Laser measurement guide provides technical data

Micro-Epsilon sensors' noncontact laser displacement and position measurement provides a wide measurement range and noncontact, wear-free sensing.

Micro-Epsilon (UK) has released a 25-page guide to noncontact laser displacement and position measurement.

The guide offers technical data and application examples for the company's family of optoNCDT laser displacement sensors.

These sensors suit applications from parts measurement, car body positioning in assembly lines and surface contour measurement, through to flatness measurement of integrated-circuit (IC) pins, roundness measurement of catalytic convertors and the thickness of sheet or web materials.

The sensors offer high speed and high resolution, provide a wide measurement range and offer noncontact, wear-free sensing.

Using the laser triangulation principle, the sensors operate with a laser diode, which projects a visible light spot onto the surface of the measurement target.

The light reflected from the spot is imaged by an optical receiving system onto a position-sensitive element.

If the light spot changes its position, this change is imaged on the receiving element and evaluated.

Laser-based optical displacement sensors measure from a large distance to the target using a small spot size, which enables measurements on very small parts.

The large measurement distance in turn enables measurements to be taken against difficult target surfaces such as hot metals.

The laser triangulation principle is also ideal for very fast measurements.

Micro-Epsilon's optoNCDT 2200 range suits demanding applications, providing high linearity, accuracy, speed and and constant signal stability without any signal averaging.

At the other end of the scale is the optoNCDT 1300, a very compact, low-cost solution with integral electronics that is ideal for standard industrial and high-volume OEM applications.

Due to the sensor's compact design, integration into tight spaces is possible.

Chris Jones, Managing Director at Micro-Epsilon UK comments: "We are supplying UK customers in a diverse range of industries with our digital and analogue optoNCDT sensors".

"If required, we can customise a solution for an OEM application and we can provide a complete range of accessories, including digital processing and readout units, protective housings for harsh environments, set up and configuration software and PCI interface cards that enable the customer to synchronise the acquisition of multiple sensor signals and an encoder".

Another specialist application area for the optoNCDT sensor is in direct reflecting targets such as mirrored objects, glass or highly polished metals.

Micro-Epsilon's optoNCDT 1700(001) sensor is suitable for these types of applications, compensating for the high intensity of the reflected light by using a high-speed software algorithm that dramatically reduces signal noise.

Due to the algorithm's high processing speed, the sensor also measures with the same accuracy on dynamically changing surfaces.

The unit size is identical to the standard optoNCDT 1700 series.

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