Displacement sensor can measure in microns
Sick has developed a displacement sensing system which can measure distances in microns – claimed to be a ten-fold improvement in accuracy compared to rival systems. The OD Max system is aimed at applications such as surface inspections and quality assurance.
The system consists of compact optical sensing heads connected to an evaluation module. This module, which can accept inputs from two sensors, can perform arithmetical functions on the readings – for example, calculating the thickness of a material from the two inputs.
The sensors use CMOS technology which is said to perform better with dark or reflective targets than alternative CCD and PSD technologies. There are three versions of the system – with operating distances of 30, 85 and 350mm – and all offer two analogue outputs and five configurable switching outputs.
