Absolute position encoder having incremental and index tracks

Abstract: The quasi-absolute encoder module determines absolute position within one mechanical rotation. The encoder module includes a three channel position encoder and detection circuitry that includes a read-only memory (ROM). There are three channels: A, B, and I. Channels A and B have four periods and channel B is offset from channel A by 90° in phase. Channel I has a unique sequence. The address generated by sampling this unique sequence corresponds to an address in ROM. The address indicates the position of the rotating shaft on which the codewheel is attached.

Description: Field of the Invention The invention is directed towards the field of rotary absolute position detection using 3-channel incremental optical encoders. In particular, the invention is based on 3-channel incremental encoders having a high resolution index track (e.g. capable of one index pulse on the low-low state for every cycle of the quadrature signals of CH A and CH B) to determine the absolute position . Background of the Invention Transmissive optical encoders are widely used to detect rotational movement. They consist of a "code wheel" attached to the rotating member whose movement needs to be monitored. The code wheel passes in between a light emitter and detector. On the code wheel are different "tracks"; patterns to block light or let light pass through. The interruptions of the light beam from the emitter are detected by the detector and signals are generated to determine rotational movement. Some manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard, offer a "module" that contains an emitter and a detector in a package. An absolute encoder indicates the absolute position of a rotating shaft upon power-up without any movement. An incremental 3-channel encoder with two quadrature signals and high resolution index signal may be used to detect absolute position within some movement if a unique pattern of index pulses is used. Since some movement is needed before absolute position can be determined after power-up, the encoder is called a "quasi-absolute" encoder. After finding absolute position, the encoder can keep track of incremental movement with high precision. A 3 - channel optical encoder, e.g. Hewlett-Packard HEDS 9140 that includes a 3-channel emitter and detector module, and a 3-channel code wheel generates channel A (CH A), channel B (CH B), and channel I (CH I). Signals CH A and CH B are in quadrature and are offset from each other by 90° in phase. These two signals are used to detect incremental change in position and direction of movement . Channel CH I is typically used as a signal that occurs once for every rotation of the code wheel and it indicates an "absolute zero" ( or reference) position. A high resolution index track allows index pulses to occur on every cycle of signal CH A or CH B. A unique sequence of index pulses is used to determine the absolute position of a rotating member. Many applications, e.g. brushless motor commutation and short local homing sequences for robotics, require absolute position sensing. A quasi-absolute solution is desirable because an incremental 3-channel encoder is less expensive than an absolute encoder and the incremental signals can be used for high precision position tracking once the absolute position is found. US-A-4,628,298 relates to a positional encoder which provides absolute position information. A one-direction encoder comprises a code wheel on which a four-bit chain code is formed. In the four-bit chain code, the elements are arranged in an ordered sequence, such that any four consecutive bits in the code sequence define a unique word. In addition, a clock track 16 is provided. The above chain encoder embodiment of US-A-4,628,298 is useful where the rotating member rotates in a predetermined direction. In order to obtain a bi-directional chain code encoder, four separate tracks are employed, firstly, a chain code sequence for use with clockwise rotation, secondly, a chain code sequence for use with counter-clockwise rotation, thirdly, a first clock track and fourthly, a second clock track which is positioned in quadrature with the first clock track. In a second example of a bi-directional encoder, only one code track in which position and synchronisation data are embedded is used according to US-A-4,628,298. In order to derive direction information from this single code track, different duty cycles are used for logic ones and logic zeros in a binary sequence of the code track. DE 19532903 A relates to an angle sensor having an incremental track and a code track. Starting from an angle of 0°, the code track comprises markings, the width of which increases with increasing distance from the marking at 0°. EP-A-0 575 663 relates to a position sensor. In order to obtain direction information, two direction tracks with a phase-offset of 90° are provided. In addition, a third track having a binary pattern is provided. The binary pattern includes respective data words having a length of six bits and start/stop signs of a length of four bits positioned between the respective data words. The quasi-absolute encoder, e. g. a 3-channel encoder module and special code wheel, determines absolute position within one revolution. The pattern of signal CH I index pulses is designed using the method described in this application and a code wheel is designed with this pattern. The code wheel is mounted on a shaft and a pre-determined index pulse is aligned to a reference or "absolute zero" position just like what is done with a single index 3-channel encoder. Then, based on a decoding table, the absolute position can be determined from the index pulse sequence that is generated by the code wheel movement. The quasi-absolute encoding system includes a programmable logic device (PLD) and read-only memory (ROM). The three signals from the encoder are channel A (CH A), channel (CH B), and channel (CH I). For each cycle (360° in phase) on signals CH A and CH B, there are four states. Signal CH B is offset from signal CH A by 90° in phase. Signal CH I can occur as often as once every cycle and has a unique sequence. The PLD decodes the unique pattern of the index pulses, determines direction of movement and provides a unique address to the ROM. This unique address in the ROM stores the absolute position of the code wheel. The unique sequence is determined according to the flow-chart presented. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a process flow chart for determining a unique sequence for the index track. Figure 2 is an example of a unique sequence for N=3. Figures 3A and 3B illustrate the encoder signals for the example shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 illustrates the encoder signals for a truncated unique sequence. Figure 5 illustrates a system using the code wheel and module of the present invention. Figure 6 illustrates the decoder shown in Figure 5. Figure 1 illustrates a process diagram for determining the unique sequence. In step 110, the desired resolution is expressed in binary 2 N and i are initialized to be 0. In step 112, x is selected to be less than the desired resolution and A i is set to x. In step 114, the next number in the sequence A i+1 is twice the previous number in the sequence A i modulus 2 N . In step 116, the next number A i+1 is compared to the numbers in the sequence A R , for R = 0 to i. If the next number A i+1 is unique, then i incremented by 1 (step 118). If in step 120, i is less than 2 N , then return to step 114. If i is equal to or exceeds 2 N , then stop (step 122) If the next number A i+1 is a repeat, A i+1 + 1 mod 2 N is compared to the numbers in the sequence A R , for R= 0 to I (step 124). If A i+1 + 1 mod 2 N is unique, then the next number A i+1 is set to A i+1 + 1 mod 2 N (step 126) The procedure continues with step 118. If A i+1 + 1 mod 2 N is a repeat, check whether A i is an odd number (step 128). If not, then the (A i + 1) mod 2 N is compared to the numbers in the sequence A R , for R = 0 to i - I (step 129). If A i is odd or if A i + 1 mod 2 N is a repeat, then i is decremented by 1 (step 130). Return to step 128. If A i + 1 mod 2 N is unique, then A i is set to (A i + 1) mod 2 N and i is decremented by I (step 132). Return to step 114. Figure 2 illustrates the results for a desired resolution of 8 counts per revolution (CPR), N= 3. Although this process determines a unique sequence for the desired resolution, the sequence may be truncated with some care and used for a codewheel having less resolution, e.g. a desired resolution of 6. Figures 3A and 3B illustrates three channels of an optical encoder module for the example shown in Figure 2. CH I is sampled for three cycles on either CH A or CH B, and the serial pattern that CH I generates is different for each position of the code wheel where the samples are taken. This serial pattern combined with the direction information obtained from CH A and CH B within one quadrature state of movement is used to determine the absolute position as shown in the table. Thus, within any three cycles maximum on CH A or CH B (equivalent to 135 mechanical degrees), the absolute position can be found. Thus, an encoder having a resolution of 1024 bits can give the absolute position within 10 samples, one for each cycle on CH A or CH B given the direction information. The direction information can be found within one quadrature state and earlier than the position information. For a 1024 CPR quasi-absolute encoder, this is equivalent to a 12-bit absolute position encoder. For a 512 CPR quasi-absolute encoder, this is equivalent to an 11-bit absolute position encoder. For a 256 CPR quasi-absolute encoder, this is equivalent to a 10-bit absolute position encoder. Figure 4 illustrates three channels of an optical encoder module for a truncated sequence. Although N was selected to be 3, in this example, the desired resolution is 6, a subset of the original unique sequence. Figure 5 illustrates a system using the aforementioned codewheel. The codewheel 10 is positioned within an encoder module 12. The encoder module is further connected to a decoder 14. The decoding of the sampling may be done either in software or hardware. For a software decoder, a table look-up procedure is used to determine the absolute position. Often, the absolute position must be initialized to determine a starting point. The speed of rotation of the encoder module should be slower than the overall performance of the software decoder. Figure 6 illustrates a hardware implementation of the decoder shown in Figure 5. A programmable logic device receives 16 as inputs CH A, CH B, CH I, and a CLOCK signal. A read-only memory module (ROM) 18 has an absolute angle. The programmable logic device 16 outputs an address, direction of rotation, and a signal that corresponds to the quadrature count. The address is determined by sampling the CH I signal as described in Figure 3. This address is N bits long. The address combined with the UP/DOWN signal points to an address location in the ROM 18 where the absolute address is stored. The storage capacity of the ROM is 2 N+1 . The quadrature count and the UP/DOWN signal may be used by an optional counter to count in quadrature.

Claims: A "quasi"-absolute position detection apparatus comprising: a code wheel (10) having two direction tracks and a single index track; an encoder module (12) for scanning said two direction tracks so that a first and a second periodic signal (A, B) having the same cycle and a phase-offset of 90° with respect to each other are generated and for scanning said index track so that a binary sequence is generated, said binary sequence comprising a plurality of codewords each of which is formed of a predetermined amount of digits in the binary sequence, wherein each codeword corresponds to a unique position of the code wheel for a respective direction of movement of the code wheel, and wherein the codewords in the binary sequence overlap each other; and a decoder for determining direction of movement of said code wheel from said first and second signal and for determining the absolute position of said code wheel based on said binary sequence obtained form said single index track and said determined direction of movement. An apparatus, as defined in claim 1, wherein the decoder comprises a look-up table, each entry in the look-up table corresponding to the unique position of the code wheel. An apparatus, as defined in claim 2, wherein the decoder comprises a read-only memory, each address corresponding to the unique position of the code wheel. A method for fabricating an index track of a code wheel, said index track having a binary pattern defining a binary sequence of numbers A i , i being a running index, said method comprising the steps of: a) initializing i to be 0 and selecting the first number A 0 of the binary sequence less than a desired resolution 2 N , wherein N is the number of digits of each number; b) generating A i+1 = (2·A i )mod2 N ; c) if A i+1 is unique in the binary sequence, using A i+1 as the next number in the binary sequence, incrementing i by 1 and going to step l); d) if A i+1 is not unique in the binary sequence, determining (A i+1 +1)mod2 N ; e) if (A i+1 +1)mod2 N is unique in the binary sequence, using (A i+1 +1)mod2 N as the next number in the binary sequence, setting A i+1 equal to (A i+1 +1)mod2 N , incrementing i by l and going to step 1); f) if (A i+1 +1)mod2 N is not unique in the binary sequence, going to step g) ; g) checking, whether A i is odd; h) if it is determined that A i is odd in step g), decrementing i by 1 and going to step g); i) if it is determined that A i is not odd in step g), generating (A i +1)mod2 N ; j) if (A i +1)mod2 N is unique in the binary sequence, setting A i to (A i +1)mod2 N , decrementing i by 1 and going to step b); k) if (A i +1)mod2 N is not unique in the binary sequence, decrementing i by 1 and going to step g); l) comparing i to 2 N ; m) if i is less than 2 N , going to step b), and if i is not less than 2 N , going to step n); and n) placing the binary pattern on the code wheel. A method as defined in claim 4, further comprising the step of truncating the binary pattern prior to step n). A method for determining quasi-absolute position making use of an apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 3, which has a codewheel with an index track that has been fabricated according to the method defined in claims 4 or 5, comprising the steps of: sampling the signals that correspond to the tracks of the codewheel; and decoding the signals to determine the absolute position of the codewheel.

Inventors: JIANG NAN, VENUGOPAL PRASAD V, JIANG, NAN, VENUGOPAL, PRASAD V.
Applicants: AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC, AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (A DELAWARE CORPORATION)
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G01D5
IPC codes: G01D5, H03M1