Hello all!
Currently I have a moving servo controlled by my arduino Uno. I want to verify the rotational displacement to a high accuracy by implementing a rotary encoder. I bought and attached the CUI AMT113Q encoder (datasheet) and its associated programming USB cable (datasheet) only to realize that actually capturing the rotational data on my computer was not as intuitive as I thought.
Per the datasheet, this encoder "is designed to operate with a serial UART interface" and its "serial interface operates at 115200 baud with 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit, and 1 start bit." Looking at the serial port where I plugged in the USB, at those settings, resulted in a blank document, no values incoming. I'm a bit clueless on the innerworkings of serial protocols, and finding information online about UART protocol that was directly relevant to me has been very difficult.
But, I am thinking there has to be some intermediary step that I can implement, involving wiring the output pins of my encoder to the Rx, Tx, 5V, and other pins on my Arduino Uno and having some program on my arduino process this UART hocus pocus into degree rotations visible on my computer.
Can anyone please advise on the necessity of this and how I might get started? The closest thing I could find was this forum post involving the arduino code associated with a similar problem and a similar product, but that product communicating via SPI, which I understand to be different than my scenario.
Thank you!