Patent ID: 7550965

Claim:
A gimbal assembly for measuring an angular position of a rotatable structure comprising: a gimbal having a rotatable joint portion; an annular ring that is eccentrically rotatable about an axis of the rotatable joint portion; a first and second pair of eddy current sensors being rotatable relative to the annular ring and disposed a predetermined distance from the axis such that the first and second eddy current sensors have a first and second output level, respectively, that is proportional to the angular position of the annular ring, the first pair of eddy current sensors being disposed approximately 90 degrees from the second pair of eddy current sensors, each eddy current sensor of each pair of eddy current sensors being disposed approximately 180 degrees from one another, the annular ring having a surface that faces toward the first and second eddy current sensors, the surface being essentially smooth in contour; and a sensor transducing circuit operable to proportionally combine the first and second output levels into an output signal based upon a weighting factor, the weighting factor being proportional to an absolute value of the first output level such that the sensor transducing circuit is configured to increase the weighting of the second output level as the absolute value of the first output level approaches a relative peak value.