Hi guys, I want to measure the azimuth and elevation of a tethered balloon.
The setup is as follows
The tether (one to two meters) is fixed to the platform with the balloon attached at the other end. Next, I would like to estimate the value of the angles α and φ using two rotary encoders.
I have found some papers that already do this, but the scale of those projects is too large and the setup they use seems like overkill for my purposes, spec-wise and cost-wise.
Do you know of any small scale encoders that I could try to work with to implement a practical solution?
If that question was aimed at me, I envisaged that the software would count the pulses from the encoder when moving it from the reference direction to the direction to be measured
Hi,
If you use digital encoders, there are basically two types.
Incremental encoders that need to be homed or referenced each time they are powered up.
Usually 2 or 3 digital outputs, 2 (x, y) for quad encoding and a z output for a "sync" output.
Absolute encoders that have three or more digital outputs, giving a digital word from an encoded disk, it does not need to be homed each time there is a power up.
As @UKHeliBob suggests, for the limited angle a pot for azimuth, and if the kite doesn't swing through more than 720deg (pot wiper movement) a pot for azimuth.
@bobaFetty what sort of resolution are you needing?
Potentiometers usually have a fair amount of static friction - you can get optical shaft encoders with a bearing which will take less force to align.
I think an IMU module can be used to get the tether orientation too, if mounted in-line
with the tether and with a weight to stop it rotating along the tether axis?
