Tiny Tech, Big Impact: Rotary Encoders Are a Critical Link the Agrobot Revolution

A recent GlobalData report highlights the impressive growth of the robotics industry in agriculture (reaching $218 billion by 2030), a key component behind this revolution often goes unnoticed: the rotary encoder. These unsung heroes convert rotational motion into precise electrical signals, playing a vital role in ensuring the smooth, accurate movements of agricultural robots.

Potentiometers That Make Sense for Sensing

Despite their perceived simplicity, potentiometers can still be an appropriate option in today’s ever-complicated automation industry. Fundamentally a variable resistor, modern potentiometers also offer more traditional outputs such as voltage and current which are common to more expensive sensors.

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.

Analog Sensors – Now monitored (easily) in the Cloud

The Trumeter IoT Gateway is a device that allows you to connect your analog sensors to the internet for remote monitoring and data collection through the Trumeter Cloud platform. It is a plug-and-play device that supports up to four analog inputs and includes free access to the Trumeter Cloud dashboard.