Timing belt drive, encoder and motor on seperate shafts. OK?

1

Hi,

On my pick and place machine I have a stepper driving an GT2 pulley on one end of the axis, and the pulley on the other end is on the same shaft as the encoder. This has some advantages: the encoder can detect a slipping or broken belt and it’s a bit easier mechanically.

However, I’m a bit conserned about this setup if I replace the steppers with brusless motors and an odrive board because I read somewhere on this site that the encoder should be tightly coupled to the motor. Will this setup work with an odrive, or would I need to mount the encoders directly on the motor shafts?

2

As long as there is no slipping or significant backlash in the mechanism, it will work. You will also have to account for any gear ratio in the system. It’s not optimal but it works.

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3

Thank you for your reply. Slippage doesn’t happen. If there is any backlash it’s not obvious, but I should get my dial indicator and check.