Electronic – difference between magnetic rotary encoder and mechanical rotary encoders

encoderfpgaintegrated-circuitmicrocontroller

As i found so far there are two types of incremental encoders for rotational position/speed calculation/detection application.

1)magnetic incremental encoder ICs eg:- SSI, SPI or I2C interface , 8bit to 16bit resolution up to 30000rpm, also these are programmable.

2)Absolute or incremental encoder mechanical type eg:- 10000rpm 2500ppr

which type is better ? in terms of performance, reliable, life time, error % at higher rpm (higher frequencies)?

I am going to use encoder to measure speed and crank angular position of an engine at 10000rpm using FPGA

Best Answer

Which technology, and cost involved, really depends on more than just performance.

If this is for automotive and is intended to be used for operational use, i.e. not just testing, you should stay clear of optical or mechanical encoders.

Optical will be hard to keep sealed and clean in the grunge that is an engine compartment, and mechanical encoders are basically just a rotary switch which are also easily contaminated and have wear issues.

Magnetic is probably your best bet.

However, rather than using a complete encoder, using a hall effect sensor to detect the cogs on your engines flywheel, assuming that gives you enough angular resolution, with another somewhere to detect once per revolution, would be a simpler approach.

Actually, if your engine is fairly modern it may already have such sensors already installed.