Automatic Calibration of Sinusoidal Encoder Signals

Silvano Balemi, SUPSI - DTI, Department of Innovative Technologies, University of Applied Sciences of Switzerland, Lugano

Abstract: Precision positioning and manipulation systems often rely on data from sensors delivering a sinusoidal signal pair. These signals can be interpolated to provide a high resolution measurement.

The talk presents a novel method for removing signal differences and drifts by automatic self-calibrating the sinusoidal signal pair. Then, manual calibration is avoided and slow varying effects, like thermal drifts or imprecise sensor mounting, can be effectively compensated.

The proposed method uses an on-line gradient search to minimize a given performance index. The algorithm has been implemented on a DSP. The work in progress for the hardware implementation of the algorithm will be also presented.

About the speaker: Silvano Balemi is a Professor at the Department of innovative Technologies (DTI) of the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) where he has been teaching since 1999. He is a member of the direction of the Department, where he is the responsible for the research activities.

Dr. Balemi also teaches at the Master in Embedded Systems Design of the University of Lugano where he gives a course and regularly supervises master projects. In 2003 he founded the group for precision mechatronics at SUPSI, which strongly interacts with companies active in precision engineering in the region and in Switzerland.


Download visuals (4.7 MB pdf)

Click here to see presentation slides with voice recording