The present disclosure relates to displacement measurements using magnetic displacement measurement units. In various embodiments, the disclosed displacement measurement unit is configured to determine a displacement position of a vehicle along a guideway. In various embodiments, the displacement measurement unit includes a set of locator devices that are distributed at fixed displacement positions along the guideway, where a given locator device includes a magnetic element configured to produce a corresponding magnetic field. Further, in various embodiments, the displacement measurement unit includes a position sensor that is attached to the vehicle, where the position sensor is configured to detect a magnetic field produced one or more of the locator devices when the position sensor is brought within a detection range of one or more locator devices.

A magnetostrictive displacement sensor includes a sensor assembly having a printed circuit board (PCB), an anchor attached to the PCB, a waveguide having a first end attached to the anchor, and a sensing element. The sensing element includes a rigid member and a coil. The rigid member is attached to the waveguide and extends through an opening in the PCB and is configured to experience a strain in response to a magnetostrictive response in in the waveguide. The coil is attached to the PCB and surrounds the rigid member and the opening. The coil is configured to output a sensor signal that includes an indicator, which is produced in response to the strain in the rigid member.

In the method and the device described here for operating an electromagnetic, in particular magnetostrictive, or acoustic position measuring device (10) having at least one position sensor (44), at least one position encoder (20) and a waveguide (14), said position measuring device having a control device for triggering an interrogation pulse in the waveguide (14) and an evaluation unit for evaluating a wave form (400-450) recorded by the position sensor (44), wherein the time between the triggering of the interrogation pulse and the point in time at which the wave form (400-450) recorded by the position sensor (44) is recorded is measured to determine the position of the position encoder (20) via the relationship between distance and time, it is in particular provided that position recognition is implemented by means of the position encoder (20) by localising patterns in the wave form (400-450) recorded by the position sensor (44), wherein the localisation of such patterns is implemented on the basis of correlation observations and wherein a cross-correlation pattern characterising the position encoder (20) is transformed into another pattern that enables autonomous position recognition of the position encoder (20) by means of machine learning.

A waveguide assembly includes a waveguide having a longitudinal axis and a magnetostrictive response pickup. The pickup includes a first coil oriented within a first plane, which is approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis, and a second coil connected in series with the first coil and oriented within a second plane, which is approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis. A central axis of the first coil is displaced a coil separation distance from a central axis of the second coil along the longitudinal axis.

A sensor assembly of a magnetostrictive displacement sensor includes a waveguide, a pickup sensing element, a balanced line driver circuit and a cable connector. The pickup sensing element is configured to generate a high impedance sensor response signal through a positive pickup terminal and a negative pickup terminal in response to a magnetostrictive response in the waveguide. The balanced line driver circuit includes positive and negative response signal circuits respectively configured to produce a positive sensor signal at a low impedance and a negative sensor signal at a low impedance based on the high impedance sensor response signal at the positive and negative pickup terminals. The cable connector includes a positive sensor terminal coupled to the positive sensor signal and a negative sensor terminal coupled to the negative sensor signal.