An interesting trend in industrial motion control has been the replacement of self-contained encoders (rotation sensors with their own housing, bearings and shaft) with modular or “kit” encoders.

Stepper motor linear actuators (SMLAs) combine a stepper motor, precision lead screw and nut in one compact envelope, providing a highly configurable, customizable and robust system for linear motion.

Optical rotary encoders are the most widely used way to transform mechanical rotary motion into electrical signals. There are three basic configurations for optical encoders: incremental, absolute, ...

Optical encoders have been used to measure position, speed, acceleration and motion direction for decades, but now they are finding new applications where high performance and miniaturization are ...

Absolute encoders using optical technology often face limitations in resolution and size. For example, to achieve a higher resolution of up to 16-bits, the absolute encoder has to be combined with an ...

Building a 3D motor printed motor is one thing, but creating a completely custom servo motor with encoder requires some significant engineering. In the video after the break [365 Robots] takes us ...

To attain accurate positioning, a servo system requires a feedback signal to close its feedback loop. Instruments that typically supply the feedback signal include optical encoders, resolvers, and ...

The electric motor is the fundamental building block of almost all robotic projects but, without some form of feedback, it lacks the precise positional control required for the task. Small servos from ...

Optical encoders and transducers enable users to translate information from one code to another. Optical encoders come in different varieties including rotary encoders and linear encoders. The optical ...

Last year, Automation World examined the differences between accuracy, resolution, and precision in the encoder world. And while understanding the differences among these terms is important to ...