SPS: CambridgeIC position sensing chips get faster
“CambridgeIC’s family of position measuring ICs are an effective alternative to traditional position sensing approaches such as optical encoders or Hall encoders,” said the firm. “They offers the performance of an optical sensor without the fragility, and the convenience of a Hall sensor in geometries where Hall sensors are not usable.”
The company’s first product was the CAM204, designed into customer products since 2009, followed by the CAM502.The new one is CAM312.
“This has given us a good deal of experience and helped us learn what customers need in an embedded position sensing application,” company founder and MD David Ely told Electronics Weekly. “The CAM312 is a next step forward, motivated by all that market feedback.”
Compared with the CAM204, the CAM312 offers:
- 2,000sample/s instead of 1,000sample/s in the CAM204
- Much faster SPI interface
- Added checksum data integrity check
- Works with a wider tolerance to the exact resonant frequency of the inductive parts, which also reduces sensitivity to nearby metal parts.
- There is an automotive 150°C option
CAM204 chip is still recommended for applications requiring precision multi-axis sensing, for example pan and tilt angle sensing in surveillance cameras.
CAM502 is still recommended for fast-moving applications, for example electric vehicle traction motors and robots with tight control loops requiring the minimum of sensor group delay – CAM312 group delay is 200μs.
CAM312 is already being designed into several intelligent valve applications, providing linear position feedback for precise flow rate control.
Applications are expected in industrial valves, robotics and automotive applications.
It will be on-show at SPS IPC Drives (27-29 November in Nuremberg) on MEV’s stand (651, hall 1).
For more information (and to obtain a data sheet) visit the CAM312 page. Or visit .