Steering angle sensor- best ideas!

Post by **brentp** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 6:28 pm

that looks fantastic; Just made me think it could be done with a 3D printer as well. Keep us posted!

Post by **brentp** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 7:26 pm

We just used a string potentiometer on our Merkur XR4Ti as a steering angle sensor. About a 30 minute install and worked very well. Used stranded copper wire to link the potentiometer to the shaft combined with some aluminum tape to anchor it. A more elegant install might be stainless wire with a tapped anchor screw.

jakekooser · Post by **jakekooser** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:50 pm

Hey Brent,

what are the specs on that string potentiometer?

Jake

Post by **brentp** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:53 pm

Hi Jake,

it's the 12" version we have in our store. More information on our blog post here:

http://www.autosportlabs.com/30-minute- ... r-install/

smig · Post by **smig** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:39 am

After a few minor tweaks it's installed and ready for some testing and calibration:

Post by **brentp** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:23 pm

Fantastic! can you share the part numbers from Amazon on those parts?

jcordle · Post by **jcordle** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:30 pm

brentp wrote:Fantastic! can you share the part numbers from Amazon on those parts?

YES! THIS! Please?

smig · Post by **smig** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:59 pm

Here is the listing for the pot that I used:
http://amzn.com/B00HKJ2J08

Unfortunately it appears the price on these have nearly doubled since I made my purchase. It might be worth looking around for a better price or equivalent/similar part.

The gears I used came from here:
http://amzn.com/B002Q0PA34

The rest is just aluminium stock and standard hardware.

smig · Post by **smig** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:06 pm

This looks better for price:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/BI- ... xGp6s.link

Post by **brentp** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:07 pm

This looks like a great 3D printing project, too. thanks for sharing!

jakekooser · Post by **jakekooser** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:22 pm

Is a single turn pot enough? I have some 5-turn pots from some old equipment I was going to use. I think mine is 2.7 lock to lock.

smig · Post by **smig** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:23 pm

I think it would be a really good fit for a 3d project. I'm not sure what the variations in steering column diameters/dimension are, but a press fit onto my column (94 Integra) would work well and simplify things. If the bracket from the pot was slotted, then it could be made to be pretty generic I think.

smig · Post by **smig** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:37 pm

jakekooser wrote:Is a single turn pot enough? I have some 5-turn pots from some old equipment I was going to use. I think mine is 2.7 lock to lock.

Taking into account that gearing 1.33:1 I've got enough for what I want to look at. I decided I wanted more resolution in the region that the wheel should be spending the majority of it's ontrack life. If I'm using more steering than that I'm either in the pits/paddock or things have already gone pear shape and I should be looking a what happened in the data previous to this

The pot also doesn't have a hard stop so it can continuously rotate with out any mechanical issue.

However for other applications I can see that more turns would be most likely needed/desirable and if you have existing parts that you don't need to pay for, then I'd go for it!

jakekooser · Post by **jakekooser** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:40 pm

Good points, and I didn't mean to question your specific application. Interesting points about the resolution of the data. I guess as long as you stay within the 'normal' range you will be fine. No hard stops helps a lot too, I could see pots getting broken often with that.

smig · Post by **smig** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:55 pm

jakekooser wrote: I didn't mean to question your specific application.

Hey jakekooser questions are welcome and there is always an opportunity to improve. Until this gets some significant time being driven in anger, anything is possible, including going back to the drawing board.