Patent ID: 8030916

Claim:
A sensor system for measuring an angle of rotation comprising: an arrangement of at least four magnetic sensors, each one outputting a voltage proportional to the strength of a magnetic field measured by a sensor; at least four signal modulators, each one connected to one of the magnetic sensors and having at least two control states, the signal modulators being adapted to output, in a first state, a current corresponding to a voltage output by a sensor, and, in a second state, a current corresponding to the inverse of the voltage output by the sensor; a means for adding by connecting in parallel the currents output by the signal modulators such that the currents provided by the at least four signal modulators are electrically added up to a total current; a diametrically magnetized magnetic source placed in such a way that the magnetic field of the magnet can be sensed by the sensors; a data output; and a control circuit with at least one control input allowing to switch the control circuit into at least two different modes, wherein in a normal mode of operation, the signal modulators are configured in such a way that a signal based on the total current corresponding to the angular position of the diametrically magnetized magnetic source is output to the data output, and wherein in an alignment mode of operation, the signal modulators are configured in such a way that a signal based on the total current corresponding to the average magnetic field strength detected by the sensors is output to the data output, such that the position of the diametrically magnetized magnetic source can be aligned with respect to the magnetic sensors.