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Development of an ultrasonic linear encoder

Chung-Ping Chang (Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan)
Song-Fu Hong (Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan)
Tzu-Guang Chen (Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan)

Sensor Review

ISSN: 0260-2288

Article publication date: 5 May 2023

Issue publication date: 9 May 2023

47

Abstract

Purpose

In this investigation, a linear encoder system based on the ultrasonic transducer has been proposed. Ultrasonic transducers are usually designed for distance measurements, such as the time of flight method and sonar system. These applications are defined as discrete-length measurement technologies. The purpose of this study is to develop a continuous displacement measurement system using ultrasonic transducers.

Design/methodology/approach

A modified signal processing based on heterodyne signaling is implemented in this system. In the proposed signal processing, there is an automatic gain control module, a phase-shifting module, a phase detection module, an interpolation module and especially a frequency multiplication module, which can enhance the resolution and reduce the interpolation error simultaneously.

Findings

The proposed system can generate the encoding signals and is compatible with most motion control systems. For the experimental result, the maximum measurement error and standard deviation are about −0.027 and 0.048 mm, respectively. It shows that the proposed encoder system has the potential for displacement measurement tasks.

Originality/value

This study reveals an ultrasonic linear encoder that is capable of generating an incremental encoding signal, accompanied by a corresponding signal processing methodology. In contrast to the conventional heterodyne signal processing approach, the proposed multiplication method effectively reduces the interpolation error that arises because of multiple reflections.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: This research was funded by National Science and Technology Council, ROC (Taiwan) (Grant No. MOST 111-2221-E-415-011 and MOST 109-2813-C-415-046-E).

Author contributions: Conceptualization: C-PC; methodology: C-PC, S-FH, T-GC; software: S-FH, T-GC; validation: C-PC; investigation: C-PC, S-FH, T-GC; writing original draft preparation: C-PC; writing – review and editing: C-PC, S-FH; supervision: C-PC; project administration: C-PC; funding acquisition: C-PC. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Citation

Chang, C.-P., Hong, S.-F. and Chen, T.-G. (2023), "Development of an ultrasonic linear encoder", Sensor Review, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 221-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/SR-07-2022-0262

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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