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Application Brief
Absolute Angle Measurements for Rotational Motion
Using Hall-Effect Sensors

Scott Bryson Current and Position Sensing

Rotation-based devices such as dials, joysticks, surface of the magnet. Consider the following curves
thermostats, electronic steering assemblies, and representing each component produced by a rotating
motor-controlled joints typical to gimbals or robotic magnet.
arms all rely on the ability to accurately define angular 45

position. While there are means to monitor rotation

Bx
By
30 Bz
angle using mechanical contacts, these types of

Magnetic Flux Density (mT)

sensors are prone to wear out with use and can 15

suffer performance loss in cases where dirt and grime 0

are present. Hall-effect sensors are a contactless -15

sensing alternative which can offer longer product life, -30

improved reliability, and higher performance for angle
sensing. -45
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Angle (q) D010

In applications where angular rotation is present,

feedback to a controller can provide valuable insight Figure 2. Magnetic Flux Density vs Magnet Angle
to the device configuration. This can be user input
If a sensor element is oriented in the XZ plane By,
from a knob or steering wheel, or exact position
which is the component of the vector directed in the
control for motor-driven configurations. Implementing
Y direction, the sensor element can be monitored.
this design using a Hall-effect sensor normally
Using this input, it is possible to resolve up to 180° of
requires placing a magnet on the rotating body with a
rotation using the following relationship.
nearby sensor capable of detecting the magnetic flux
density produced by the magnet. Monitoring angles Device Output = α sin(θ) (1)
with linear Hall-effect sensors can be most easily
achieved when using a diametric cylinder magnet Adding a second sensor 90° out of phase from the
installed along the axis of rotation. first enables expanding the absolute angle sensing
design to a full 360°.

Figure 1. Diametric Magnet Figure 3. Field Components With 90° Phase Shift
Since this type of magnet is rotated axially, the When using two signals 90° out of phase, it is
various components of field vectors (which are possible to calculate angle using the arctangent
indicative of magnetic flux density) vary cyclically. function.
Depending on the position relative to the magnet,
there are always at least two components to select θ = atan(B1/B2) (2)
from. These components are sinusoidal when the
sensor is placed at an appropriate distance from the

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One method to set up an angle calculation is to Generally, there are three different orientations
use two one-dimensional sensors. For this method, possible for this measurement: On-Axis, In-Plane, and
the two sensors must be placed such that they Out-of-Plane (Off-Axis).
are physically spaced 90° about the center of the
magnet. This can be done with the sensors either
In-Plane (coplanar to the magnet polarization) or Out-
of-Plane. The In-Plane approach places the sensors
directly aligned with the magnet pole, and therefore
the observed inputs are larger, but the Out-of-Plane
alignment requires less physical space.
Figure 6. Configurations for Angle Sense With
Multi-Axis Hall-Effect Sensors

Of these three, the easiest to implement is On-

Axis, where the field components are naturally
matched. An In-plane sensor placement can often be
convenient, but there are only two measurable field
Figure 4. Configurations for Angle Sense With components. Out-of-Plane essentially describes every
One-Dimensional Hall-Effect Sensors other location. There is a measurable field in all three
directions in various magnitudes and placement is
A mechanical spacing of 90° provides the required flexible to the constraints of the design.
phase shift at the output. Consider that the input amplitudes of the magnetic
Since each device is monitoring the equivalent field field components are typically not equal in magnitude
components, this approach is easy to implement for most locations when using In-Plane or Out-of-
using a device such as DRV5055, but this approach Plane orientations.
can have challenges related to sensitivity matching,
mechanical alignment, and physical space.
Calibration can prove vital to achieving the highest
level of precision when correcting for these errors.
Ay
A second option is to implement the design using a
3D position sensor. Returning to the plot in Figure
2, notice that the Y and Z components are naturally
90° out of phase. When using 3D position sensors,
where more than one axis of sensitivity is available, it
is possible to use a single device to simultaneously
monitor each field component required for angle
calculation.

Figure 7. Unequal Magnetic Field Components

As a result, calculations using the arctangent result

in measurement error. This can be corrected for
with careful placement to achieve matched inputs
Figure 5. 3D Position Sensor
or by digitally scaling the outputs to match. This
Integrating multiple sensors in a single package has normalization function is built into devices such
the benefit of more consistent channel to channel as TMAG5170-Q1, TMAG5170D-Q1, and provides
magnetic field sensitivity and minimizes the required design flexibility for all sensor placements, but can be
PCB area needed for the sensors. This makes multi- achieved at the controller by implementing a scalar
axis sensors an attractive option when designing for adjustment during calculations.
this function. An additional feature for 3D position For more details and guides related to using linear
sensors is an integrated CORDIC calculator capable Hall-effect sensors for absolute angle measurements
of replicating the results of the arctangent function with either one dimensional or 3D position sensors,
and generating angular position directly from the see Table 1 and Table 2.
output data of any two axes.

2 Absolute Angle Measurements for Rotational Motion Using Hall-Effect Sensors SBAA503A – MARCH 2021 – REVISED MAY 2023
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Table 1. Alternate Device Recommendations

Device Characteristics Design Considerations
Analog outputs are subject to electrical noise and
Single axis linear Hall-effect sensor with Analog output calculations require MCU computations. This device
DRV5055
available in SOT-23 and TO-92 packages. provides the lowest cost design. Full 360 monitoring
requires two devices.
Automotive grade single axis linear Hall-effect sensor
Similar to the commercial grade, but operates over a
DRV5055-Q1 with analog output available in SOT-23 and TO-92
wider temperature range.
packages.
PWM outputs require conversion, but are less
Single axis linear Hall-effect sensor with PWM output
DRV5057 susceptible to coupled noise. Full 360 monitoring
available in SOT-23 and TO-92 packages.
requires two devices.
Automotive grade single axis linear Hall-effect sensor
Similar to the commercial grade, but operates over a
DRV5057-Q1 with PWM output available in SOT-23 and TO-92
wider temperature range.
package.
Is a single device design capable of sensing all field
Automotive grade linear 3D Hall-effect position sensor
TMAG5170-Q1 components and integrates angle calculation and field
with SPI available in 8-pin DGK package.
normalization. This device operates over SPI.
Is a dual device design capable of sensing all field
Automotive grade dual die linear 3D Hall-effect position
TMAG5170D-Q1 components and integrates angle calculation and field
sensor with SPI available in 16-pin TSSOP package.
normalization. This device operates over SPI.

Table 2. Related Technical Resources

Name Description
DRV5055 Angle EVM A demonstration of angle measurement using one dimensional Hall-effect sensors.
GUI and attachments incorporate angle measurement using a three dimensional linear Hall-effect
TMAG5170 EVM
sensor.
GUI and attachments incorporate angle measurement using three dimensional dual die linear Hall-effect
TMAG5170DEVM
sensor.
TMAG5170 2D Angle Error This tool helps evaluate expected errors that come as a result of rotation speed, conversion settings,
Calculator and device level errors.
SBAA463 Angle Measurement With Multi-Axis Linear Hall-Effect Sensors application note.
SLYA036 Linear Hall-Effect Sensor Angle Measurement Theory, Implementation, and Calibration application note.
TI Precision Labs - Magnetic
A video series describing the Hall effect and how the Hall effect is used in various applications.
Sensors

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