toothed wheels for crankshaft position sensing

[Darrell Norquay]

At 04:15 PM 7/29/96 PDT, Matthew Lamari wrote:

>I don't know where my colleague got his hands on this sensor (magnetic) but 
>are they available?

There are lots of magnetic, proximity, etc. sensors available, for all
different types of applications.  Just have to know where to look.  If this
was not a rhetorical question, mail me back, I can come up with a list of
sources.

>And what is the benefit of the many (50+) toothed sensor?  Is it durability 
>without maintenance, simplification of hardware, or is there some benefit 
>which I am missing?

Wouldn't have much effect on durability, since you need the sensors no
matter how many teeth there are, nor would it affect the hardware complexity
from an electronic standpoint.  Main benefit is increased resolution.  You
can calculate rate of change of RPM, acceleration, etc. much more accurately
the more often you sample the crank position. It also requires some more
processor overhead, but a lot of the newer processors have self contained
timer systems that do it all with very little processor intervention.


regards
dn
dnorquay at awinc.com