Screenshot of my Inkscape optical rotary encoder disc generator with the GRBC menu open
I added support for creating gray encoded absolute rotary encoder disks to my Inkscape extension (original post: Inkscape extension for creating optical rotary encoder discs). More specifically binary-reflected Gray code encoders!
Basically these encoders enable you to get an absolute position of your encoder disk unlike normal rotary encoders which are incremental and cannot give you an absolute angle without knowing previous movements and starting point.
With n number of tracks (and sensors) you will get 2^n number of distinguishable positions. So with say five tracks you could distinguish 2^5 = 32 different positions which would translate to an angular resolution of 11.25 degrees (360/32 = 11.25).
I will most likely add support for single-track gray encoders (Wikipedia: Single-track_Gray_code) next.
Grab the extension from GitHub (see original post for installation instructions!): GitHub: Inkscape rotary encoder disk generator
If you have any comments (or find any bugs) or wishes for additional features, please let me know!
Pretty cool, thx