Sensors used to find out RPM

By- Maheep Bhatt

Name of sensors
 encoder
 Tachometer
 Proximity sensor
 Hall Effect sensor
Encoder
A rotary encoder, also called a shaft
encoder, is an electro-mechanical device
that converts the angular position or
motion of a shaft or axle to an analog or
digital signal.
 Types
There are two main types: absolute and
incremental (relative).
1)The output of absolute encoders indicates the
current position of the shaft, making
them angle transducers.
2)The output of incremental encoders provides
information about the motion of the shaft,
which is typically further processed elsewhere
into information such as speed, distance and
position.
Working of encoder

1)IR can pass through slots only therefore IR

sensor will sense only when a slot passes
through it , each time sensor senses IR
2)a asynchronous counter counts plus one (there
fore counting no of slots passing through
it)each count will occur on rotation by an angle
of 2pi/n
3)assume m number of slots pass in time t
second; n is number of slots
4) Rpm=m*60/n*t
Algorithm
Void loop()
{
a=read(sensor);
If(a==HIGH)
m++;
Rotation=m/n;
Rpm=((m/n)/t)*60);
}
Tachometer

1)A tachometer is a sensor device for

measuring the rotation speed of an object
such as the engine shaft in a car.
2)This device indicates the revolutions per
minute (RPM) performed by the object.
 Types
Contact and non-contact tachometers –
1)The contact type is in contact with the
rotating shaft.
2)The non-contact type is ideal for applications
that are mobile, and uses a laser or optical
disk.
3)In the contact type, an optical encoder or
magnetic sensor is used. Both these types are
data acquisition methods
Time and frequency measuring tachometers – Both
these are based on measurement methods. The time
measurement device calculates speed by measuring the time
interval between the incoming pulses; whereas, the frequency
measurement device calculates speed by measuring the
frequency of the incoming pulses. Time measuring
tachometers are ideal for low speed measurements and
frequency measuring tachometers are ideal for high speed
measurements.
RPM = (Pulse Frequency in pulses/sec) x (60)
(Sensor pulses/revolution)
or
RPM= (60)
(Sensor pulses/revolution)x(pulse period)
[frequency=1 / time period]
 Proximity sensor
1)Proximity sensors provide medium- or low-
resolution sensing, depending on the number of
pulses measured per revolution.
2)The best method of using a proximity sensor is to
sense the teeth on a gear.
3)If a gear is not available, a proximity sensor can be
used to sense the head of a bolt attached to the
shaft.
4)The drawback of this method is the low PPR (low
resolution). If more than one bolt head is used,
resolution improves, but pulses are often
inconsistent and not symmetrical.
Diagram of proximity sensor
Calculation

RPM= 60
Pulse period x PPR

PPR- pulse per revolution

Pulse period=1/pulse frequency
Hall Effect sensor
1)Magnet is attached perpendicular to the axis of rotation
of the motor.
2)Place the sensor near the motor shaft so that the
magnetic poles attached to the motor shaft keep
crossing the sensor field. The setup has bar magnet
attached to the motor shaft, hence there will be pole
reversals during every revolution .
3)The sensor output is read using analog pin of a Arduino
and checked to see if there change in pole is registered
and counted.
4)This operation is performed for a know time duration
and the computed RPM is displayed using a serial LCD
display
Diagram of hall effect sensor