Magnetic rotation
The company believes that the AS5040 is ideal for industrial applications including motion control, robotics, brush-less DC motor commutation and power tools. In the automotive industry it could be used for steering wheel and gas pedal position sensing, headlight control, power seat position indicators and transmission box encoders.
The AS5040 operates in a contactless system with a small magnet that is placed either above or below the device. The device can detect 1024 positions in a full 360-degree magnet turn.
Ralf Kodritsch, marketing manager for the Sensors & Automation division, comments: "Its small physical dimensions and robustness makes this device a reliable and cost-effective alternative to optical encoders. The contactless position sensing and wide temperature operating range makes this device ideally suited for harsh environments. The AS5040 has been tailored for applications with high resolution and accuracy requirements such as steering wheel position detection or industrial motion control."
The AS5040 provides absolute, incremental and pulse width modulated digital output signals simultaneously. The user programmable index / zero position enables rotational speed measurement, while a synchronous serial interface output provides absolute position data. The AS5040 can be configured to specific customer requirements by programming the integrated one-time programmable internal register. An internal voltage regulator allows the AS5040 to operate at either 3.3V or 5V.
The AS5040 also includes a failure detection feature that monitors the magnet placement during operation. The operating temperature range is from -40degreesC to +125degreesC.
