Reading a throttle position sensor

Question

I'm looking for an inexpensive and sealed angle sensor. I think of using an automotive throttle position sensor. They can be bought at low price and if they last under the hood of a car they are sealed well enough for me.

I thought that they are just simple potentiometers but according to Wikipedia modern TPS are non contact type hall, inductive or magnetoresistive sensors.

Most of them still seem to have three contacts. My question is how can they be read? I'm going to connect it to Arduino so can I read it the same way as potentiometer?

Answer 1

Depends. You need a datasheet. Here's a random example from Vishay. Key words are under "output signal":

Analog ratiometric 10 % to 90 % of V supply or PWM 1 kHz, 10 % to 90 % duty cycle

So yes, you can read it as analogue if you get the right part number. Others send you PWM, which can be read with a different technique on a digital input.