A 3.2 kHz, 14-Bit Optical Absolute Rotary Encoder With a CMOS Profile Sensor

We have developed a 3.2 kHz, 14-bit optical absolute rotary encoder system using a profile sensor and a slit disc. The profile sensor, which we have designed for this purpose, is a unique CMOS area image sensor aimed at high-speed position detection of
X
and
Y
axes.
Y
axis profile data from the profile sensor is used for recognition of an index code on the slit disc, and
X
axis profile data is used for position detection of the index code. This combination of two-axis information enables high resolution even with a small number of index codes (64 indexes) and a small amount of digital calculations. Experimental results show that this system can detect rotation with an angular resolution of 14 bits (0.022deg) and a maximum detection speed of 3.2 kHz.