Types of potentiometers technological developments

Until recently, it was believed that potentiometers might be pushed aside in favor of digital devices such as encoders and resolvers. However, technical advances have improved high precision potentiometer characteristics and these improvements, coupled with the potentiometer's inherent advantages, mean that types of potentiometers are now proving their merit in the most advanced space, aerospace, and medical applications.From making your favorite characters, to surviving the extreme conditions in downhole drilling operations on earth, satellites, guided missiles, and even the surface of Mars, potentiometers are used in every imaginable system that requires infinite resolution for both control and position sensing. Current technological developments are pushing potential applications even further.

A potentiometer acts as a variable resistor or rheostat

Potentiometers—simple electromechanical devices that translate rotary or linear motion into a change in resistance—have been a cornerstone of measurement, control, and position systems for more than a century. In a standard potentiometer, one terminal is hooked up to a voltage source and the second to ground. A third terminal connects a sliding contact called a wiper that runs across a resistive track. As the wiper is moved across the resistive track, the voltage changes, corresponding to the new position. This voltage change can be used to control anything from volume or light intensity to the movement of complex mechanical systems. These three-terminal resistors with a sliding contact form an adjustable voltage divider, current divider, or other devices. When only two terminals are used (one side and the wiper), a potentiometer acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.