Sinusoidal Area 2-DoF Variable Reluctance Resolver

Two-degree-of-freedom (2-DoF) electrical machine invention leads to simultaneous production motion in more than one direction with a single electrical machine. To drive such machines, employing position sensors in each direction is necessary. Using a 2-DoF position sensor instead of two separate ones reduces the control system complexity and the sensor’s mass and volume. In this article, a sinusoidal area 2-DoF variable reluctance (VR) resolver for detecting position in rotational and/or linear motion is proposed for the first time. The performance of the sensor for rotational, linear, and helical motions is evaluated using 3-D time transient finite-element analysis. The optimal configuration of the sensor with minimized position error and the smallest size is considered for prototyping. The measured results verified the distinguished performance of the developed sensor.