Non-Invasive Position Measurement of a Spatial Pendulum Using Infrared Distance Sensors

For the study and experimentation of physical systems, it is essential to measure the physical variables, which implies choosing the most convenient method that does not affect the natural behavior of the system. This work presents the modeling and sensing of the spherical pendulum, integrating a novel non-invasive measurement scheme based on infrared sensors arranged in a quadrature configuration. The proposed method enables the estimation of angles around two axes, leveraging light reflection on a perpendicular plane aligned with the pendulum bar. A mathematical model was developed to create simulations, and a prototype was constructed to perform experiments and validate the detection method. The values recorded by the sensors enable the reproduction of the pendulum’s trajectory, allowing for the correlation of real results with those of the simulations. The similarity of behavior between the simulations and the experimentation facilitates the validation of the proposal.