Magnet Ring with Jittered Poles

• US 20200136476A1
• Filed: 12/28/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Waymo LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gassend, Blaise, Lenius, Samuel
• Granted Patent: US 10,931,175 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/145 influenced by the relative movement between the Hall device and magnetic fields see G01R33/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/2451 Incremental encoders G01D5/2454 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/487 delivered by rotating magnets
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 1/12 Stationary parts of the magnetic circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 1/2795 the rotor consisting of two or more circumferentially positioned magnets
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 11/215 Magnetic effect devices, e.g. Hall-effect or magneto-resistive elements
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 11/30 Structural association with control circuits or drive circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 26/00 Machines adapted to function as torque motors, i.e. to exert a torque when stalled

Abstract

An apparatus includes a first platform and a second platform configured to rotate relative to the first platform about an axis. A magnet ring is mounted to the first platform and centered around the axis. The magnet ring includes four or more magnetized poles positioned such that each respective boundary between neighboring poles is shifted relative to a corresponding nominal boundary defined by a uniform spacing of boundaries of the poles around the magnet ring. The shifted boundaries of the poles define a characteristic shift pattern for the magnet ring. A magnetic field sensor is connected to the second platform. Circuitry is configured to (i) determine a magnetic field pattern generated by the poles based on data generated by the sensor and (ii) determine a rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the magnetic field pattern to the characteristic shift pattern.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a rotational position by correlating a characteristic shift pattern to a measured magnetic field pattern, the apparatus comprising:

a first platform having a first side;

a second platform having a second side that at least partially overlaps with the first side of the first platform, wherein the second platform is configured to rotate relative to the first platform about an axis;

a magnet ring mounted to the first side of the first platform and centered around the axis, wherein the magnet ring comprises four or more magnetized poles, wherein the four or more magnetized poles are positioned such that each respective boundary between neighboring poles of the four or more poles is shifted relative to a corresponding nominal boundary defined by a uniform spacing of boundaries of the four or more poles around the magnet ring, and wherein the shifted boundaries of the four or more poles define the characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring; and

a magnetic field sensor connected to the second side of the second platform and configured to generate the measured magnetic field pattern by measuring characteristics of a magnetic field generated by the four or more poles.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising circuitry configured to:

determine the measured magnetic field pattern based on data generated by the magnetic field sensor while the second platform rotates relative to the first platform; and

determine the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the characteristic shift pattern to the measured magnetic field pattern.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the four or more magnetized poles are magnetized in alternating and opposite directions, wherein the directions comprise a first direction that is substantially parallel to the axis and a second direction opposite to the first direction.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the four or more poles comprise k poles, and wherein a nominal boundary between an nth pole and a subsequent pole neighboring the nth pole in a clockwise direction is defined by (360n)/(k) degrees.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the four or more poles comprise an even number of poles.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each respective boundary between neighboring poles of the four or more poles is shifted relative to the corresponding nominal boundary by a respective shift amount to provide a selected autocorrelation of the characteristic shift pattern.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a maximum value of the selected autocorrelation exceeds a second highest value of the selected autocorrelation by at least a threshold value.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring comprises (i) transitions of a first type representing a change in direction of the magnetic field from a first direction to a second direction and (ii) transitions of a second type representing a change in direction of the magnetic field from the second direction to the first direction, and wherein the apparatus further comprises circuitry configured to:

determine a pattern of transitions of the first and second type within the measured magnetic field pattern; and

determine the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating (i) transitions of the first type within the measured magnetic field pattern to transitions of the first type within the characteristic shift pattern and (ii) transitions of the second type within the measured magnetic field pattern to transitions of the second type within the characteristic shift pattern.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second platform is configured to rotate relative to the first platform at a constant angular velocity, wherein the apparatus further comprises circuitry configured to determine the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by:

determining a period of time between detection of two adjacent boundaries within the measured magnetic field pattern;

determining an angular displacement between the two adjacent boundaries based on the period of time;

determining a measured shift for at least one of the two adjacent boundaries based on (i) the angular displacement and (ii) a nominal pole size defined by the uniform spacing of boundaries of the four or more poles along the magnet ring;

determining a difference between the measured shift and one or more characteristic shifts within the characteristic shift pattern; and

determining, based on the difference, an offset between (i) the characteristic shift pattern and (ii) the measured magnetic field pattern that minimizes the difference, wherein the offset indicates an angular position of the magnet ring relative to the magnetic field sensor.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the magnetic field sensor comprises a plurality of magnetic field sensors disposed asymmetrically about a circumference of the magnet ring, wherein a composite characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring comprises a combination of magnetic field patterns expected to be detected by each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors based on the shifted boundaries, and wherein the apparatus further comprises circuitry configured to:

determine, for each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors, a respective magnetic field pattern;

determine a composite magnetic field pattern by combining the respective magnetic field patterns determined for each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors; and

determine a rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the composite magnetic field pattern to the composite characteristic shift pattern.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the composite characteristic shift pattern is aperiodic during one rotation of the magnet ring.

12. A method comprising:

generating a first magnetic field that interacts with a second magnetic field generated by four or more poles of a magnet ring mounted to a first platform such that the first platform rotates about an axis of rotation relative to a second platform;

receiving, from a magnetic field sensor connected to the second platform, data indicative of characteristics of the second magnetic field, wherein each respective boundary between neighboring poles of the four or more poles is shifted relative to a corresponding nominal boundary defined by a uniform spacing of boundaries of the four or more poles around the magnet ring;

determining a magnetic field pattern based on the data received from the magnetic field sensor; and

determining a rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the magnetic field pattern to a characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring, wherein the characteristic shift pattern is defined by the shifted boundaries of the four or more poles of the magnet ring.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the first magnetic field comprises causing an electrical current to flow through an electrically conductive path included in the second platform.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring comprises (i) transitions of a first type representing a change in direction of the second magnetic field from a first direction to a second direction and (ii) transitions of a second type representing a change in direction of the second magnetic field from the second direction to the first direction, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining a pattern of transitions of the first and second type within the magnetic field pattern; and

determining the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating (i) transitions of the first type within the magnetic field pattern to transitions of the first type within the characteristic shift pattern and (ii) transitions of the second type within the magnetic field pattern to transitions of the second type within the characteristic shift pattern.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the second platform is configured to rotate relative to the first platform at a constant angular velocity, and wherein determining the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform comprises:

determining a period of time between detection of two adjacent boundaries within the magnetic field pattern;

determining an angular displacement between the two adjacent boundaries based on the period of time;

determining a measured shift for at least one of the two adjacent boundaries based on (i) the angular displacement and (ii) a nominal pole size defined by the uniform spacing of boundaries of the four or more poles along the magnet ring;

determining a difference between the measured shift and one or more characteristic shifts within the characteristic shift pattern; and

determining, based on the difference, an offset between (i) the characteristic shift pattern and (ii) the magnetic field pattern that minimizes the difference, wherein the offset indicates an angular position of the magnet ring relative to the magnetic field sensor.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the magnetic field sensor comprises a plurality of magnetic field sensors disposed asymmetrically about a circumference of the magnet ring, wherein a composite characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring comprises a combination of magnetic field patterns expected to be detected by each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors based on the shifted boundaries, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining, for each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors, a respective magnetic field pattern;

determining a composite magnetic field pattern by combining the respective magnetic field patterns determined for each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors; and

determining the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the composite magnetic field pattern to the composite characteristic shift pattern.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the composite characteristic shift pattern is aperiodic during one rotation of the magnet ring.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

providing instructions to generate a first magnetic field by causing an electrical current to flow through an electrically conductive path, wherein the first magnetic field interacts with a second magnetic field generated by four or more poles of a magnet ring mounted to a first platform such that the first platform rotates about an axis of rotation relative to a second platform, wherein the electrically conductive path is included in the second platform;

receiving, from a magnetic field sensor connected to the second platform, data indicative of characteristics of the second magnetic field, wherein each respective boundary between neighboring poles of the four or more poles is shifted relative to a corresponding nominal boundary defined by a uniform spacing of boundaries of the four or more poles around the magnet ring;

determining a magnetic field pattern based on the data received from the magnetic field sensor; and

determining a rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the magnetic field pattern to a characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring, wherein the characteristic shift pattern is defined by the shifted boundaries of the four or more poles of the magnet ring.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring comprises (i) transitions of a first type representing a change in direction of the second magnetic field from a first direction to a second direction and (ii) transitions of a second type representing a change in direction of the second magnetic field from the second direction to the first direction, and wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a pattern of transitions of the first and second type within the magnetic field pattern; and

determining the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating (i) transitions of the first type within the magnetic field pattern to transitions of the first type within the characteristic shift pattern and (ii) transitions of the second type within the magnetic field pattern to transitions of the second type within the characteristic shift pattern.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the magnetic field sensor comprises a plurality of magnetic field sensors disposed asymmetrically about a circumference of the magnet ring, wherein a composite characteristic shift pattern of the magnet ring comprises a combination of magnetic field patterns expected to be detected by each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors based on the shifted boundaries, and wherein the operations further comprise:

determining, for each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors, a respective magnetic field pattern;

determining a composite magnetic field pattern by combining the respective magnetic field patterns determined for each of the plurality of magnetic field sensors; and

determining the rotational position of the first platform relative to the second platform by correlating the composite magnetic field pattern to the composite characteristic shift pattern.