New upgrade launched for POSITAL IXARC series of incremental encoders

Kick-off of NeXtGen initiative: POSITAL has launched a major upgrade to its IXARC family of rotary encoders.

POSITAL-Fraba recently released a major upgrade to the IXARC series of incremental rotary encoders, which now includes new magnetic sensor technology and more energy-efficient embedded microcontrollers. This new generation of incremental encoders remains mechanically and electrically compatible with previous models, but it benefits users with a lower level of power consumption.

This reduced power consumption is a crucial factor in complex applications in which multiple IXARC encoders are connected to a control system.

Better performance, stronger supply chains

These upgraded encoders are the first in a series of products that the manufacturer is releasing over the next year, through a program named NeXtGen. The goal is to boost the performance, user-friendliness, and availability of the company’s encoders and inclinometers. NeXtGen will update the core technologies used in POSITAL solutions, aiming for better performance and stronger supply chains.

The updated IXARC family uses a TMR, or tunnel magneto-resistance, sensing technology instead of the Hall-effect sensors on the older models. TMR sensors provide higher magnetic sensitivity, which can result in higher resolution. These sensors are also less temperature-sensitive and more energy-efficient than previous IXARC encoders were. POSITAL plans to imbue its full range of rotary encoders, including absolute industrial encoders and its extensive line of kit encoders, with TMR technology. These sensors will be connected to a new generation of microcontrollers that offer a 60 per cent energy-consumption improvement over older components and can support new signal-processing algorithms.

Yet another goal of the NeXtGen program is to simplify and rationalize the POSITAL supply chain. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, robust supply chains became vital to the economy, so NeXtGen products are designed to reduce dependency on single-source suppliers and to streamline production.

This initiative is the latest step in POSITAL’s mission to offer innovative solutions that satisfy demanding customer needs. Among the achievements in this 50-year journey: absolute optical encoders in 1973; magnetic encoders with Wiegand-powered rotation counters in 2005; better magnetic encoders with better resolution and improved dynamic response in 2013; programmable encoders in 2014; and compact, cost-effective kit encoders for electrical motors and drives in 2017.

For more information, contact POSITAL.

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