What sensors are used to count yaw position?

• A. Capacitive sensors
• B. Inductive sensors
• C. Optical encoders
• D. Hall effect sensors

Answer: (B)

Counting yaw position relies on turning rotational movement into a stream of electrical pulses that can be accumulated into an angle. Inductive sensors do this well in rotary encoders: a metal target on the rotating part passes by the inductive coil, causing a change in inductance that generates a pulse each time a target feature aligns with the sensor. Those pulses add up to indicate how much the yaw has turned, and with a two-channel arrangement in quadrature you can also determine direction. This makes inductive sensing particularly robust in harsh or dirty environments where optical paths can be blocked or capacitive sensing drifts. Optical encoders need a clear line of sight; capacitive sensors can be affected by surrounding materials; Hall effect sensors require magnetic targets and often serve different sensing needs.