Howdy, Folks,
I recently released a freeware Win98/2000/XP/Vista program that
generates codewheel images and prints them to any home inkjet or laser
printer.
With a good codewheel in hand, you can build your own optical encoder.
I tried to generalize the program with six "canned" wheel types, plus
a user-defined wheel type that lets you design a codewheel for just
about any application you can imagine.
The program can generate wheels from one to eight tracks, at
user-specified size and resolution.
My favorite feature is its automatic 1:1, no hassle printing. Want a
2" diameter wheel? Set it for 2" outside diameter, and the wheel
image will automatically print at 2" diameter. No muss, no fuss.
You can spec the wheel image's resolution to anything practical. If
you have access to better printers than you might find at home, or
want to produce your wheels via photolithography, you can export the
image as a .BMP file, as either a positive or negative image.
And did I mention that it's free? It's so free that I don't even have
any advertising on my web page.
Speaking of my web page, I think I should probably tell you where to
find it:
http://www.mindspring.com/~tom2000/D...Codewheel.html
Very 73,
Tom AB9B