Position sensor

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title: "Position sensor" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["measuring-instruments", "position-sensors"] topic_path: "general/measuring-instruments" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_sensor" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

A position sensor is a sensor that detects an object's position. A position sensor may indicate the absolute position of the object (its location) or its relative position (displacement) in terms of linear travel, rotational angle or three-dimensional space. Common types of position sensors include the following:

• Capacitive displacement sensor
• Eddy-current sensor
• Hall effect sensor
• Inductive sensor
• Laser Doppler vibrometer (optical)
• Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)
• Photodiode array
• Piezo-electric transducer (piezo-electric)
• Position encoders:
  • Absolute encoder
  • Incremental encoder
  • Linear encoder
  • Rotary encoder
• Potentiometer
• Proximity sensor (optical)
• String potentiometer (also known as a string potentiometer, string encoder or cable position transducer)
• Ultrasonic sensor

Literature

• David S. Nyce: Linear Position Sensors: Theory and Application, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons Inc. (2004)

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