System for sensing the position of a movable electrical contact

A system for sensing position, comprising:

• a movable contact assembly that includes
• a first elongated electrical conductor,
• a second elongated electrical conductor, extending substantially in parallel with the first elongated electrical conductor, and
• a movable electrically conductive contact component, configured to move along lengths of the first elongated electrical conductor and the second elongated electrical conductor, simultaneously contacting both of the first elongated electrical conductor and the second elongated electrical conductor at different positions along each of their lengths;
• a signal generator having an output coupled so as to provide a time-varying periodic signal to an input end of the first elongated electrical conductor;
• a signal-timing comparator having:
• a first input coupled to the output of the signal generator, a second input coupled so as to receive a reflected signal from the input end of the first elongated electrical conductor, and an output providing a signal indicative of a timing difference between signals at the first input and the second input of said signal-timing comparator, thereby also being indicative of a current position of the movable electrically conductive contact component.