Sine-cosine encoder

A sine-cosine encoder is an incremental rotary encoder with a special type of code disk and optoelectronic evaluation that provides an output with sine and cosine signals.
Sine-cosine encoders are sensors for measuring position changes (linear or rotary) that can measure distance, angle and also direction. These sensors are used as feedback systems, for example in servo drives, robotics and automation. However, sine-cosine encoders do not determine absolute position.

Because sine-cosine encoders are very similar to incremental encoders, it is helpful to review the information on incremental encoders beforehand. The difference between incremental encoders and sine encoders is that the A and B data channels are sent to the controller as 1 volt peak-to-peak sine waves instead of the digital pulse format. Common output signal levels are TTL, HTL (both digital signals) and 1 Vss and 12 μA (analogue signals).

The sine-cosine signals are processed by downstream signal conditioning.
The stable sine and cosine shape of the signals enables internal interpolation with corresponding components, which further increases precision and resolution.