Which motor/servo/sensor combo for movement and position info?

Will__S

I have a little project I'm working on where I need to be able to rotate an object about 180 degrees. I could easily connect a servo to it and get it working, but I also need to be able to tell which position it is in before attempting to move it. Now as far as I know, I can't get position information from a servo, so I thought that maybe there would be a sensor I could use to detect which position the servo or object is in. I only need to know 0degrees and 180degrees (don't care about anything in between). Could a Hal sensor work for this application? Would there be a better alternative?

Also to go along with my project I need to be able to detect if a door is closed, or if it is opened. I was thinking that I could probably use those security sensors that contain magnets to detect an open or closed door. Any ideas about this? Would a hal sensor work here as well?

Sorry if I don't have all of the terminology correct, as I'm a programmer dabbling with electronics. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Will

Unsoundcode

Hi Will, security switches will work fine on the doors, probably a better option than hall effect because it only involves two wires. if you have room it would also work on the servo detection. But if you are limited to space then Parallax sell the hall effect and the magnet.

http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=605-00005

Jeff T.