Week #10: (3/28-4/1) ADC0831 & Rotary Encoder

[rjagodowski]

Reminder that your first exam is due this Thursday, 3/24, on or before noon. Details are here.

Today we're going to discuss the StampWorks BS2 Experimenter Kit and two specific peripheral components: the ADC0831 which we will use to convert an Analog voltage to an 8-bit digital quantity, and the Rotary Encoder. The datasheets for the ADC0831 and Rotary Encoder are attached below.

The ADC chip outputs a serial 8 bit digital value for an applied analog input.

The rotary encoder is commonly used in many applications now which used to use a potentiometer. The rotary encoder outputs a binary signal as the shaft is rotated. Unlike a potentiometer, the rotary encoder does not have any stops associated with its travel, so it can rotate indefinitely. It is bidirectional. The rotary encoder is connected to a microcontroller to interpret the rotary encoder's output and then act on its value.

Here's a link to State Electronics - Optical and Mechanical Rotary Encoders. Many of these operate by generating a quadrature signal. Here's a brief discussion on Encoder Measurements from National Instruments.com. For your convenience, a pdf of the NI tutorial is attached here as well:

NI-Tutorial-Encoder Measurement_7109-en.pdf

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