Method of operating or constructing a geartooth sensor

A method for constructing a sensing system for a rotating target comprising the steps of:

• (a) graphically plotting a plurality of output waveforms from a magnetic sensor transducer over a range of airgaps within an expected operating range of airgaps between the target and the sensing system;
• (b) deriving a constant M1;
• (c) deriving a constant, M2;
• and;
• (d) acquiring Bpeak and Bavg during operation of the sensor, Bpeak corresponding to the peak Gaussian output waveform and Bavg corresponding to the average gaussian output waveform and multiplying Bpeak and Bavg times M1 and M2, respectively, resulting in a first product and a second product, and adding the first and second products thereof resulting in an adaptive threshold switch point which represents an amount of least drift of the sensor switch point from at least one reference point on the target to set the operational characteristics of the sensor.

A method of operating a geartooth sensor comprising the steps of:

• (a) periodically obtaining a peak output (Bpeak) of a sensor transducer and applying a first constant (M1) to the peak output to derive a first value (Bmax);
• (b) obtaining an average output of the sensor transducer (Bavg) and applying a second constant (M2) to the average to obtain a second value (Bmin);
• (c) combining the first and second values, Bmax and Bmin, to obtain an adaptive threshold;
• and
• (d) applying the adaptive threshold as a switch point to set the operational characteristics of the sensor transducer.

A geartooth sensor comprising:

• (a) means for periodically obtaining the peak output (Bpeak) of the sensor transducer and applying a first constant (M1) to Bpeak to obtain a first value (Bmax);
• (b) means for obtaining the average output of the sensor transducer (Bavg) and applying a second constant (M2) to Bavg to obtain a second value (Bmin);
• (c) means for combining Bmax and Bmin to obtain an adaptive threshold;
• and
• (d) means for applying the adaptive threshold as a switch point to set the operational characteristics of the sensor transducer.