A Multifunctional Encoder With Absolute and Incremental Angle Outputs

The angular displacement sensor is used widely in robotics and other application fields. This article proposes a new type of multifunctional angular displacement sensor. This angular displacement sensor design integrates two microcontroller units (MCUs) on a small printed circuit board (PCB). The first unit, which is designated MCU-A, transmits the absolute angle to the second unit, which is designated MCU-B, through serial peripheral interface (SPI) communication. In MCU-B, the absolute angle output is converted into incremental ABZ and UVW output using a table lookup angle conversion algorithm. The proposed encoder has various output types and a simple structure, is small in size, and can be manufactured at low cost. The device can be applied in a variety of industrial production scenarios.