The MGS1xxx, MGSW1xxx and MGSM1xxx are the three main series of Magnetic Sensors, produced by RoboteQ. The main use of this sensors is to acquire magnetic field readings to a system, with accuracy and report the position of magnetic tape, commonly, installed on the floor or wall may to indicate a specific route. Multiple smaller pieces of magnetic tapes in parallel, with different polarity, may be used to create markers that can be used accordingly and create different scenarios for the system.

In order to avoid any misreading of the magnetic field, the calibration of the sensor is highly recommended, especially when the sensor is not working optimally or when there are intense magnetic fields due to wires underneath the ground. This guide will introduce the Magnetic Sensor Calibration Process.

What it would be needed:

  • The Magnetic Sensor
  • A USB/ RS232 adapter
  • Computer running the RoboteQ’s TrackSensor Utility

 

Verify that the sensor needs calibration

Connect the sensor with a computer, using the USB or RS232 port and open the TrackSensor Utility. On the Run Tab, on the bottom left side of the window, there is a Graph that indicates the readings of the sensor in the form of a line, colored by red.

The Calibrated Zero of this graphical representation is the middle value of the Y-axis.

The example shown bellow is a randomized example to show how a non-calibrated sensor may look like, without having any magnetic field applied.

Calibrating the Sensor

After verifying that the sensor is not calibrated and there is not any magnetic tape or other magnetic field applied (electric cabling or any other source that may produce electromagnetic/ magnetic field) and the magnetic field is the same in throughout the route of the tape:

  • Go to the Setup Tab
  • Click on the Sensor Calibration button.

 

By clicking on this button, a pop-up window will appear, reminding that the sensor should not be nearby to any magnetic tape or ferrous materials and press continue.

This will reset the zero point of the magnetic field measurements.

 

Verifying the Calibration

There are two ways to verify the calibration of the sensor.

  • On the Run Tab, while the line should be now centralized in the middle of the Y-axis of the graph mentioned previously, as shown below.

  • On the Setup Tab by querying “?MZ” parameter, after calibrating the Sensor. This should return values around 10 for every single sensor as shown below.