Measuring Rotational Motion of Sphere Supported by Air Flow

Considering from such a viewpoint as realizing the non-contact and driving-type painting or forced drying system of sphere, which has the advantage of leaving no mark on the sphere at the top of supporting pins, it is basically important to control the movement of sphere. A rotational motion recognition technique of sphere, which is considered to be essential for developing such a control system, is newly proposed in this paper. It consists of three modules ; a principle of detecting the axis and speed of rotation using Hall elements, a way of producing magnetic flux required onto the surface of sphere and evaluation of experimental results. Although having disturbance caused by the vibration and dimples of a golf ball chosen as the object, the proposed method is proved to be effective and valuable.