Tell direction/movement through a wheel? (No touch sensors or acceleromiter)

Community General Discussions
1

Just had a thought: would it be possible in the typical 2wd robot setup to have the 3rd "stabalization" wheel tell direction, or movement?(NOTE: just a fixed wheel, not an omniwheel or the like)

My initial idea was to set up 2 small dc motors and attach them to the wheel on either side, and wire differently. Add a transistor to prevent the reverse direction current from shorting out the circuit, and attach to the arduino digital input so it can tell which direction is which and whether the robot is moving or not.

However, the small dc motors don't put out much current at high speeds (and my robot will be going slow), so would this setup be viable for small scale? If not, do you have any other ideas?

2

Quad Encoders

You need some regular ol’ encoders on that wheel. The “standards” are optical ("slot encoder, “slot interrupter”) or a magnetic system (hall effect sensor).

If you want to detect direction, you are looking for “Quad Encoders”.

3

Thanks, I never knew such a

Thanks, I never knew such a thing existed! Can you reccomend a smaller and very easy to turn rotary encoder?

4

CtC

posted common types of encoders in his response. Optical (reflective or interruptor) or magnetic.

5

I mean for specific

I mean for specific products, as I plan on having a small wheel and the encoder would need to be easy to turn. Would rotary be the way to go? And would this one work fine?

6

I mean for specific

I mean for specific products, as I plan on having a small wheel and the encoder would need to be easy to turn. Would rotary be the way to go? And would this one work fine?