The MA3 is a miniature rotary absolute shaft encoder that reports the shaft position over 360° with no stops or gaps. The MA3 is available with an analog or a pulse width modulated (PWM) digital...
The MA3 is a miniature rotary absolute shaft encoder that reports the shaft position over 360° with no stops or gaps. The MA3 is available with an analog or a pulse width modulated (PWM) digital...
The magnetic sensor chip in the MA3 has an on-chip RC oscillator which is factory trimmed to 5% accuracy at room temperature (10% over full temperature range). This tolerance influences the sampling rate and pulse period of the PWM output. If only the PWM pulse width ton and the nominal pulse period is used to measure the angle, the resulting value also has this timing tolerance. However, this tolerance can be cancelled by measuring both ton and toff and calculating the angle from the duty cycle.
| Parameter | Min. | Typ. | Max. | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PWM Frequency (-40C to 125C) 10-bit 12-bit |
0.877 220 |
0.975 244 |
1.072 268 |
kHz Hz |
| Minimum Pulse Width 10-bit 12-bit |
0.95 0.95 |
1.00 1.00 |
1.05 1.05 |
μS μS |
| Maximum Pulse Width 10-bit 12-bit |
974 3892 |
1025 4097 |
1076 4302 |
μS μS |
| Internal Sampling Rate 10-bit 12-bit |
9.38 2.35 |
10.42 2.61 |
11.46 2.87 |
kHz kHz |
| Propagation 10-bit 12-bit |
- - |
- - |
48 384 |
μS μS |
| Output Transition Noise, 12-bit version (1) | 0.03 | Deg. RMS | ||
| Output Transition Noise, 10-bit version (1) | 0.12 | Deg. RMS | ||
| Output High Voltage (V OH: @4mA Source) (2) | Vcc -0.5 | - | - | V |
| Output Low Voltage (V OL: @4mA Sink) (2) | - | - | 0.4 | V |
(1) Transition noise is the jitter in the transition between two adjacent position steps.
(2) Continuous short to +5V or ground will not damage the MA3.
10-bit PWM:
x = ((t on * 1026) / (t on+ t off)) -1
If x <= 1022, then Position = x
If x = 1024, then Position = 1023

12-bit PWM:
x = ((t on * 4098) / (t on+ t off)) -1
If x <= 4094, then Position = x
If x = 4096, then Position = 4095

The MA3 is a miniature rotary absolute shaft encoder that reports the shaft position over 360° with no stops or gaps. The MA3 is available with an analog or a pulse width modulated (PWM) digital output.
Analog output provides an analog voltage that is proportional to the absolute shaft position. Analog output is only available in 10-bit resolution.
PWM output provides a pulse width duty cycle that is proportional to the absolute shaft position. PWM output is available in 10-bit and 12-bit resolutions. While the accuracy is the same for both encoders, the 12-bit version provides higher resolution.
Three shaft torque versions are available. The standard torque version has a sleeve bushing lubricated with a viscous motion control gel to provide torque and feel that is ideal for front panel human interface applications.
The no torque added option has a sleeve bushing and a low viscosity lubricant (that does not intentionally add torque) for low RPM applications where a small amount of torque is acceptable.
The ball bearing version uses miniature precision ball bearings that are suitable for high speed and ultra low torque applications. The shaft diameter for ball bearing version option is 1/8" rather than 1/4".
Connecting to the MA3 is simple. The 3-pin high retention snap-in 1.25mm pitch polarized connector provides for +5V, output, and ground.