Design and Implementation of the Absolute Linear Position Sensor for the Stewart Platform

The article deals with design and implementation of absolute linear position sensor for sensing of a ball screw position. The ball screw is one of the main parts in a linear actuator of the “Device for mechanical assessment of human body functional segments”. The proposed sensor is based on principle of sensing a position of a permanent magnet of family Hall IC (integrated circuit). The magnet is attached to the endstop of the moving ball screw. PCB (printed circuit board) with Hall IC are mounted to the casing of the linear actuator. Data acquisition is executed by an 8-bit microcontroller which provides the actual position of the ball screw via serial communication interface.