A Design and Fabrication Pipeline for Integrating Rotary Encoders into 3D Printed Mechanisms
Name
AlAlawi-malalawi-SM-meche-2023-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
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103.76 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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db83b3d2097d32b513e71fe537097749
Author(s)
AlAlawi, Marwa
Advisor(s)
Mueller, Stefanie
Date Issued
June 2023
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In this thesis, we introduce MechSense: rotary encoders 3D-printed in one pass alongside rotational mechanisms. MechSense encoders report on their angular position, direction of rotation, and speed. MechSense encoders utilize capacitive sensing by integrating a floating capacitor into the rotating element and three capacitive sensor patches in the stationary part of the mechanism. Unlike existing rotary encoders, MechSense does not require manual assembly and can be effortlessly integrated during design and fabrication. MechSense is accompanied by an editor that allows users to integrate the encoder within a rotating mechanism.
We contribute a sensor topology and a computational model that can compensate for print deviations. We also evaluate our sensing model for angular position detection (mean error: 1.4°) across multiple prints and rotations, different spacing between sensor patches, and different sizes of sensors. Finally, we demonstrate MechSense through three application examples on 3Dprinted tools, tangible UIs, and gearboxes.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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