In several applications, it is not possible to access the end of a shaft for an angle measurement as shown above.
An easy-to-use approach is to use a magnetic 3D sensor by measuring the X-Y (X-Z or Y-Z) components. The sensor is located out of the shaft as illustrated below. The shaft needs to have a magnetic encoder with at least 2 poles on the shaft as shown here:
You can easily use this example with one of the two examples in the folders exampleTLE493D_outOfShaft and exampleTLV493D_outOfShaft.
For more information about the supported boards, please consult the respective repositories of the different sensor variants:
For exampleTLE493D_outOfShaft please consult this repository: TLE493D-3DMagnetic-Sensor.
For exampleTLV493D_outOfShaft please consult this repository: TLV493D-A1B6-3DMagnetic-Sensor
Please note that you need to install the respective library for Arduino for the 3D magnetic sensor. More information can be found in the respective repository.
For this application, there exists a specific 3D printed tool as shown below. You can get this directly from Infineon or from a distributor.
Please flash one of the two examples depending on the respective board which you would like to use for the next step.
The folder processing/outOfShaftGUI contains the GUI for the out of shaft application as shown below:
In order to use the GUI, you need to download Processing from the webpage.
Just start Processing, open the outOfShaftGUI.pde example and press the run button (the arrow on top left).
Basic tutorials on how to use Processing can be found here.
Once started, please click on one COM port to connect to the respective serial output of the board:
Once connected, you will be able to switch between X-Y and Z-X using the button below in the GUI.
Additionally, you can disable the calibration of the values:
If you rotate now the handle of the tool, you will see the motor turning and the parameters will be updated. Additionally, you get the output of the angle as shown in the GUI.
There is a whole application note which comprises all the information needed for the out of shaft application. The application note can be found here.
Additionally, you will also find more information about the TLx493D 3D Magnetic Sensor family and applications on the webpage here. Moreober, the generic GUI includes a section for out of shaft as well and the GUI can be found here: