Effective motor control requires trade offs between reliability, motor size and energy use. Encoders are a popular option for motors that need to position targets with high reliability, but they are susceptible to dirt, magnetic swarf, moisture and shock. This means protection and careful assembly are needed to provide good long term performance and that adds cost to what should be a simple low cost system.
Alternatives to encoders for motor control
However there are other ways; inductive position sensing provides a great alternative to optical encoders or magnetic encoders for motor control. For feedback for closed loop control, CambridgeIC’s position sensors replace encoders with a solution that is robust, precise and durable.
Based on innovative resonant inductive technology, CambridgeIC’s sensors use designs integrated into conventional PCBs to measure the position of a moving target. This gives an accurate sensor which has low integration costs, is stable over time and extremely robust. Designers can provide absolute linear, rotary and arc position measurement with high reliability in the most challenging applications.
Their small footprint, high accuracy and durability are ideal for motor control. In stepper motors they provide precise position feedback that allows motors to detect step loss and recover from it without needing to start from home, meaning motors do not need to be driven so hard.
In short; by providing better feedback inductive position sensors help designers reduce motor size and energy use without sacrificing reliability.
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