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I am working on a plotter using stepper motors in X and Y direction.So to get a feedback that stepper motors are working properly I want to add a sensor to track that stepper motors are plotting or working.
I used to repair fruit machines, and how they do it is to have a infra-red slot and notches on the wheel so as to have a start position and also index the movement of the wheel. You can get these things out of an old mouse.
A stepper motor needs only a starting point to be sure of the positionning .(as it advance (or should)the number of step you tell it)
To check if you are handling it properly you could at a specific point get a sensor that shoud match a certain count and therefore be sure ,if the count match the value, that no missing movement has occured.
If you accelerate a stepper motor too kwickly it can miss some step.
also if you overtorque it...
kindly elaborate more.Can I use a Infrared sensor module which is sensing that the plotter is plotting by tracking the movement in front of it.
Can you have any information of Infrared sensor module.Any module,
If you want to be sure of movement.(I did not get the idea that is what is the main topic,I guess I'm missing a lot lately)
Mount a mouse with a camera,optic mouse,they are cheap , and see that a continuous train of pulses reach the input of the microprocessor.
That is a suggestion ,I dont know how good it will seem to others..
I'm not sure what I'm suggesting is what you're after,
If you're looking for monitoring the position of a plotter header, then a couple of accelerometers at 90 degree's to each other can be used to do this (attached to the plotter head. Think calculus and how it links acceleration - speed - position
This would make quite a neat project (undergraduate level), a 2D position monitor system.
If you're just looking to find out if the plotter header is moving, then this approach is not the way to go.
Easy - if they still are available...
Use 2 mercury tilt switches slightly off axis so that inertia in one direction will cause contact closure - and use 1 for each direction of travel- then OR them together. May need a Schmitt trigger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmitt_trigger
or use conductive ink on the drive belt (several locations) and make some lightweight/small contacts to detect on/off contacts while head is in motion.
The accelerometer is a good idea too. Its simpler if you only need to detect motion and not measure movement.
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