Using a rotary encoder with AVR Micro controller

Question

I\'m having trouble getting a rotary encoder to work properly with AVR micro controllers. The encoder is a mechanical ALPS encoder, and I\'m using Atmega168.

Cla

Answer 1

Adding an analog lowpass filter greatly improves the signal. With the lowpass filter, the code on the AVR was really simple.

       _________
        |         |
        | Encoder |
        |_________|
          |  |  |
          |  |  |
     100n |  O  | 100n  
 GND O-||-+ GND +-||-O GND
          |     | 
          \     /
      3K3 /     \ 3K3
          \     /
          |     |    
VCC O-/\/-+     +-\/\-O VCC
     15K  |     |  15K
          |     |
          O     O
          A     B

Ah, the wonders of ASCII art :p

Here is the program on the AVR. Connect A and B to input PORTB on the avr:

#include 

#define PIN_A (PINB&1)
#define PIN_B ((PINB>>1)&1)

int main(void){
    uint8_t st0 = 0;
    uint8_t st1 = 0;
    uint8_t dir = 0;
    uint8_t temp = 0;
    uint8_t counter = 0;
    DDRD = 0xFF;
    DDRB = 0;
    while(1){   
    if(dir == 0){
        if(PIN_A & (!PIN_B)){
            dir = 2;
        }else if(PIN_B & (!PIN_A)){
            dir = 4;
        }else{
            dir = 0;
        }
    }else if(dir == 2){
        if(PIN_A & (!PIN_B)){
            dir = 2;
        }else if((!PIN_A) & (!PIN_B)){
            counter--;
            dir = 0;
        }else{
            dir = 0;
        }
    }else if(dir == 4){
        if(PIN_B & (!PIN_A)){
            dir = 4;
        }else if((!PIN_A) & (!PIN_B)){
            counter++;
            dir = 0;
        }else{
            dir = 0;
        }
    }else if(PIN_B & PIN_A){
        dir = 0;
    }
        PORTD = ~counter;
    }
    return 0;
}

This code works unless you rotate the encoder really fast. Then it might miss a step or two, but that is not important, as the person using the encoder won't know how many steps they have turned it.