Qaisar Zia

01-133202-167

EXPERIMENT 9

Linear Position Sensing of DC Servo motor

Objectives:

When you have completed this exercise, you will be familiar with the relationship between the
outputs of the Digital Servo two incremental encoders and the linear positioning of the servo
load

Equipment / Tool:

 PC with MATLAB and LV Servo installed

 DC Servo Motor Trainer (8063-00) with Servo Controller and Linear Axis

Background:

Position Sensing

The incremental encoders, sometimes called quadrature encoders, generate pulses as the
encoders internal shaft-mounted disc rotates. The encoder can be coupled to a servo motor or to a
pulley that is part of a belt-driven conveyor. Two signals in quadrature (90 degrees out of phase)
from the encoder, generate four transition signals that are totaled to determine the position as the
motor shaft or the pulley rotates. In addition, velocity can be determined by comparing the
generated pulses to a fixed time base.
The movement direction is determined using the phase relationship generated by the 90-degrees
(in quadrature) out-of-phase signal pairs. If the first signal pulse leads in relation to the second,
then movement is determined to be in a given direction. If the first signals pulse lags behind the
second, movement occurs in the opposite direction.
When the direction is determined, a software can calculate the platform position by decoding the
quadrature pulses to either add to or subtract (depending on the direction) from the pulse total.
To calculate the position in this way, however, a reference point must first be set. This can be
done by means of a third reference (also called index pulse) that is generated once per encoder
revolution. In the Digital Servo system, a command button from the computer interface resets the
incremental encoder to 0. Because of this need for a reference point, robots that make use of
Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

incremental encoders for sensing joint position need to be set with an initial reference point for
each joint. This process is called homing the robot.
The simplified incremental encoder described in the next section will provide a clearer
understanding of incremental encoder operation.
Simplified Incremental Shaft Encoder
The incremental encoder described below is a simplification of actual incremental encoders. This
simplification is useful to understand the basic concept underlying the operation of any
incremental encoders.
Imagine a disc with 16 holes penetrating the circumference as shown in Figure 1. Located at the
outside edge of the disc is an assembly with a pair of photo transmitting devices such as LEDs,
and photo receiving devices such as photo transistors. The device pairs will be labelled A and B.

Figure 9.1: Simplified Incremental Encoder Diagram

Figure 9.2 shows what happens as the disc rotates. When the rotation is in a counter-clockwise
direction, photo receiver A initially senses the light signal, then both A and B, followed by B
only, and finally neither A nor B. In a clockwise direction, the sequence is reversed. Both signals
A and B generate four-edge transitions that can be totaled to indicate the disc position. Thus, one
revolution of the disc produces 64 pulses (16 × 4).
Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

Figure 9.2: Quadrature Signals A and B

The Digital Servo incremental encoders
Two encoders are used in the Digital Servo system: the mother shaft incremental encoder and the
rail incremental encoder. Either encoder can be used to sense the linear position of the platform.
Each has different characteristics.
You have already used the motor shaft encoder in the previous exercise for measuring angular
positions of the flywheel coupled to the motor shaft. It contains 1000 “lines”. A “line” or slot, is
similar to the hole opening shown in the simplified encoder model in Figure 9.1. These 1000
lines produce 4000 counts per revolution. Since the pulley used on the platform belt contains 15
notches, the motor shaft encoder counts per groove is equal to 266.67 (4000/15). This means that
a belt travel distance equal to one single belt pitch (0.526 cm) corresponds to 266.67 pulses for
the motor shaft encoder.
The second encoder, the rail incremental encoder, is coupled to the pulley located just below the
platform belt. It contains 360 lines and produces 1440 counts per revolution. Its total counts per
groove is thus 96 (1440/15), which means that a belt travel of a single belt pitch (0.526 cm)
corresponds to 96 pulses for the rail encoder. Table 1 shows a summary of both incremental
encoder’s characteristics.
 Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

Table 9.1: Digital Servo Incremental Encoders Characteristics

Procedure:

 Run LV Servo, and click on the Device Controlled button in the Position Loop menu.
 Do not turn on the function generator Power switch for this part of the experiment. Leave the
Open Loop/Closed Loop switch in the OPEN LOOP position.
 Ensure that the Incremental Encoder Selection switch is set to MOTOR SHAFT ENCODER
 Move the platform to the extreme right-hand side until it is touching the end stop.
 Reset the count to 0 using the Position Reset switch
 Move the platform from right end stop to the left end stop and record the counts.
Counts = 33946
 Referring back to the discussion section, calculate the length (cm) that this travel represents.
Travel = 66cm
 Set the selection switch for the incremental encoders to Rail Encoder and repeat steps 4 through
7. Record the counts and calculate the travel length.
Counts = 12300
Travel = 66cm
 Complete Table 9.2 Recall that ±100% counts for the Digital Servo system are ±5000 counts.
 Figure 9.3 and Figure 9.4 are two diagrams representing the platform/belt arrangement. Using
the data from Table 9.2, complete both figures by filling in the blanks.
Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

Table 9.2: Measured Count Totals and Distances

9.62 3400 67.067

27.38 12500 68.07

Figure 9.3: Motor Shaft Encoder Diagram

Figure 9.4: Rail Encoder Diagram

Platform Position Reference

 Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

 Find the center (0) position reference of the platform by moving the platform to the right hand
stop position, resetting the position count to 0 and then moving the platform manually until the
count read is exactly half the total count. When this point is found, reset the position count to 0.
The platform has now been positioned too exactly half way. This also corresponds to the 0%
position reference.
 For both the motor shaft incremental encoder and the rail incremental encoder, calculate the
position reference in percentage, considering that the platform is to be placed exactly 5.1 cm to
the right of the 0-position reference
 Motor Shaft Incremental Encoder
Position Reference = 54.4 %
 Rail Incremental Encoder
Position Reference = 19.5%
 Run LV Servo, and click on the Device Controlled button in the Position Loop menu. Make sure
the settings are initially as shown in Table 9.3.
 Set the function generator Power switch to ON
 Using a ruler, measure the platform movement in cm
Platform Movement = 11cm
 Set the function generator Offset to OFF
 Set the Open Loop/Closed Loop switch to OPEN LOOP
 Set the Incremental Encoder Selection switch to RAIL ENCODER
 Set the function generator Offset to the value calculated in Step 12) for the rail encoder
 Set the Open Loop/Closed Loop switch to CLOSED LOOP
 Set the function generator Power switch to ON.
 Using a ruler, measure the platform movement in cm
Platform Movement = 12.56 cm
 Set the function generator Power switch to OFF
 Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

Table 9.3: Settings for measuring the platform movement

Review Questions:
 Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

1. Considering the Digital Servo system using the motor shaft incremental encoder, what position
reference in percentage would be required to position the platform 6 cm from the 0% reference
point?

2. Considering the Digital Servo system using the rail incremental encoder, what position
reference in percentage would be required to position the platform 6 cm from the 0%
reference point?

3. The position reference for the Digital Servo system using the rail incremental encoder is
70%, What is the platform movement in cm?
Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

4. Suppose the Digital Servo system original motor shaft incremental encoder was replaced
with an encoder that had a resolution of 10000 counts perrevolution. Calculate the resulting
encoder gain.

5. The default range of the position measurement for the Digital Servo system is ± 5000
counts. This range can be changed with the HMI. Suppose that the position needs to be
correlated to percent in the following way:
Qaisar Zia
01-133202-167

100% is equivalent to a displacement of 25.4 cm or 0.3 cm/%. A position reference of 50%

would thus result in a 12.7-cm displacement. Knowing this, calculate the rail incremental
encoder modified range.

Conclusion:

In this lab we learn about servo motors which are used in many industries and have
several advantages. They provide a solution to many mechanical problems and have
features that make them powerful and efficient.