Application Note: Rotary Encoders for Azimuth and Elevation Feedback in Vision Gimbals

Vision gimbals are critical components in various applications, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robotics, and surveillance systems. Used in IR, LIDAR, visible light and other frequencies, they stabilize cameras or sensors, providing smooth and accurate footage or data acquisition regardless of platform movement.

Why Holistic Encoders are More Accurate

All absolute rotary encoders have a rotor which is attached to the rotating shaft and a stator which is attached to the housing holding the shaft. The interaction of these two components produces a measure of the shafts rotational angle. The most important parameters of absolute rotary sensors are resolution, accuracy and tolerance to misalignment of the rotational axes.

Redundant Encoder Options

While most modern rotary encoders rely on non-contact sensing technologies and have high MTBF specifications, in critical applications it is still common to have redundant sensors required. When selecting a solution, a number of different criteria need to be considered and fortunately different solutions exist, making the task less daunting. Redundancy One of the first […]

Inductosyn: End of an Era, New Opportunities or Both?

Recently, obtaining the Inductosyn and components for maintenance has become more difficult. For decades the Inductosyn from Farrand Controls / Ruhle Companies sat near the top of the rotary sensor hierarchy. Providing sub 2 arcsec (0.5 mdeg) accuracies, it combined the robustness of a resolver with the performance of the best optical encoders. Despite its shortcomings, it found plenty of customers, from airborne infrared and radar systems, to telescopes, satellite communication antennae (SATCOM), machine tooling and low-pressure vacuum chambers.