{"id":3232,"date":"2021-06-15T14:53:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T14:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/mounting-scales-to-a-hub-2\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T07:17:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:17:30","slug":"mounting-scales-to-a-hub-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/mounting-scales-to-a-hub-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mounting Scales to a Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-mounting-scales-to-a-hub\">Mounting Scales to a Hub<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An incremental encoder is a device used to measure the change and direction of motion. It consists of a readhead and scale. The readhead includes a specific sensor technology and light source, along with any other filtering optics required to direct the light onto the sensor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incremental encoder scale has a main track comprising lines of equal pitch and an index track. The main track alone does not provide absolute position information, so an index mark is added on a second track to provide a reference position. When the readhead passes over the index, an output is generated. At power up, the index track tells the controller\/drive when the scale is in the zero position. This is called a homing routine. After the home or reference position is located, the controller\/drive tracks incremental position changes relative to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main track is detected to measure high resolution change in position through the conversion of a light intensity signal to sine and cosine signals. By interpolating these signals, you increase the counts detected per revolution, and therefore increase the overall resolution of the encoder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"570\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Mounting-Scales-to-a-Hub.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Mounting-Scales-to-a-Hub.jpg?quality=85&amp;strip=all 570w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Mounting-Scales-to-a-Hub.jpg?resize=320%2C253&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 320w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Mounting-Scales-to-a-Hub.jpg?resize=400%2C316&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-arrow type-light\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.celeramotion.com\/optical-sensors\/products\/optical-rotary-encoders\/\">Optical Rotary Encoders<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-arrow type-light\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.celeramotion.com\/optical-sensors\/products\/linear-encoders\/\">Optical Linear Encoders<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/incremental-scales.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/incremental-scales.jpg?quality=85&amp;strip=all 878w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/incremental-scales.jpg?resize=320%2C133&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 320w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/incremental-scales.jpg?resize=400%2C166&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 400w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/incremental-scales.jpg?resize=840%2C349&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 840w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 878px) 100vw, 878px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Incremental Scales<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of the simplicity of the scale, incremental encoders require less complex sensor technology and have zero communication latency which is introduced in absolute encoders. An absolute track provides a unique signal at each location on the scale and due to this added complexity, requires a more advanced sensor technology. The simple design of an incremental encoder makes it a lower cost option for systems that do not require absolute position feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"294\" width=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/Absolute-scale.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/Absolute-scale.jpg?quality=85&amp;strip=all 565w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/Absolute-scale.jpg?resize=320%2C314&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 320w, https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/03\/Absolute-scale.jpg?resize=400%2C392&amp;quality=85&amp;strip=all 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><p style=\"text-align: center\"><b>Absolute Scale<\/b><\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mounting Scales to a Hub An incremental encoder is a device used to measure the change and direction of motion. It consists of a readhead and scale. The readhead includes a specific sensor technology and light source, along with any other filtering optics required to direct the light onto the sensor. The incremental encoder scale [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3232","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Benefits of An Incremental Encoder | Celera Motion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn why our MicroE Incremental Encoder is the most simple, low-cost option for measuring motion in systems that do not need absolute position feedback.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/mounting-scales-to-a-hub-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mounting Scales to a Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn why our MicroE Incremental Encoder is the most simple, low-cost option for measuring motion in systems that do not need absolute position feedback.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/robotics-automation\/mounting-scales-to-a-hub-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Robotics &amp; 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