Rotation Sensor

V5 Rotation Sensor

Functionality

The V5 Rotation Sensor is an smart sensor to determine the angle bound by [0,36000) and the position in centidegrees, as well as the angular velocity in centidegrees / second. The sensor connects to the V5 Brain through a smart port, and functions similarly to a encoder or potentiometer.

How it Works

The measurement component of the sensor is comprised of a Hall Effect sensor that measures the magnetic field of 2 magnets to track the absolute angle ([0,36000)) of the rotation sensor. The angle resets every full rotation of the rotation sensor. A chip inside the rotation sensor (a Cortex M0+) then keeps track of the total rotations which acts as the relative position measurement, which does not reset every rotation.

Since the rotation sensor angle (get_angle) is absolute, as it's based on the magnetic field generated, the angular position of the shaft will not reset when it loses power. However, since the chip loses power the position (get_position), which is relative, of the rotation sensor is not tracked and it resets to zero every time the sensor is turned on.

Teams/Individuals Contributed to this Article:

• Alyssa Agarie (Former VEX Competitor)

• BLRS (Purdue SIGBots)