Motion Transducers

DR. ASHRAF SALEEM

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT
SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY
MUSCAT, OMAN
 Contents
2

 Ultrasonic transducers
 Shaft encoders
 Tachometers

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Ultrasonic Transducer
3

Bistatic Monostatic
(lynxmotion usr-01) (polaroid R14-SONAR1)

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Ultrasonic Sensor
4

1. Int sound pulses is generated and transmitted

2. Blank receiver is blank
3. Amplify received signal is amplified with increased
gain (Stepped gain) over time to compensate for the
decrease in sound intensity with distance
4. Echo signal exceed fixed threshold value are
recorded
5. Calculate distance is calculated from elapsed time

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Ultrasonic Sensor
5

• Blanking interval occurs from the residual

oscillation in the transducer after the acoustic pulse
is generated (polaroid 6500 have 2.38ms blanking)

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Ultrasonic Sensor
6

• Maximum Detection Range: depends on both

emitted power and frequency of operation.
The lower the frequency, the longer range.

• Maximum attenuation of ultrasonice energy:

amax = f/100 (dB/foot)
f : operating frequency (KHz)

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Ultrasonic Sensor
7

• Acoustic reflectance: amplitude of return echo is

influenced by the acoustic reflectance of object.

Concrete 89%
Acoustic tile 30%

Max. 35 feet Max. 23 feet

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Problems in ultrasonic sensor
8

• specular reflection : reflected energy does not

return to transducer

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Problems in ultrasonic sensor
9

• false return : higher order reflections give false

distance measurement

c b

a
0.5(a+b+c)

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Problems in ultrasonic sensor
10

Noise
• Environmental noise (near operating frequency)
• Crosstalk (returns from other sensors)
• Self noise (electrical noise)

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Choosing operating frequency
11

• Diameter and type of transducer

• Anticipated target characteristic :reflectance,etc
• Possible interference
• desired angular and range resolution
• max./min ranging distance

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Example: Polaroid 6500 specifications
12

Maximum range: 35 feet

Minimum range: 6 inches
Blanking time 2.38 msec
Resolution 1 %
Gain steps 12
Multiple echo yes
Programmable frequency yes
Power 4.7-6.8 Volts
Operating Current 100 mA

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Weekend project (2 marks bonus)
13

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Shaft Encoders
14

 Incremental encoders
 Absolute encoders

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Incremental Encoders
15

 The incremental optical encoder has only one

track of equally spaced slots.
 Position is determined by counting the number of slots
that pass by a photo sensor, where each slot represents a
known angle.
 This system requires an initial reference point, which
may come from a second sensor on an inner track or
simply from a mechanical stop or limit switch.
 In many applications, the shaft being monitored will be
cycling back-and-forth, stopping at various angles.
 To keep track of the position, the controller must know
which direction the disk is turning as well as the number
of slots passed.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Incremental Encoders
16

• Offset sensor configuration

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Direction of rotation
17

 If rising edge in v1
when v2 is logic high →
CW rotation
 If falling edge in v1
when v2 is logic high →
CCW rotation

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Example 1
18

An incremental encoder has 360 slots. Starting from

the reference point, the photo sensor counts 100
slots clockwise (CW), 30 slots counterclockwise
(CCW), then 45 slots CW. What is the current
position?

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Hardware Design
19

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Displacement Measurement
20

 An incremental encoder measures displacement as a

pulse count, and it measures velocity as a pulse
frequency.
 Suppose that the maximum count possible is M
pulses and the range of the encoder is θmax
 The angular position θ corresponding to a count of n
pulses is computed as:

n
   max
M
Dr. Ashraf Saleem
 Decoding V1 and V2
21

 In order to get position information from V1 and V2, a

decoder circuit must be employed.
 The function of the decoder is to convert the signals from the
photo sensors into a binary word.
 The circuit has two parts:
 The first part extracts direction information, and
 the second part is an up-down counter, which maintains the slot count.
 The block following block diagram shows this.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Example 2
22

A position-sensor system uses a 250-slot disk

incremental encoder. The current value of the
counter is 00100110. What is the angle of the shaft
being measured?

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Interfacing the Incremental Encoder to a Computer
23

 There is a special problem when attempting to pass data to a

computer from a standard ripple-type digital counter.
 The counter is counting real-world events and so is not
synchronized with the computer.
 If the computer requests position data while the counter is
changing, it may very well get meaningless data.
 The solution is to put a latch (a temporary holding register)
between the counter and the computer (see the Figure).
 With this setup, the counter is never disabled and always
holds the correct count.
 The latch is connected so that it ordinarily contains the same
value as the counter. During those brief times when the
counter is counting, the latch is inhibited from changing. With
this system, a count is never permanently lost.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Interfacing the Incremental Encoder to a Computer
24

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Example 3
25

The angular position of a shaft must be known to a resolution

of 0.5°. A system that uses a 720-slot encoder is proposed.
The controller uses a 8051 microcontroller which has 8 bit
ports. Will this design meet the specifications?
Solution:
 For 0.5° resolution, the encoder must have a slot every 0.5° as
a minimum.
360
 First, calculate the number of slots required: o
 720
0.5 / Slot
 The 720-slot encoder will work just fine. Being a digital
system, the resolution is determined by the LSB, which in this
case should correspond to 1 slot on the disk (0.5°). The binary
output should have a range of 0-719 (for 720 states), so the
circuit must have the capacity to handle 10-bit data (because
it takes 10 bits to express 719).
Dr. Ashraf Saleem
 Example 3
26

Because the controller

is an 8-bit
microcontroller, it will
require two ports to
input the entire 10 bits.
As shown in Figure, the
counter consists of
three 74193 4-bit up-
down counters. The
outputs of the counter
are constantly updating
the 10-bit latch made
from two 74373s. The
outputs of the latch are
connected to ports 1 and
3 of the 8051.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Encoders in wind turbines
27

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Absolute encoders
28

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Advantages and Drawbacks
29
 Advantages
 The main advantage of an absolute encoder is its ability to provide
absolute angle readings (within a full 360° rotation) ). Hence, if a
reading is missed, it will not affect the next reading. Specifically,
the digital output uniquely corresponds to a physical rotation of
the code disk, and hence a particular reading is not dependent on
the accuracy of a previous reading. This provides immunity to data
failure.
 A missed pulse (or, a data failure of some sort) in an incremental
encoder would carry an error into the subsequent readings until
the counter is cleared.
 An incremental encoder has to be powered throughout operation
of the device. Thus, a power failure can introduce an error unless
the reading is reinitialized (or, calibrated). An absolute encoder
has the advantage that it needs to be powered and monitored only
when a reading is taken.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Advantages and Drawbacks
30

 Drawbacks
 Because the code matrix on the disk is more complex in an
absolute encoder, and because more light sensors are required,
an absolute encoder can be nearly twice as expensive as an
incremental encoder.
 since the resolution depends on the number of tracks present,
it is more costly to obtain finer resolutions.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Absolute encoder/ video
31

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Velocity Measurement
32

 Velocity from Position Sensors: Velocity is the rate of

change of position. Expressed mathematically:

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Velocity Measurement from Encoders
33

 Pulse-counting method
To compute the angular velocity w using this method,
suppose that the count during a time period T is n
pulses. Hence, the average time for one pulse is T / n. If
there are N windows on the disk, the angle moved
during one pulse is 2π/N. Hence,

2n
Speed 
NT
Dr. Ashraf Saleem
 Velocity Measurement from Encoders
34

 Pulse-timing method
The time for one encoder cycle is measured using a
high-frequency clock signal. This method is particularly
suitable for accurately measuring low speeds. In this
method, suppose that the clock frequency is f Hz. If m
cycles of the clock signal are counted during an encoder
period (interval between two adjacent windows), the time
for that encoder cycle (i.e., the time to rotate through one
encoder pitch) is given by m/f. With a total of N windows
on the track, the angle of rotation during this period is
2π/N as before. Hence,

2f
Speed 
Nm
Dr. Ashraf Saleem
 Optical Tachometers
35

 The optical tachometer is a simple device that can

determine a shaft speed in terms of revolutions per minute
(rpm).
 As shown in the Figure, a contrasting stripe is placed on the shaft. A
photo sensor is mounted in such a way as to output a pulse each
time the stripe goes by.
 The period of this
waveform is inversely
proportional to the rpm
of the shaft and can be
measured using a
counter circuit like that
described for the optical
shaft encoder.
 Notice that this system
cannot sense position or
direction.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Toothed-Rotor Tachometers
36

 A toothed-rotor tachometer consists of a stationary sensor and

a rotating, toothed, iron-based wheel (see Figure).
 The toothed wheel (which looks like a big gear) can be built into the
part to be measured.
 The sensor generates a pulse each
time a tooth passes by. The angular
velocity of the wheel is
proportional to the frequency of
the pulses.
 Variable reluctance sensor is
used in this type of tachometers. It
consists of a magnet with a coil of
wire around it (see Figure). Each
time an iron tooth passes near the
magnet, the magnetic field within
the magnet increases, inducing a
small voltage in the coil of wire.
Dr. Ashraf Saleem
 Example 4
37

A toothed-rotor sensor has 20 teeth. Find the

revolutions per minutes (rpm) if the sensor outputs
pulses at 120 Hz.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 DC Tachometers
38
Similar to a dc generator. The rotor is directly connected to
the rotating object. The output signal that is induced in the
rotating coil is picked up as a dc voltage using a suitable
commutator device. According to Faraday's law, the
induced voltage is proportional to the rate of
change in magnetic flux linkage. The proportionality
between the output voltage and the angular velocity is used
to measure the angular velocity,

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 DC Tachometer
39

 For a coil of height h and width 2r that has n turns,

moving at an angular speed wc in a uniform magnetic
field of flux β this is given by:

vo  (2nhr )wc  Kwc

This proportionality between vo and wc is used to

measure the angular speed wc. The proportionality
constant K is known as back-emf constant.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem

 Example 5
40

 As shown in Figure, a motor with a piggyback tachometer has a

built-in gear box with a ratio of 100 : 1 (that is, the output shaft
rotates 100 times slower than the motor). The tachometer is a
CK20-A with an output of 3 V/Krpm. This unit is driving a machine
tool with a maximum rotational velocity of 60°/s.
1. What is the expected output of the tachometer?
2. Find the resolution of this system if the tachometer data were
converted to digital with an 8-bit ADC as illustrated in Figure.

Dr. Ashraf Saleem