VIONiCplus is the highest-performance optical incremental encoder system that has been launched as part of the VIONiC all-in-one digital encoder series from Wotton-under-Edge-based Renishaw (www.renishaw.com).

The VIONiC design combines all necessary interpolation and signal processing inside the read head and eliminates the requirement for additional external interfaces. To this end, Renishaw developed a new VIA (Versatile Interpolation ASIC) chip to perform all the functions originally executed by the interface.

The VIONiCplus is the culmination of research into the latest fine compensation architectures and advances in modern
optimisation algorithms. By leveraging advances in digital interpolation and signal-processing techniques, Renishaw has built an encoder with Sub-Divisional Error (SDE) below ±10nm, which is said to be unprecedented from a 20µm-pitch scale.

Renishaw says that VIONiCplus is the first conventional optical encoder to deliver the performance advantages of ultra-fine pitch (<4µm) systems with the additional benefits of better yaw and ride-heighttolerance, easier installation, smaller system size, higher speeds and more-flexible scale options that include longer lengths, better dirt immunity and lower cost.

An application example is scanning, such as 3-D LiDAR, which relies on precise constant-velocity control of a rotary motor in order to limit measurement errors at long range. The VIONiCplus incremental encoder can provide the solution, as it delivers low SDE that minimises velocity ripple.

Furthermore, in motion control, the encoder’s 2.5nm resolution and 1.6nm RMS jitter reduce position settling time and increase stage repeatability.