Systems and methods for a low-conductivity and high permeability based target inductive encoding

A system for determining the rotational or translational position of a joint, the system comprising:

• a first coil coupled to a first portion of the joint at a first location;
• a target having high permeability and low conductivity properties, coupled to a second portion of the joint;
• and
• an oscillator circuit communicatively coupled to the first coil which generates a variable frequency that is correlated with the position as an output.

A system for determining displacement of a joint of a mechanism, the system comprising:

• a first coil coupled to a first portion of a joint at a first location;
• a target having high permeability and low conductivity properties, coupled to a second portion of the joint;
• an oscillator circuit communicatively coupled to the first coil;
• and
• a computing unit communicatively coupled to the oscillator circuit, the computing unit comprising a processor configured to or programmed to:
• determine displacement of the joint of the mechanism based at least in part on a first frequency associated with a first signal received from the oscillator circuit, the first frequency being based at least in part on a positional relationship between the target and the first coil.