A Moving Magnetic Grid-Type Long-Range Linear Absolute Displacement Sensor

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional magnetic absolute linear displacement sensors in which cables affect the flexibility and measurement range in linear motor transmission systems, this paper proposes a novel cable-free moving magnetic grid-type long-range absolute displacement sensor. The sensor consists of a magnetic grid and a signal acquisition board. The magnetic grid is a moving component that contains two rows of permanent magnet arrays, one for relative displacement measurement and the other for the displacement interval code. The signal acquisition board is a fixed component that uses n groups of two-row Hall sensor arrays for continuous absolute displacement measurement. The principle of the sensor using the 2D magnetic field signal for the relative displacement measurement is analyzed, and a measurement method based on Hall sensor arrays for coding and absolute displacement detection over n cycles is proposed. Finally, a sensor prototype is fabricated and the experiments are performed. The experimental results show that the measurement resolution of the sensor is 5 μm, and the measurement accuracy is ±14.8 μm within the measurement range of 0–98.3 mm. The proposed sensor can realize continuous absolute displacement measurement over multiple cycles without cable binding.