Very low friction potentiometer or encoder

Question

Hi!

Hope you can help me. I'm going to build a wind vane that senses wind direction. For this I need a rotary position sensor such as a potentiometer or encoder. Its going to be connected to and Arduino Uno

*360 degrees rotation without stop.

- *Very low friction (free spinning)

- *Resolution of at least 360 per revolution.

- *Dead band of up to 45 degrees is OK

- *Ruggedness and durability is not of great concern, this is for an experiment.

- *Bellow USD $50

I have looked at several online, but found many to be very expensive. I have bought a BOURNS 6639S-1-103, but it simply has too much friction

dougw · Answer

Hi Tobias, If you can find a low friction bearing, you could use a non-contact sensor like the Melexis MLX90316. You just need to stick a magnet on the end of the shaft. Doug

dougw · Answer

Hi Tobias,

Perhaps you could just stick a magnet on the shaft of the wind vane...here is an Arduino implementation example:

Lab3 - Laboratory for Experimental Computer Science

Alternatively, some complete sensors would include:

Avago AEAT-6012-A06 (about $35)

Bourns EMS22P50-B28-LS6 (about $45)

Doug