1 Introduction

This orbital joystick uses an N52 grade cylindrical magnet as a magnetic field source to demonstrate the ability of TMAG5170 to sense all three cartesian components of the magnetic field vector. The magnet is attached to a 4-40 nylon screw which allows the range to the sensor to be adjusted and serves as a handle for the user. The screw is attached to a slider which can move freely along a curved arm, and this arm is able to rotate 360 degrees about the base. This motion effectively allows freedom of movement following a spherical coordinate system. Monitoring the output of each X, Y, and Z axes allows for simple mapping to a 3D coordinate system. More details related to this operation can be found in Measuring 3D Motion With Absolute Position Sensors (SBAA512).

Nylon components were selected as they are non-magnetic and will not interfere with the magnetic field and bond well when glued.