I’m just about ordering parts for a new project and wanted to ask which is the best option for absolute encoders.
At the moment I’m using as5047 with SPI but I know there are many different version af the AS sensors, so which one is best suited to use with simplefoc?
Or are there better alternatives for the same price point?
As always thanks for the help.
This is probably your cheapest option anyway. Anything else is either more expensive or mechanically complex. In my case I developed a generic standardized PCB where I can solder any AS TSSOP-14 sensor supporting SPI, this is the board, since I got tired of project specific solutions and dealing with the silicon shortage.
Hi @Franz_Schmidt,
Check out this page for all options of encoders that work with SimpleFOC.
I tried the AS5600, AS5047 and the AMT102 encoders. The AS5600 has the advantage that it is cheap but the I2C communication is not that fast. The AS5047 is a bit more expensive and has faster SPI communication. Personally I am a big fan of the AMT102 encoders because they are easy to use and have very low noice levels compared to the magnetic encoders. They just work (for now 
).
In conclusion it all depends for what kind of project you are going to use it! Do you have many motors and therefore need cheaper sensors? Or can you spend some more for the ease of use of the AMT102?
Good luck with the project!
Actually @ultra.robotics is making a great and very important point, in many use cases magnetic sensors won’t work. High E-M noise, ESD environment, and magnet placement may be impossible or impractical (rotating shaft for example). However, caveat emptor. AMT102 is incremental, not absolute.
You really have to consider your exact use case.
I have not run any benchmark tests, but one rule I have when selecting any absolute encoder that It must have a PWM in order to use it in testing.
By scoping at the PWM signal with an oscilloscope you can know if the encoder + magnet is working correctly. It is very useful when you have issues with your encoder and do not know if is a communication problems with I2C, SPI , etc or the root of the problems is beyond the communication interface.
