Position Sensor
Introduction
Position sensor is a sensor used to measure the mechanical position of
a particular object with respect to a reference point. A position sensor
indicates the location of an object(distance) or displacement(if a object
moves) or rotation of an object. There are lot of sensors available for
detecting position with respect to distance,displacement or rotation.
Capacitive displacement sensor
Capacitive displacement sensors are non-contact devices capable of high-
resolution measurement of the position and/or change of position of any
object.
Principle:
Capacitance is an electrical property which is created by applying an
electrical charge to two conductive objects with a gap between them. A
simple demonstration is two parallel conductive plates of the same profile
with a gap between them and a charge applied to them. In this situation,
the Capacitance can be expressed by the equation:
0 KA
c
d
Where C is the capacitance, ε0 is the permittivity of free space constant, K
is the dielectric constant of the material in the gap, A is the area of the
plates, and d is the distance between the plates.
Fig 1. Operating principle
Capacitive transducer used to measure angular displacement
Fig 2.
When the plates are completely overlapped with each other, capacitance
will be maximum. 180 degree is the maximum displacement that can be
produced by a capacitor. The angular movement changes the capacitance
of the transducers. The maximum value of capacitance is expressed as
The capacitance at angle θ is given expressed as,
r 2
c
2d
θ is the angular displacement in radian
Sensor operation:
A capacitive sensing system for conductive materials uses a model
similar to the one described above, but in place of one of the conductive
plates, is the sensor, and in place of the other, is the conductive target to
be measured. Since the area of the probe and target remain constant, and
the dielectric of the material in the gap (usually air) also remains
constant, "any change in capacitance is a result of a change in the
distance between the probe and the target." Therefore, the equation above
can be simplified to:
1
c
d
Where α indicates a proportional relationship. Due to this proportional
relationship, a capacitive sensing system is able to measure changes in
capacitance and translate these changes in distance measurements.
The operation of the sensor for measuring thickness of non-conductive
materials can be thought of as two capacitors in series, with each having a
different dielectric (and dielectric constant). The sum of the thicknesses
of the two dielectric materials remains constant but the thickness of each
can vary.
The thickness of the material to be measured displaces the other
dielectric. The gap is often an air gap, and the material has a higher
dielectric. As the material gets thicker, the capacitance increases and is
sensed by the system.
Fig 3. Capacitive displacement sensor
A sensor for measuring fluid levels works as two capacitors in parallel
with constant total area. Again the difference in the dielectric constant of
the fluid and the dielectric constant of air results in detectable changes in
the capacitance between the conductive probes or plates.
Advantages
Ability to resolve measurements below one micro-inch (<25nm), at a
fraction of the cost of other high performance technologies
Most are “passive” by design allowing them to be used in extreme
environments while still maintaining stability
Sensors can be easily customized, allowing them to be adapted into a
variety of applications or settings
They are immune to target composition and work equally well on all
conductive targets, unlike eddy current probes
They are immune to ultrasonic noises, lighting conditions, humidity
and temperature for the most part
There are lot of other types of sensors which is used for measurement of
mechanical position of the object. Here lets see some of the position
sensors:
1. The potentiometer
2. LVDT
3. Rotary Encoders
The Potentiometer
The most commonly used of all the “Position Sensors”, is the
potentiometer because it is an inexpensive and easy to use position
sensor. It has a wiper contact linked to a mechanical shaft that can be
either angular (rotational) or linear (slider type) in its movement, and
which causes the resistance value between the wiper/slider and the two
end connections to change giving an electrical signal output that has a
proportional relationship between the actual wiper position on the
resistive track and its resistance value. In other words, resistance is
proportional to position.
Potentiometers come in a wide range of designs and sizes such as the
commonly available round rotational type or the longer and flat linear
slider types. When used as a position sensor the moveable object is
connected directly to the rotational shaft or slider of the potentiometer.
A DC reference voltage is applied across the two outer fixed connections
forming the resistive element. The output voltage signal is taken from the
wiper terminal of the sliding contact as shown below.
This configuration produces a potential or voltage divider type circuit
output which is proportional to the shaft position. Then for example, if
you apply a voltage of say 10v across the resistive element of the
potentiometer the maximum output voltage would be equal to the supply
voltage at 10 volts, with the minimum output voltage equal to 0 volts.
Then the potentiometer wiper will vary the output signal from 0 to 10
volts, with 5 volts indicating that the wiper or slider is at its half-way or
centre position.
Potentiometer sensing circuit:
Fig 4. Potentiometer sensing circuit
While resistive potentiometer position sensors have many advantages:
low cost, low tech, easy to use etc, as a position sensor they also have
many disadvantages: wear due to moving parts, low accuracy, low
repeatability, and limited frequency response.
But there is one main disadvantage of using the potentiometer as a
positional sensor. The range of movement of its wiper or slider (and
hence the output signal obtained) is limited to the physical size of the
potentiometer being used.
Linear Variable Differential Transformer
Linear Variable Differential Transformer or LVDT an inductive type
position sensor which works on the same principle as the AC transformer
that is used to measure movement. It is a very accurate device for
measuring linear displacement and whose output is proportional to the
position of its moveable core.
Construction and working:
It basically consists of three coils wound on a hollow tube former, one
forming the primary coil and the other two coils forming identical
secondaries connected electrically together in series but 180º out of phase
either side of the primary coil.
A moveable soft iron ferromagnetic core (sometimes called an
“armature”) which is connected to the object being measured, slides or
moves up and down inside the tubular body of the LVDT.
A small AC reference voltage called the “excitation signal” is applied to
the primary winding which in turn induces an EMF signal into the two
adjacent secondary windings (transformer principles).
If the soft iron magnetic core armature is exactly in the centre of the tube
and the windings, “null position”, the two induced emf’s in the two
secondary windings cancel each other out as they are 180o out of phase,
so the resultant output voltage is zero. As the core is displaced slightly to
one side or the other from this null or zero position, the induced voltage
in one of the secondaries will be become greater than that of the other
secondary and an output will be produced.
The polarity of the output signal depends upon the direction and
displacement of the moving core. The greater the movement of the soft
iron core from its central null position the greater will be the resulting
output signal. The result is a differential voltage output which varies
linearly with the cores position.
Fig 5. LVDT Sensor
Rotary Encoders
Rotary Encoders are another type of position sensor which resemble
potentiometers mentioned earlier but are non-contact optical devices used
for converting the angular position of a rotating shaft into an analogue or
digital data code. In other words, they convert mechanical movement into
an electrical signal.
All optical encoders work on the same basic principle. Light from an
LED or infra-red light source is passed through a rotating high-resolution
encoded disk that contains the required code patterns, either binary, grey
code or BCD. Photo detectors scan the disk as it rotates and an electronic
circuit processes the information into a digital form as a stream of binary
output pulses that are fed to counters or controllers which determine the
actual angular position of the shaft.
Fig 6. Encoder disk
There are two basic types of rotary optical encoders
1. Incremental Encoders
2. Absolute Position Encoders.
Incremental encoder
An incremental encoder will immediately report changes in position,
which is an essential capability in some applications. However, it does
not report or keep track of absolute position. As a result, the mechanical
system monitored by an incremental encoder may have to be homed
(moved to a fixed reference point) to initialize absolute position
measurements.
Fig 7. Incremental encoder
Absolute encoder
An absolute encoder maintains position information when power is
removed from the encoder.The position of the encoder is available
immediately on applying power. The relationship between the encoder
value and the physical position of the controlled machinery is set at
assembly; the system does not need to return to a calibration point to
maintain position accuracy.
An absolute encoder has multiple code rings with various binary
weightings which provide a data word representing the absolute position
of the encoder within one revolution. This type of encoder is often
referred to as a parallel absolute encoder.
A multi-turn absolute rotary encoder includes additional code wheels and
gears. A high-resolution wheel measures the fractional rotation, and
lower-resolution geared code wheels record the number of whole
revolutions of the shaft.
References:
1. https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/io/io_2.html
2. https://www.mtiinstruments.com/technology-principles/capacitance-b
ased-measurement/
3. https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2019/07/capacitive-sensor-
applications.html