5 ms·

Hall effect sensors are really neat. I'm a mechatronics engineer by education, but I almost exclusively work with software. One of the reasons for this is that

Hall effect sensors are really neat. I'm a mechatronics engineer by education, but I almost exclusively work with software. One of the reasons for this is that I dislike the fallibility of The Real World™. Switches wear out with time, you get noise in your circuits if someone turns on the microwave, and all that - I click better with solving problems in the domain of ideas, and software is closer to that. On one hardware project I did a couple of years ago, which involved automated closing and opening of a sliding door, we used hall effect instead of mechanical for the limit switches. I didn't react strongly to the idea at the time but boy, was it a good one. No issues with aligning switches precisely, no worrying about switches wearing out or getting stuck, minimal handling of debouncing necessary. And it was even totally silent! I think this was the closest I got to perceiving something in the real world to be as elegant and consistent as (most) things are in the code world.

runnerup 4y ago
Hahaha whereas Hall effect sensors caused me no end of trouble using it as a design component to measure the current draw of an AC motor in a valve actuator. The EMF from the motor played all kinds of havoc on the Hall effect sensor.
defrost 4y ago
If you enjoyed triggering against events in the milliTesla range [1] imagine the excitement of continously measuring nine inputs in the nanoTesla range [2] - three axis magnetometers at the wingtips and tailboom of a drafting airframe [3] 80m above ground for millions of line kms per survey [4]. [1] https://www.ti.com/product/TMAG5124 https://www.ti.com/product/TMAG5124 [2] https://georesults.com.au/product/geometrics-g-822a-caesium-cs-vapour-magnetometer/ https://georesults.com.au/product/geometrics-g-822a-caesium-... [3] https://scintrexltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CS-VL-Manual-773701-Rev0.pdf https://scintrexltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CS-VL-Man... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZyNIGFHsE4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZyNIGFHsE4
fest 4y ago
There is another type of switch even more common in industrial automation: inductive switch, where the trigger mechanism relies on inductive coupling between an external target and a coil in sensor (for all practical purposes the target is ferrous metal- they do usually work against aluminum alloys or stainless steel but at greatly reduced range). I usually see hall-based switches being used to detect pneumatic cylinder position- the plunger in cylinders has an embedded magnet and there is a rail on the outside of cylinder where you can fix a small sensor.
FpUser 4y ago
Reed switch for this application might be even better

runnerup 4y ago

Hahaha whereas Hall effect sensors caused me no end of trouble using it as a design component to measure the current draw of an AC motor in a valve actuator. The EMF from the motor played all kinds of havoc on the Hall effect sensor.

defrost 4y ago

If you enjoyed triggering against events in the milliTesla range [1] imagine the excitement of continously measuring nine inputs in the nanoTesla range [2] - three axis magnetometers at the wingtips and tailboom of a drafting airframe [3] 80m above ground for millions of line kms per survey [4]. [1] https://www.ti.com/product/TMAG5124 https://www.ti.com/product/TMAG5124 [2] https://georesults.com.au/product/geometrics-g-822a-caesium-cs-vapour-magnetometer/ https://georesults.com.au/product/geometrics-g-822a-caesium-... [3] https://scintrexltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CS-VL-Manual-773701-Rev0.pdf https://scintrexltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CS-VL-Man... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZyNIGFHsE4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZyNIGFHsE4

fest 4y ago

There is another type of switch even more common in industrial automation: inductive switch, where the trigger mechanism relies on inductive coupling between an external target and a coil in sensor (for all practical purposes the target is ferrous metal- they do usually work against aluminum alloys or stainless steel but at greatly reduced range). I usually see hall-based switches being used to detect pneumatic cylinder position- the plunger in cylinders has an embedded magnet and there is a rail on the outside of cylinder where you can fix a small sensor.

FpUser 4y ago

Reed switch for this application might be even better