Posted to News on 24th Oct 2006, 20:21
Inmoco launches "world's smallest" 50-nanometre encoder
Inmoco is extending its Mercury range of digital encoders from MicroE Systems by introducing the Mercury 1800 kit encoder. Moreover, Inmoco says that the Mercury 1800 is the smallest encoder to provide up to 50nm or 100nm resolution directly from the sensor, which measures just 8.9mm high and contains all signal processing and interpolation electronics. This makes the Mercury 1800 quick to install, and excellent for high-noise environments, since there is no need for remote electronics.
The M1800 is good for OEMs, enabling engineers to achieve significant space savings, cost reductions and performance improvements in their designs. It is available in two resolutions, 50 or 100nm linear, or up to 6.5million CPR rotary, both of which use the same sensor to minimise inventories.
The high resolution provided by the M1800 minimises cogging for smooth motion control, while its exclusive 1-LSB optical index allows excellent system repeatability, ease of system set-up and start-up, and also recovery at full encoder resolution. Importantly, the Mercury encoder index is built into the scale and requires no installation. This compares favourably with competitive encoders that typically offer low-speed Hall sensor indexes that are time-consuming to install, often have to be adjusted to work correctly, operate at limited speeds and can only be read from one direction.
Wide alignment tolerances mean that OEMs can set up the M1800 in about 30 seconds using MicroE Systems' SmartPrecision Alignment Tool. In addition, Optional SmartPrecision software provides a digital read out in engineering units and Lissajous data plots for other set-up and diagnostic functions.
Two connector options are available with the M1800: the model M1800S is fitted with a standard high-density D-sub connector and is completely EMI shielded; the M1800H is equipped with a high-density micro connector for use in very tight spaces. Digital A-quad-B output is standard and is RS-422 compatible.
The Mercury encoder family from MicroE Systems
The Mercury encoder family includes 21 models, all of which are claimed to be smaller, faster and smarter than any other encoders on the market. This breadth of product range means that OEM engineers can select the encoder model that is just right for their application - from programmable, digital, analogue and vacuum models - while enjoying significant performance improvements.
