Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Electronic Distance Measuring Instruments

Electronic Distance Measuring Instruments

Electronic Distance Measuring Instruments (EDMs) are essential tools in modern surveying, offering precise distance measurements by emitting electromagnetic signals and calculating the time required for these signals to travel to a target and return. Two primary types of signals are used in EDMs — light waves and microwaves — each suited to specific environmental and distance requirements. Light-wave-based EDMs utilize either infrared or laser light, providing high accuracy over short distances...

Galvanometer

Galvanometer

Common devices, including car instrument panels, battery chargers, and inexpensive electrical instruments, measure potential difference (voltage), current, or resistance using a d'Arsonval galvanometer. This electromechanical instrument is also known as a moving coil galvanometer.
The galvanometer consists of two concave-shaped permanent magnets, providing a uniform radial magnetic field in the annular region. In the center, a pivoted coil of fine copper wire is placed in the uniform magnetic...

Position Vectors

Position Vectors

A position vector is a fundamental concept in mathematics that helps determine the position of one point with respect to another point in space. It is a vector that describes the direction and distance between two points. Position vectors are highly useful in the field of math and science, as they help represent spatial relationships and make calculations easier.
For instance, we want to locate a point P(x, y, z) relative to the origin of coordinates O. In that case, we can define a position...

Gyroscope: Precession

Gyroscope: Precession

Precession can be demonstrated effectively through a spinning top. If a spinning top is placed on a flat surface near the surface of the Earth at a vertical angle and is not spinning, it will fall over due to the force of gravity producing a torque acting on its center of mass. However, if the top is spinning on its axis, it precesses about the vertical direction, rather than topple over due to this torque. Precessional motion is a combination of a steady circular motion of the axis and the...

Leveling Equipment

Leveling Equipment

As leveling involves measuring vertical distances relative to a horizontal line of sight, it requires a graduated rod, called a level rod, for vertical measurements and an instrument called a level for a horizontal sight line. A level includes a high-powered telescope with a mechanism for leveling to ensure the line of sight is horizontal when the bubble in the spirit level is centered. Leveling rods, made of wood, metal, or fiberglass, are graduated in feet or meters and commonly used in two-...

Position and Displacement Vectors

Position and Displacement Vectors

To describe the motion of an object, one should first be able to describe its position (where it is at any particular time). More precisely, the position needs to be specified relative to a convenient frame of reference. A frame of reference is an arbitrary set of axes from which the position and motion of an object are described. Earth is often used as a frame of reference to describe the position of an object in relation to stationary objects on Earth.
Further, several important kinds of...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Pre-procedural high-pitch coronary CT angiography assessment of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) without patient-specific adjustment: analysis of diagnostic performance.

Clinical radiology·2021

Same author

["Medicine appealed to me ..." - Physicians in the life and works of Goethe].

Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift (1946)·2011

Same author

["The Heidelberg school": about the beginnings of German psychosomatic medicine].

Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift (1946)·2011

Same author

Interventions in primary care to improve cardiovascular risk factors and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with diabetes: a systematic review.

Diabetes, obesity & metabolism·2011

Same author

[Georg Buechner in our time].

Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift (1946)·2010

Same author

Passive focus sensor.

Applied optics·2010

Same journal

Multifunctional reconfigurable terahertz metasurface based on vanadium dioxide phase transition: achieving broadband absorption and efficient polarization conversion.

Applied optics·2026

Same journal

High-Q-factor electromagnetically induced transparency utilizing quasi-bound states in the continuum in an all-dielectric terahertz metasurface.

Applied optics·2026

Same journal

Automated stitching interferometry for high-precision metrology of X-ray mirrors.

Applied optics·2026

Same journal

Experimental demonstration of an approach to designing a metal-dielectric DBR resonant cavity structure.

Applied optics·2026

Same journal

High-precision wavefront reconstruction from a single-shot interferogram using a physics-driven hybrid feature calibration network.

Applied optics·2026

Same journal

Ultra-high-Q Fano resonance based on coupled topological corner states in Kagome photonic crystals.

Applied optics·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Multimodal Volumetric Retinal Imaging by Oblique Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy (oSLO) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

Multimodal Volumetric Retinal Imaging by Oblique Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy (oSLO) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

Published on: August 4, 2018

Absolute, high-resolution optical position encoder.

K Engelhardt, P Seitz

|November 12, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces an optical linear position encoder for precise manufacturing measurements. It achieves 10 nm resolution and 100 nm accuracy using a novel dual-track glass scale and Fourier transform analysis.

More Related Videos

Characterization of SiN Integrated Optical Phased Arrays on a Wafer-Scale Test Station

Characterization of SiN Integrated Optical Phased Arrays on a Wafer-Scale Test Station

Published on: April 1, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Multimodal Volumetric Retinal Imaging by Oblique Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy (oSLO) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

Multimodal Volumetric Retinal Imaging by Oblique Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy (oSLO) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

Published on: August 4, 2018

Characterization of SiN Integrated Optical Phased Arrays on a Wafer-Scale Test Station

Characterization of SiN Integrated Optical Phased Arrays on a Wafer-Scale Test Station

Published on: April 1, 2020

Area of Science:

Metrology
Optical Engineering
Instrumentation

Background:

Accurate linear position measurement is critical for modern computer-controlled manufacturing.
Existing encoders may face limitations in absolute accuracy and resolution.

Purpose of the Study:

To describe a novel absolute optical linear position encoder.
To achieve high resolution and accuracy for industrial applications.

Main Methods:

Utilizes a transilluminated glass scale with two code tracks (pseudo-random binary and periodic).
Employs a single-lens telecentric optical system for mechanically insensitive imaging.
Features a custom photodetector IC for Fourier transform analysis of spatial frequencies.

Main Results:

Achieved a resolution of 10 nanometers (nm).
Demonstrated an absolute accuracy better than 100 nm over short distances.
Verification performed using a commercial laser interferometer.

Conclusions:

The developed absolute optical linear position encoder meets stringent accuracy requirements.
The design offers a robust solution for precise linear position sensing in manufacturing.