Digital measurement of angular velocity

A new approach to the digital measurement of angular velocity is presented. A special optical transducer is described which provides the necessary pulse rate. The time between the pulses is measured and the division by time is achieved by a simple digital processor. Since the sampling intervals are small, measurements are available in digital form almost immediately. Other advantages include the accurate measurement of angular velocity near zero as well as the capability to measure transient angular velocity characteristics. Design details are outlined and supporting experimental results presented.