In stock     ANGL    Precision Angle Sensor        $24.00  

The angle sensor allows accurate measurement of angles between 0 and 270 degrees.  The shaft does not allow continuous rotation.  This sensor is useful in designs that have limited rotation and need to measure the angle with resolution down to one degree.  It can also be used as a knob to "dial in" a variable to your program.  This sensor must be connected to the  three wire converter brick   for proper operation.

The Angle sensor comes with a cable.  One end mates with the Three Wire Converter brick.  The other end mates with the angle sensor.  This connector can be reversed to change the direction corresponding to increasing RCX value.
 

PrecisionAngle Sensor 

Angle sensor used to measure position of a "hand" gripper.

Sensor mounted to Lego shaft.  This provide a strong mounting for attaching a lever arm.

The Rotation Sensor can be used to measure the angle between two beams.  For example: how far a robot arm is raised.  Attach the sensor to one beam with a flat plate.  Push a grey double-peg into the beam hole.  Place a piece of tape on the exposed peg.  This tape will make the peg fit tightly into the other beam.  (green beam in illustration above)  The idea is to make the peg turn as the green beam is moved.  You may have to experiment with the type and amount of tape you apply.  When properly attached, the green beam will rotate easilly until it reaches the sensor limit. Rotating the green beam further will cause the blue sensor body to rotate.  This is useful two ways:  First, it protects the sensor from damage.  Second, you can rotate the blue sensor body to "zero set" your particular design.
 

RCX value

The angle sensor has a rotation of aprox. 270 degrees.  This rotation is spread over the full range of the RCX in a linear fashion.  Which end is zero depends on which orientation you have plugged the black 3-pin connector to the sensor.  In terms of light sensor values, one end of rotation will be zero, the other end will be 100.  The middle point will read 50.

Specifications

• Size of blue sensor body visible in picture above: 0.375 x 0.375 x 0.20 inches.
• Shaft Diameter 0.122 inch.
• Shaft length past bushing:  0.24 inch.
• Bushing length:  0.25 inch.
• Resistance:  10K ohms.
• Lead spacing:  0.100 inch.
• Potentiometer P/N:  Bourns 3310C
• Sensor potentiometer supplied with one-hole beam and shaft-peg.
• Includes cable to connect to 3WRE converter.

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Technical Description

Linear potentiometer of a size that is convenient for mating with Lego parts.  For linear reading via Mindstorms RCX, this sensor must be attached to the 3-wire converter brick.  In operation, five volts DC is applied across the pot.  The wiper arm (center lead) picks off a voltage that is proportional to the shaft position.  This voltage is sent back to the RCX.  If the RCX is programmed to read this sensor as a light sensor, the return voltage is converted into a mindstorms value between zero and 100.  This value will be protortional to the shaft position.