A new contactless magnetic encoder IC has been released by austriamicrosystems. The AS5013 monitors the displacement of a magnet incorporated in a knob relative to its centre position and provides x and y position information via an I2C interface. The IC is used in the EasyPoint module, which consists of a mechanical stack incorporating a navigation knob, a magnet and the magnetic encoder IC. Its simple construction and contactless sensing technology give the module high reliability and is designed for any kind of 360° navigation input device.
The device is a complete Hall-sensor IC for human-machine interface (HMI) applications requiring low power. This simplifies software integration challenges for joystick navigation in products such as cell phones and other handheld devices, e.g. MP3 players, PDAs, GPS receivers, Digital Still Cameras, gaming consoles, and remote controls. The single-chip IC includes user-selectable power-saving modes, 5 integrated Hall sensing elements for detecting up to ±2 mm lateral displacement, a high-resolution analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), an XY coordinate and a motion detection engine, and a smart power management controller.
