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<p></p><p></p><p>In this paper, a novel optical rotary sensor based on laser
self-mixing interferometry is developed for the full-circle rotation
measurement. The proposed sensor is convenient to use for it does not need any
contact with the target or a cooperative mirror. A prototype is fabricated and
tested. The measured results demonstrate a good performance compared with other
optical rotary sensors, in terms of the 0.1 μrad resolution, the 2.33×10<sup>-4</sup>
linearity and 2 μrad stability over one hour. Additionally, the repeatability
error is below 14.66 mrad under 9-group full-circle tests, which exhibits the
potential to be instrumentalized reliably. Error analysis and limitation
discussion have been also carried out. Although the accuracy needs further
improvement compared with the best rotary sensor, this method has its unique
advantages of high resolution, non-cooperative target sensing and
electromagnetic immunity. Hence, the proposed optical rotary sensor provides a
promising alternative in precise rotation measurement, tremor tracing and
nano-motion monitoring.</p><p></p><p></p></div><p></p><p>In this paper, a novel optical rotary sensor based on laser
self-mixing interferometry is developed for the full-circle rotation
measurement. The proposed sensor is convenient to use for it does not need any
contact with the target or a cooperative mirror. A prototype is fabricated and
tested. The measured results demonstrate a good performance compared with other
optical rotary sensors, in terms of the 0.1 μrad resolution, the 2.33×10<sup>-4</sup>
linearity and 2 μrad stability over one hour. Additionally, the repeatability
error is below 14.66 mrad under 9-group full-circle tests, which exhibits the
potential to be instrumentalized reliably. Error analysis and limitation
discussion have been also carried out. Although the accuracy needs further
improvement compared with the best rotary sensor, this method has its unique
advantages of high resolution, non-cooperative target sensing and
electromagnetic immunity. Hence, the proposed optical rotary sensor provides a
promising alternative in precise rotation measurement, tremor tracing and
nano-motion monitoring.</p><p></p>