Which Is Better For You, Encoder Or Potentiometer?

When you decide that your project needs a rotation input, you need to consider choosing a potentiometer or fanuc encoder. Both devices can sense the rotation of the shaft, but their working principle is different, and their advantages and disadvantages are also different. So which of these two devices is more suitable for your project?

Basic Knowledge Of Encoder And Potentiometer

The main difference between potentiometer and encoder is that the potentiometer can only rotate clockwise or counterclockwise to set the distance before it needs to stop, while the encoder can rotate continuously in any direction.

In terms of wiring, potentiometers usually need a positive voltage on the external street and the other connector needs to be grounded. A slider is required to connect the two connectors as a voltage divider. The voltage can be changed by changing the position of the contact contact contact resistance element.

The encoder operates in digital mode, including absolute encoder and incremental encoder. The absolute encoder can sense its actual angle based on an internal sensor and allow the user to read the data. The incremental encoder can not directly sense the angle, but will send pulses to the control hardware when rotating.

Characteristics Of Potentiometer And Encoder

The working principle of potentiometer is different from that of induction encoder. Potentiometer is essentially an analog input device, while encoder is digital. Therefore, the laser encoder has become more and more widely used in recent decades, and the potentiometer can also be used. The potentiometer mainly has the following functions.

The potentiometer can control other analog electronic devices in the range of 0-100%, such as when you need to adjust the volume.

You can set the potentiometer to adjust the voltage in a nonlinear way, which is very useful in audio applications because the human ear cannot hear the linear change of sound. If you want to use potentiometers in digital systems, you need an analog-to-digital converter.

Because the voltage output of the potentiometer depends entirely on its position and does not need a computer to monitor its change, it is simple to use.

Absolute encoder and incremental encoder are digital devices, but you can still use a variety of sensing technologies in them. The high-resolution encoder indicates the position by sending 0 and 1. Therefore, you need to use a microcontroller or other digital system with these devices to complete the conversion and output. The magnetic encoder can rotate continuously, and most optical encoders have high resolution. Because of this, they have to sacrifice some computing power.

Although you can use potentiometers in analog or digital circuits, linear encoders can only be used for digital monitoring. The two devices are interchangeable in many cases. But if you need a user interface that can rotate in one direction, or you need something to continuously monitor the rotating motor, the fanuc spindle encoder is the only choice.

On the other hand, if you want a simple user interface, such as a rotatable volume knob and a motor with limited monitoring range, potentiometer is a better choice.