Optical position encoder

An optical encoder system comprising:

• a movable target including a series of abutting sections, wherein the abutting sections comprise a first section with a lowest reflectivity and a second section with a highest reflectivity, and wherein the series of abutting sections are arranged such that the reflectivity of each section increases from the first section to the second section to thereby provide a discretely varying reflectance that linearly increases in a step-wise fashion from the first section to the second section and that is dependent on a position of the target within the system, wherein the target includes one or more openings or gaps arranged to provide the varying reflectance;
• an emitter positioned on a first side of the target to illuminate the target;
• and
• a sensor positioned on the first side of the target to sense a reflectance from the target, wherein the sensed reflectance is dependent on the position of the target within the system.