A Novel Approach for Detecting Rotational Angles of a Precision Spherical Joint Based on a Capacitive Sensor

Precision spherical joints are commonly employed as multiple degree-of-freedom (DOF) mechanical hinges in many engineering applications, e.g., robots and parallel manipulators. Real-time and precise measurement of the rotational angles of spherical joints is not only beneficial to the real-time and closed-loop control of mechanical transmission systems, but also is of great significance in the prediction and compensation of their motion errors. This work presents a novel approach for rotational angle measurement of spherical joints with a capacitive sensor. First, the 3-DOF angular motions of a spherical joint were analyzed. Then, the structure of the proposed capacitive sensor was presented, and the mathematical model for the rotational angles of a spherical joint and the capacitance of the capacitors was deduced. Finally, the capacitance values of the capacitors at different rotations were simulated using Ansoft Maxwell software. The simulation results show that the variation in the simulated capacitance values of the capacitors is similar to that of the theoretical values, suggesting the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed capacitive detection method for rotational angles of spherical joints.