When design engineers imagine an encoder, they usually think about shaft encoders. Typically, these look like a small can with a shaft poking from one end-turn the shaft and the encoder outputs an electrical signal according to the angle or change of angle. Inside most shaft encoders, an opto-sensor and a grating attach to the shaft. As the shaft rotates, the grating interrupts the sensors light path and an electrical pulse is produced. This is pretty straightforward, especially when measuring modest accuracies in benign conditions.
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