Micronor recently was named recipient of the 2013 ASME Channel Islands Project Of The Year Award for its development of the MR338 MRI Absolute Encoder. This year, the company also celebrates a decade of fiber-optic sensor innovation with its ZapFree absolute and incremental encoders. The all-optical passive sensors are immune to electromagnetic interference and lightning, and can transmit interference-free over long distances. They’re inherently safe for use in explosive atmospheres. The passive sensor connects to a remote controller module via a fiber-optic link using multimode 62.5/125 fiber. The controller’s assortment of built-in interfaces (A/B quadrature, SSI, USB, RS485, Modbus RTU, RS232, etc.) offers compatibility to myriad motion-control, PLC, robotic, and motor-drive equipment. The company later adopted the fiber-optic technology to the magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) medical research market.MRI encoders, initially devised for a monitoring speed and angular position of a pedaling device, have been used in other projects such as an MRI knee-flexation experiment and an MRI-compatible treadmill. Now the sensors are being deployed in other MRI-related applications that are electromagnetic-sensitive.
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