Gray Code Shaft Encoder

Here is a Gray code shaft encoder with 4-bit Gray code consisting of 16 sectors, and 4 rings. In these types of encoders, the clear part (white) represents binary 1, and the dark part binary 0. In exams, they usually fill a part of it, shown in black, and you have to fill the rest.

The count usually starts at binary 0-0-0-0, which is the first sector (shaded in red) on the right side of the vertical line. The count usually increments clockwise, so the next sector is 0-0-0-1, followed by binary 0-0-1-1, and so forth.

The outermost ring represents the least significant bit (LSB), which is the rightmost bit. Therefore, after 0-0-0-0, the next sector is 0-0-0-1, where 1 is LSB. If you are reading the binary number LSB to MSB, then you need to read the sector from the outermost ring to the innermost ring.

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