Slip ring position encoder

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and an article of manufacture for determining the angular position of a shaft. The apparatus comprises a circumferentially alternating series of conducting and substantially non-conducting segments on an exterior surface of the shaft, and at least one contact surface in communication with the surface of the shaft, the contact surface sized to communicate with no more than one conducting segment at a time. Another embodiment of the present invention is described by a method of determining the angular position of a shaft by sensing a conductivity of an exterior surface of the shaft having an alternating series of conducting and substantially non-conductive surfaces, and determining the shaft angular position using the sensed conductivity of the exterior surface of the shaft. In one embodiment of the invention, the foregoing conductivity is used to supply datum information, and the precise angular position of the shaft is determined from the datum and from a number of stepper motor step commands supplied to rotate the shaft in operation. The present invention can also be used in an embodiment in which the angular position of the shaft is determined solely from the number of stepper motor commands provided to rotate the shaft. In this embodiment, sensed conductivity is periodically used to confirm the angular position determined from stepper motor commands. This provides information regarding the shaft position with greater reliability, less cost, lower weight, and within a smaller physical envelope than previous designs.