generator
• The variable reluctance tachogenerator
consists of a toothed wheel of
ferromagnetic material which is attached
to the rotating shaft
• A pick-up coil is wound on a permanent
magnet.
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• As the wheel rotates, so the teeth move
past the coil and the air gap between the
coil and the ferromagnetic material
changes.
• Thus a magnetic circuit exist with an air
gap which periodically changes and the
flux linked by a pick-up coil changes.
• The resulting cyclic change in the flux
produces an alternating e.m.f. in the coil.
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• Let wheel contains n teeth and rotates with an angular velocity
ω, then the flux change with time for the coil
𝜙 = 𝜙0 + 𝜙𝑎 cos(𝑛𝜔𝑡)
• 𝜙0 is the mean value of the flux and 𝜙𝑎 the amplitude of the
flux variation.
• The induced e.m.f. e in the N turns of the pick-up coil is
𝑑𝜙
𝑒 = −𝑁 = 𝑁𝜙𝑎 𝑛𝜔 sin 𝑛𝜔𝑡 = 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝜔𝑡
𝑑𝑡

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• where 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑁𝜙𝑎 𝑛𝜔
• i.e., the maximum value of the induced e.m.f. 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 is a
measure of the angular velocity.
• Instead of using the maximum value of the e.m.f. 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 as a
measure of the angular velocity, a pulse-shaping signal
conditioner can be used to transform the output into a
sequence of pulses which can be counted by a counter.
• The number counted in a particular time interval being a
measure of the angular velocity.
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• Another form of tachogenerator is
essentially an a.c. generator.
• It consists of a coil, termed the rotor,
which rotates with the rotating shaft.
• This coil rotates in the magnetic field
produced by a stationary permanent
magnet or electromagnet and so an
alternating e.m.f. is induced in it.

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• The amplitude or frequency of this
alternating e.m.f. can be used as a
measure of the angular velocity of the
rotor.
• The output may be rectified to give a
d.c. voltage with a size which is
proportional to the angular velocity.

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References

• W. Bolton, Mechatronics: Electronic Control Systems in

Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (6th Edition), Pearson,
2015
• R. Merzouki, A. K. Samantaray, P. M. Pathak, B. Ould
Bouamama, Intelligent Mechatronic Systems: Modeling,
Control and Diagnosis, ISBN 978-1-4471-4627-8, 2013,
Springer, London
• D.G. Alciatore and Michael B. Histand, Introduction to
Mechatronics, Tata Mc Graw Hill, 2012.
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Thank You

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