CLASSI FICATI ONOFCONTROLPROCESSES

An engi neer ing int egr ated syst em can be

defi
nedasamachi ner esponsiblef orcer tain
product ion out put ,a cont rol
l
ert o execut e
cert
aincommands, andsensor st odet ermine
thestat usoft hepr oduct i
onpr ocesses.
Inanaut omat icpr ocess,t hemachi ne,t hecont roll
er,and
the sensor s i nter act wi th one anot her t o exchange
i
nformat ion.Mai nly,t wot ypesofi nter
act i
onoccurbet ween
thecont rollerandt her estoft hesy stem:t hroughei theran
open-loopcont rol sy stem oracl osedl oopcont rol
sy stem.
Anopen- loopcont rolsyst em (Fig.1.2)canbedef inedasa
system i n whi ch t her ei sno f eedback.Mot ormot ion i
s
expect edt of aithfullyf oll
ow thei nputcommand.St epping
mot orsar eanexampl eofopen- l
oopcont rol.
Acl osed- loopcont rolsyst em (Fig.1. 3)canbedef i
nedas
asy stem i nwhi cht heout putiscompar edt ot hecommand,
withther esultbei ngusedt of orcet heout puttofol l
ow the
command.Ser v osy st emsar eanexampl eofcl osed- l
oop
control.

OPEN- AND CLOSED- LOOP CONTROL

SYSTEMS
I
nanopen-loopcont
rolsystem,theact
ualvaluei
nFi
g.1.
2
maydif
ferf
rom t
herefer
encev al
ueint
hesystem.

f
eedback.Mot ormot i
onisexpect edtofait
hfull
yf ol
low
theinputcommand.St eppi
ngmot orsareanexampl eof
open-l
oopcontrol
.
Aclosed-l
oopcontrolsyst
em (Fi
g.1.3)canbedef inedas
asystem inwhichtheoutputiscomparedtothecommand,
wit
ht heresul
tbeingusedt oforcetheoutputtofoll
ow the
command.Ser vosy stemsareanexampl eofcl osed-l
oop
contr
ol.

OPEN- AND CLOSED-

LOOP CONTROL
SYSTEMS
I
nanopen-
loopcont
rolsyst
em,theact
ualvaluei
nFi
g.1.
2
maydi
ff
erf
rom t
herefer
enceval
ueint
hesystem.

FI
GURE 1.
2 An
open-
loopcont
rol
syst
em.

I
n a cl
osed-
loop syst
em,t he act
ualvalue i
s const
antl
y
moni
tor
edagainstther
efer
encev al
uedescri
bedinFi
g.1.3.

FI
GURE 1.
3 A
cl
osed-
loopcont
rol
syst
em.

Themassf lowill
ust
ratedi
nFig.1.4descr
ibestheamount
ofmat terperunitti
mef l
owingthroughapipelinet
hatmust
ber egulated.Thecurrentfl
ow ratecanber ecor
dedbya
measur ingdev i
ce,andacorrect
ingdev i
cesuchasav al
ve
maybesett oaspeci f
icflowr at
e.Thesyst em,ifleftonits
own,maysuf ferfl
uctuationsanddi st
urbanceswhi chwil
l
changet hef low rate.Insuchanopen- loop system,t he
readi
ngoft hecur rentflow rat
eist heactualvalue,andt he
refer
encevaluei sthedesi redvalueofthef l
ow r ate.The
refer
encevaluemaydi fferfrom t
heactualv al
ue,whi chthen
remainsunaltered.

I
ft heflowratef all
sbelowt hereferencev aluebecauseofa
droppingpressur e,asill
ust
ratedinFi g.1.
5,thev alvemust
be opened f urt
hert o maintaint he desired actualvalue.
Wher edistur
bancesoccur ,thecour seoft heact ualv
alue
mustbecont inuouslyobserved.Whenadj ust
menti smade
tocont i
nuouslyr egul
atetheactualv alue,theloopofact i
on
gov er
ning measur ement, compar ison, adjustment, and
reacti
onwi t
hinthepr ocessiscaledacl
l osedloop.

FI
GURE
1.
4Regul
ati
onofmassf
low.

PHOTOELECTRI
CSENSORS

A photoelect
ri
csensorisasemi conductorcomponent
thatreact
st oli
ghtoremit
sl i
ght.Thel i
ghtmaybeei therin
thevisi
blerangeortheinvi
sibl
einfr
ar edrange.Thesechar-
acter
isti
cs ofphotoel
ectr
ic component s haveled tot he
devel
opmentofawi derangeofphot oelect
ri
csensors.
Thesensor saretheintegr
alpartoft
hecont r
olsy
stem.The
controlsystem isresponsibl
eforcol
lecti
ngandpr epar
ing
processst atusdat
aandt henpassi
ngi tontoaprocessor
(Fi
g.1.6).
Photoel
ect
ri
ccontrol
susel ightt odetectt
hepresenceor
absenceofanobject
.Allphotoelect
ri
ccontr
olsconsi
stofa
sensor,
acontr
olunit
,andanout putdevi
ce
Thesensorconsi st
sofasour ceandadet ector
.Thesour ce
i
sal ight-
emi t
ti
ngdi ode(LED)t hatemi tsapower fulbeam of
l
ightei t
heri nt hei nf
rared orv isi
blel i
ghtspect rum.The
detectoristypicall
yaphot odiodet hatsensest hepr esence
or absence of l i
ght. The det ect
ion ampl i
fi
er i n al
l
photoelectri
ccont r
olsisdesignedsoi trespondst otheli
ght
emittedbyt hesour ce;ambientli
ght ,i
ncludingsunlightupto
3100met ercandles,doesnotaf fectoperation.
Thesour ceanddet ect
ormaybesepar at
edormaybe
mount ed int he same sensorhead,dependi
ng on t
he
part
icularser
iesandappli
cati
on(Fi
g.1.
7).

FI
GURE1.
6Component
sofcont
rol
l
edpr
ocess.
 Thecont roluni tmodul at
esand demodul atesthel i
ght
sentandr ecei
v edbyt hesour ceanddet ect
or.Thisassures
thatthe photoel ectr
ic cont
rolr esponds onl
yt oit
sl i
ght
source.Thecont rolunital
socont rolstheoutputdevicein
self
-cont
ained phot oelect
ri
ccont rols;t
hecont roluni
tand
sensorarebuiltintoani nt
egralunit
.

FI
GURE1.
7:Component
sofphot
oel
ect
ri
ccont
rol
.

Controlscanbeconfiguredtooperateasl i
ght-
act
uated
devices.Theout
puti
stri
gger edwhenthedetect
orseesli
ght
.
Theycanal sobedar
k-actuateddevi
ces,wheretheout
putis
tr
iggeredwhenthedet
ect ordoesnotseeli
ght.

Out
putdev
icesmayi ncl
uderel
ayssuchasdoublepole,
doubl
ethr
ow (DPDT)andsingl
epole,doubl
ethr
ow (
SPDT).
Out
putdevi
cesmayalsoincl
udeatri
acorotherhi
gh-
current
dev
iceandmaybeprogrammable-
contr
oll
er–compat
ibl
e.

Logicmodul esareopt ionaldev i

cesthatall
owt headdit
ion
oflogicfunctionst oaphot o-
electri
ccontrol.Forexampl e,
i
nsteadofpr ov i
dingasi mpleON/ OFFsignal,aphotoel
ectri
c
controlcan( withal ogicmodul e)providetime-del
ay,one-
shot,ret
ri
ggerableone- shot,mot ion-
detect
ion,andcounting
functi
ons.

A photoel
ectri
cr efl
exsensorequippedwithat ime-delay
modulesetf ordel aydar
ki gnor
esmomentarybeam breaks.
Ift
hebeam i sbl ockedlongerthanthepr
edeter
mineddel ay
peri
od,theout putenergizestosoundanalarm orstopthe
conveyer(
Fig.1.8) .
 A set of phot oelectri
c t hrough-
beam sensor s can
determinetheheightofasci ssorl i
ft
,asill
ust
rat
edinFig.1.
9.
Forexampl e,when t he cont roli s setfor dar
k-to-
li
ght
energizi
ng,thelif
trisesafteral ayerhasbeenr emovedand
stopswhent henextlayerbreakst hebeam agai
n.

Cansonaconv eyeraredivert
edtot woot herconvey
ers
contr
oll
edbyapol arizedphoto-
elect
ri
cref
lexsensorwi t
ha
div
idermodul e(Fig.1. 10)
.I t
ems can be count ed and
div
ertedingr oupsof2,6,12,or24.Apol arizedsensoris
used so thatshinysur f
acesmaynotf alselytri
ggerthe
sensorcontrol.

Twophot oelectr
iccont r
olsensor scanwor kt ogetherto
i
nspectaf i
l
ll ev
elincar tonsonaconv ey
er( Fi
g.1.11).A
ref
lexphot oelect
ricsensordet ectst hepositi
onoft hecarton
and energizesanot hersy nchronized photoelectri
csensor
l
ocat ed abov et he contents.I ft he photoelectri
c sensor
l
ocat edabov et hecar t
ondoesnot“ see”thef i
l
ll ev
el,the
cartondoesnotpassi nspect i
on.

1.8 Jam det

ect
ionwi
thphoto-electr
icsensor
. FI
GURE1.
9St
ack
hei
ghtmeasur
ementwi
thphot
oelectr
icsensor
FI
GURE1.
10 Batchcountinganddi
ver
t- FI
GURE1.
11Measur
ing car
ton
fi
l
l wi
th
i
ngwit
hphot
oel
ectr
icsensor. phot
oel
ect
ri
csensor
.

DETECTI
ONMETHODS
Thr
eemodesofdet
ect
ionar
eusedbyphot
oel
ect
ri
csensor
s:
•Thr
ough-
beam det
ect
ion
•Ref
lexdet
ect
ion
•Pr
oxi
mit
ydet
ect
ion

TheThr
ough-
Beam Det
ect
ionMet
hod
Thet hrough-
beam met hodrequiresthatthesour ceand
detectorareposit
ionedopposit
eeachot herandt helight
beam i ssentdir
ectl
yfrom sourcetodetector(Fig.1.27).
Whenanobj ectpassesbetweent hesourceanddet ect or
,
thebeam isbroken,si
gnall
i
ngdet ect
ionoftheobject.

FI
GURE1.
27:
Thr
ough-
beam det
ect
ion.

Through-beam detect
iongenerall
yoffer
st helongestr
ange
ofthet hreeoperati
ngmodesandpr ovideshi ghpowerat
shorter r ange to penetrat
e st eam, di rt, or other
contaminant sbet
weenthesour ceanddet ector.Al
i
gnment
ofthesour ceanddetectormustbeaccur ate.
TheRef
lexDet
ect
ionMet
hod
Ther efl
exmet hodr equiresthatt hesour ceanddet ectorbe
i
nst al
ledont hesamesi deoft heobj ecttobedet ected(Fi
g.
1.28).Thel i
ghtbeam i st ransmi ttedfrom thesour cetoa
retr
oreflectorthatreturnst heli
ghtt othedetector.Whenan
objectbr eaksar efl
ectedbeam, theobj ectisdetected.
Ther eflexmet hodiswi delyusedbecausei tisf l
exibl
eand
easyt oinstallandpr ovidesthebestcost -perf
ormancer ati
o
oft hethr eemet hods.Theobj ectt obedet ectedmustbe
l
essr efl
ect i
vethant her etr
orefl
ect or.

FI
GURE
1.
28Ref
lexdet
ect
ion.

ThePr
oxi
mit
yDet
ect
ionMet
hod

Thepr oxi
mitymet hodr equiresthatthesour
ceanddet ector
areinstal
ledont hesamesi deoft heobjecttobedet ected
andaimedatapoi ntinf r
ontoft hesensor(Fi
g.1.29).When
anobj ectpassesi nfrontoft hesour ceanddetector,li
ght
fr
om thesour ceisr ef
lectedf rom t
heobject’
ssurfaceback
tothedetector,
andt heobj ectisdetect
ed.
 FI
GURE1.
29Pr
oxi
mit
ydet
ect
ion.

The maxi mum r ange fort hrough-beam sensorsi s of

pri
mar yimportance.Atanydistancel essthanthemaximum
range,thesensorhasmor et hanenoughpowert odetectan
object
Eachsensort ypehasaspeci fi
coper ati
ngrange.Ingeneral
,
through-beam sensorsoff
ert hegr eatestr
ange,fol
lowedby
refl
exsensors,thenproxi
mi t
ysensor s.
.

Theoptimum r angefortheproxi
mityandr efl
exsensor
sis
mor esignif
icantthanthemaxi mum range.Theopt i
mum
rangeisther angeatwhichthesensorhast hemostpower
avail
abl
et odetectobj
ects.

FI
GURE1.
30 Phot
oel
ect
ri
cexcessgai
nand
 r
ange

Excessgai
ni sameasureofsensi
ng powerav
ail
abl
ein
excessoft
hatr
equi
redt
odet
ectanobj
ect

PROXI
MITYSENSORS

A pr
oxi
mit
ysensor
 i
sa sensor
 abl
etodet
ectthepr
esence
ofnear
byobj
ect
swithoutanyphysi
cal
contact
.
Apr oximi t
ysensorof t
enemi tsan elect romagnet ic 
fieldora
beam of  electromagnet i
cr adi
ation (i
nf rared,forinst
ance) ,
andl ooksf orchangesi nthe fi
eld 
orr et urnsignal.Theobj ect
beingsensedi sof t
enr eferredtoast hepr oxi
mi t
ysensor '
s
tar
get .Differentproximitysensort arget sdemanddi fferent
sensor s.Forexampl e,a capacit
ive or phot oelect
ric
sensor  
mi ghtbesui tableforapl astict arget;
an i
nduct ive proxi
mitysensoral way sr equi resamet al t
arget.
Themaxi mum di
stancethatt
hissensorcandetectis
defi
ned"nominalr
ange".Somesensorshav eadjust
mentsof
thenominalr
angeormeanst oreportagraduateddetecti
on
dist
ance.Someknowt heseprocessas"thermosensati
on".
Proximit
ysensor
scanhav eahighrel
iabi
l
ityandl
ong
functi
onall
i
febecauseoftheabsenceofmechanical
parts
andlackofphysi
calcont
actbetweensensorandthesensed
object.
Proximitysensorsarecommonl yusedonsmar tphonesto
detect(andskip)accidentaltouchscr
eentapswhenhel dto
theeardur i
ngacall.Theyareal sousedinmachi nev i
brati
on
moni t
oringtomeasur ethev ari
ati
onindistancebetweena
shaftandi t
ssupportbear i
ng.Thisiscommoni nlarge
steam turbi
nes, 
compr essors,andmot or
st hatusesleeve-
type 
bear i
ngs.
Aproxi
mit
ysensoradj
ustedt
oav
eryshor
trangei
sof
ten
usedasa 
touchswi
tch.

Pr
oxi
mit
ysensi
ngi
sthet
echni
queofdet
ect
ingt
hepr
esence
orabsence ofan obj
ectwi
th an el
ect
roni
c noncont
act
sensor
.

Mechani calli
mitswitcheswer et hefir
stdevicest odet ect
objects in industri
al appl icati
ons. A mechani cal arm
touchingthetargetobjectmov esapl ungerorrotatesashaf t
,
whi ch causes an elect r
icalcont actt o cl
ose oropen.
Subsequentsi gnals wi l
lpr oduce ot hercontrolf unctions
through t he connecting sy st
em. The swi tch may be
activat
ing a si mple cont rol r elay
,or a sophi sti
cated
programmabl elogiccont r
oldev ice,oradi r
ectinterfacetoa
comput ernetwork.

I
nducti
v eproximitysensor sar eused i n placeofl i
mit
swit
ches f or noncontact sensi ng of met alli
c obj ect
s.
Capacit
iveproximit
yswi tchesar eusedont hesamebasi s
asinducti
veproximitysensor s;howev er,capaciti
v esensors
canalsodet ectnonmet all
icobj ects.Bot hi nductiveand
capaci
ti
vesensor sarelimi tswitcheswi thrangesupt o100
mm.
The dist
inctadv ant
age ofphot oelectri
c sensor s over
i
nducti
veorcapaci t
ivesensor sist heirincreasedr ange.

Ty
picalAppl
icat
ionsofI
nduct
ivePr
oxi
mit
ySensor
s

Mot
ioncont
rol
(Fi
g.1.
32)
•Shaf
ttr
avel
li
mit
ing
•Movementi
ndi
cat
ion
•Val
veopen/
closed

FI
GURE1.
32 Mot
ioncont
rol
,induct
ive
pr
oxi
mit
ysensor

Pr
ocesscont
rol
(Fi
g.1.
34)
•Pr
oductcompl
ete
•Aut
omat
icf
il
li
ng
•Pr
oductsel
ect
ion

FIGURE 1.
34 Pr
ocess cont
rol
,
i
nduct
ivepr
oxi
mit
ysensor
.

Machi
necont
rol
(Fi
g.1.
35)
•Faul
tcondi
ti
oni
ndi
cat
ion
•Br
okent
ool
indi
cat
ion

FIGURE 1.
35 Machi
necont
rol
,induct
ivepr
oxi
mit
y
sensor
.

Ty
picalAppl
i
cat
ionsofCapaci
ti
ve

Li
qui
dlev
eldet
ect
ion(
Fig.1.
37)
•Tubehi
gh/
lowl
i
qui
dlev
el
•Ov
erf
lowl
i
mit
•Dr
ytank

FI
GURE 1.
37 Li
qui
dlev
eldet
ect
ion,
capaci
ti
vepr
oxi
mit
ysensor

Pr
ocesscont
rol
(Fi
g.1.
39)
•Pr
oductpr
esent
•Bot
tl
efi
l
llev
el
•Pr
oductcount

FI
GURE1.
39Pr
ocesscont
rol
,capaci
ti
vepr
oxi
mit
ysensor
.

I
NDUCTI
VEPROXI
MITYSENSORS

Pr
incipl
eofOperation
An induct
ive proximi
ty sensor consi
sts of f
our basi
c
el
ements(Fig.1.
40).
•Sensorcoi
landf
err
it
ecor
e
•Osci
l
lat
orci
rcui
t
•Det
ect
orci
rcui
t
•Sol
i
d-st
ateout
putci
rcui
t
 FI
GURE1.
40Oper
ati
ngpr
inci
ple

The osci l
lator circuit generates a r adio-frequency
electr
omagnet i
cf i
eldthatradiat
esf rom theferrit
ecor eand
coilassembly.Thef iel
di scenteredar oundt heaxi soft he
ferri
tecore,whi chshapest hef i
eldanddi rectsi tatt he
sensorface.Whenamet alt
argetappr oachesandent ersthe
fi
eld,eddycur rents areinducedi ntot hesur facesoft he
target.Thi
sr esult
si nal oadingef fect
,or“ dampi ng,”that
causesar eductioninampl i
tudeoft heoscill
atorsi gnal(Fi
g.
1.41).
 FI
GURE1.
41I
nducededdycur
rent
.

The det ectorci r

cuitdetectst he change i n oscill
ator
ampl i
tude(Fig.1. 42).Thedetectorcircuitwil
lswit
chONata
specifi
c oper ate ampl i
tude.Thi s ON si gnalgenerates a
signalt ot ur
n ON t he soli
d-stat
e out put.Thisi s oft
en
referr
edt oast hedampedcondi t
ion.Ast het ar
getleaves
thesensingf i
el d,theoscill
atorrespondswi thani ncr
easei n
ampl i
tude.As t he ampl i
tude increases above a specific
value,iti
sdet ectedbyt hedet ectorcircui
t,whichswi t
ches
OFF,causingt heout putsignaltor eturnthenor malorOFF
(undamped)st ate.

FI
GURE1.
42Det
ect
ioncy
cle.

Thedif
fer
encebetweentheoper
ateandt her
elease
ampli
tudeintheoscil
l
atorandcor
respondi
ngdet
ector
 ci
rcuitisreferr
edtoasthehy ster
esi
s(H)ofthesensor.I
t
corresponds t o a di
ff
erence int he poi
nt of tar
get
detecti
onandr el
easedist
ancebet weenthesensorface
andt hetargetsur
face(
Fig.1.43).

FI
GURE1.
43Cor
eassembl
y.

I
nduct
ivePr
oxi
mit
ySensi
ngRange
The sensing range ofan induct
iveproxi
mit
ysensor
ref
erstot hedi st
ancebetweent hesensorfaceandthe
tar
get.Ital so i
ncludestheshapeoft hesensingfi
eld
gener
atedt hroughthecoilandcore.

Fer
ri
temat eri
alint heshapeofacupcor eisusedt o
shapet hesensingfield.Theferr
it
emat eri
alabsor
bst he
magneticfi
eld,butenhancesthefiel
dint
ensityanddir
ects
thefi
eldoutoftheopenendoft hecore(
Fig.1.45)
.
FI
GURE1.
44Opencoi
lwi
thoutcor
e. FI
GURE1.45Cup
-shaped coi
l
/ cor
e
assembly.

Ast andar
df i
eldrangesensori sill
ustrat
edinFig.1.46.It
i
sof t
enr efer
red to as shiel
ded sensing coi
l.Thef err
it
e
containsthef iel
d so thati temanatesst rai
ghtfrom the
sensingface.
Figure1.47showst het y
picalstandard-r
angesensing-f
iel
d
plot.

FI
GURE1.46Standardrangecor
ecoi
l
. FI
GURE 1.
47
St
andar
drangefiel
dplot.

Sensi
ngDi
stance
Theel ectr omagnet i
cf i
eld emanatesf rom thecoi land
coreatt hef aceoft hesensorandi scent er
edar oundt he
axis of t he cor e. The sensi ng range is subj ect to
manuf acturingt ol
erancesandci rcui
tv ar
iati
ons.Ty pi
cal
lyit
vari
esby10per cent.Simil
arl
y,temper at
uredrif
tcanaf fect
thesensi ngr angeby10per cent.Appli
edt ot henomi nal
sensing swi tch,t hese var
iat
ions mean t hatt he sensing
rangecanbeasmuchas120per centorasl i
tt
leas81
percentoft henomi nalst
atedrange(Fig.1.50).

Sr=0.
9<Sn<1.
1
(1.
1)
Sn=0.
9<Sr<1.
1
wher
eSn=nomi
nal
sensi
ngr
ange
 Sr=ef
fect
ivesensi
ngrange
Su=usabl
esensingrange

FI
GURE1.
50Sensi
ngdi
stancet
oler
ances

Tar
getMat
eri
alandSi
ze
•Fer
rous.Cont
aini
ngi
ron,
nickel
,orcobal
t.
•Nonf
err
ous. All other met al
l
ic material
s, such as
aluminum,copper,andbr ass.Eddycurrentsinducedi n
ferr
oustarget
sarestrongerthaninnonferr
ous.
Ani ncr
easeintargetsizewi l
lnotproduceani ncreasein
sensing r
ange.Howev er
,a decreasei ntargetsizewi l
l
produce a decrease in sensing r
ange,and may al so
i
ncreaseresponsetime.

Tar
getShape
Standardtarget
sar eassumedt obeofaf l
atsquar eshape
withthestateddimensions.Targetsofroundshapeorwi th
apocket edsurf
acehav et obeofadequat edi mensionst o
causethenecessar ydampeningef f
ectont hesensor.
Figur
e 1. 52 il
l
ustrates the axial(head- on) approach,
i
ndicati
ng thatt he tar
getappr oaches the f ace oft he
sensoron t he axis oft he coi
lcore.When t he t
arget
approachesaxiall
y,thesensorshouldnotbel ocatedsuch
thati
tbecomesanendst op.
FIGURE1.52 Axi
alappr
oach. FI
GURE1.
53 Lat
eral
appr
oach.

Lat
eral(
side-
by)appr
oachmeanst
het
argetappr
oachest
he
f
aceoft hesensorper
pendi
cul
art
otheaxi
soft
hecoi
lcor
e
(
Fig.1.
53).

Sur
roundi
ngCondi
ti
ons
 Embeddabl
emount
ing

 Adjacentsensors.When t wo si
milarsensors are
l
ocated adjacentto oropposite each other
,t he
i
nteracti
onofthei
rfi
eldscanaf
fectoperat
ion.

 Signalfrequency.Thesignalfr
equencymaybet he
determiningfactort
hatwil
lcauseaparti
cul
ardev
ice
tofalse-
operate.

 Si
gnali
ntensi
ty.Radi
o-f
requencytr
anscei
ver
susual
l
y
ar
e por
table devi
ces wit
h a powerrati
ng of5 W
maxi
mum.
  Induct
ive pr
oxi
mit
y package.The sensorpackage
constr
ucti
on may det
ermine how wellthe devi
ce
resi
stsRFI.

UNDERSTANDI
NGCAPACI
TIVE
PROXI
MITYSENSORS

Pr
inci
plesofOper
ati
on

Acapaciti
vepr oximitysensoroperat
esmuchl i
keani nducti
veproximitysensor
.
Howev er
,themeansofsensi ngisconsi
derablydi
fferent.Capacit
ivesensingis
basedondi electri
ccapaci ance.Capaci
t t
ancei sthepr opertyofi nsulat
orsto
stor
eanel ect ricchar ge.Acapaci-t
orconsistsoftwopl at
essepar atedbyan
i
nsulator
,usual l
ycal edadi
l elect
ri
c.Whent heswitchi sclosed(Fig.1.59),a
chargeisstoredont het wopl
ates.
Thedist
ancebetweent
heplat
esdeter
minest
heabi
l
ityofacapaci
tort
ostor
eachar
ge
andcanbecalibr
atedasafunct
ionofstor
edchar
getodeter
minediscr
eteONandOFF
swi
tchi
ngstat
us.
Figure1.60il
lustr
atesthepri
nci
pleasi tappli
estothecapaci
ti
vesensor.One
capaci
tiveplat
ei spar toftheswitch,thesensorf ace(theenclosur
e)i
st he
i
nsulator,
andthet ar
getistheot
herplate.Groundisthecommonpat h.
Thecapaci ti
vepr oxi
mitysensorhast hesamef ourbasicelementsasan
i
nductiveprox-
imitysensor:

•Sensor( t
hedielect
ri
cplate)
•Oscil
latorci
rcuit
•Detectorcir
cuit
•Soli
d-stateoutputci
rcui
t

FI
GURE1.
59 Capaci
ti
vepr
inci
ple.
 TYPESANDCLASSI
FICATI
ONSOFSENSORSANDCONTROLSYSTEMS 33

FI
GURE1.
60 Capaci
ti
vesensor
.

Theosci ll
atorcir
cuitinacapaci tiveswi t
choperat
esl i
keonei nani nducti
ve
prox i
m- i
tyswitch.Theosci l
l
atorci r
cuitincl
udesfeedbackcapacitancefrom the
externaltargetplateandt heinternalplate.Inacapacit
iveswit
ch,t heoscil
lat
or
starts oscil
lat
ing when suf fi
cientf eedback capaci
tance is detect
ed.I n an
i
nduct iveproximityswitch,t
heosci ll
ationisdampedwhent hetargetispresent
(Fig.1.61).
FI
GURE1.
61 Osci
l
lat
or dampi
ng of i
nduct
ive and capaci
ti
ve
sensor
s.
34 CHAPTERONE

Inbot hcapacitiv
eandi nducti
veswit cht ypes,thediff
erencebetweenthe
operateand releaseampl i
tudei nt heosci l
latorand correspondi
ng det
ect
or
ci
rcuitisreferr
edt oast he hy st
eresi
s oft hesensor .I
tcor r
espondstothe
di
fferencebetweentargetdetecti
onandr eleasedistancesfr
om thesensorf
ace.

Feat
uresofCapaci
ti
veSensor
s

Themaj
orchar
act
eri
sti
csofcapaci
ti
vepr
oxi
mit
ysensor
sar
e:

•Theycandet
ectnonmet
all
i
ctar
get
s.
•Theycan det ectlightweightorsmal lobject
st hatcannotbedet ected by
mechanicalli
mitswi t
ches.
•Theyprov i
dea hi gh switching rat
eforr api
dr esponsei n objectcount i
ng
appl
icat
ions.
•Theycandet ectli
quidtargetsthroughnonmetall
i
cbar r
iers,(
glass,plast
ic,and
soon).
•Theyhaveal ongoper ati
onallif
ewi t
hav i
rt
uall
yunlimit
ednumberofoper ati
ng
cycl
es.
•Thesoli
d-stateoutputprovidesabounce-f
reecontactsignal.

Capaci
ti
vepr
oxi
mit
ysensor
shav
etwomaj
orl
i
mit
ati
ons:

•Theyar
eaffect
edbymoist
ureandhumidi
ty.
•Theymusthaveanext
endedrangef
oreff
ecti
vesensi
ng.

Sensi
ngRange

Capaci
ti
ve pr
oxi
mit
y sensors hav
e a great
ersensi
ng r
ange t
han i
nduct
ive
pr
oximit
ysen-
sor
s,asi
ll
ustrat
edinthef
oll
owing.

I
nduct
iveext
ended Capaci
ti
veext
ended
Tubul
ardi
amet
er,
mm r
ange,
mm r
ange,
mm

18 8 10
30 15 20
34 — 40

Thesensingdi stancef orcapacit

iveproximitysensorsisamat terofplat
e
diameter,j
ustascoi lsizeisforinducti
veproximitysensor
s.Capaci
tivesensor
s
basical
lymeasur eadi elect
ri
cgap.Accor dingly,itisdesi
rabl
et obeabl eto
compensat efortargetandappl i
ca-ti
onconditionswithasensit
ivi
tyadjust
ment
forthesensingrange.Mostcapaci ti
veproxim-it
yswi t
chesareequippedwitha
sensiti
vi
tyadjust
mentpot ent
iometer(Fi
g.1.62).
 FI
GURE1.
62 Sensi
ti
vi
ty
adj
ust
ment
.

TYPESANDCLASSI
FICATI
ONSOFSENSORSANDCONTROLSYSTEMS 35

TABLE1.
5 Tar
getMat
eri
alCor
rect
ion

Mat
eri
al Fact
or

Mildst eel 1.0

Casti ron 1.0
Alumi num andcopper 1.0
Stai
nl esssteel 1.0
Brass 1.0
Wat er 1.0
Polyvinylchl
ori
de(
PVC) 0.5
Glass 0.5
Cerami c 0.4
Wood 
0.2
Lubricationoil 0.
1
Tar
getMat
eri
alandSi
ze

Thesensi ngrangeofcapaci t
ivesensors,likethatofi nducti
veproximity
sensors,is determined byt he ty
pe ofmat eri
al.Table 1.5l i
ststhe
sensi
ng- r
ange der at
ing factor
st hat applyt o capaciti
ve proximity
sensors.Capacitivesensorscanbeusedt odet ectat argetmat er
ial
thr
oughanonmet all
icint
erposingmat eri
allikegl assorplasti
c.Thisis
benefi
cialindet ecti
ngal iquidthrought hewal lofapl asti
ct ankor
thr
oughagl asssighttube.Thet r
ansparenti nter
posingmat eri
alhasno
eff
ectonsensi ng.Foral lpracti
calpur poses,t het ar
getsizecanbe
deter
mi nedinthesamemannerasf orinductivepr oxi
m-it
ysensors.

Sur
roundi
ngCondi
ti
ons

Capaci
ti
veproxi
mi t
ydev icesareaffect
edbycomponentt ol
erancesand
temper
aturevari
a-t
ions.Aswi thinducti
vedevices,capaci
ti
vepr oxi
mit
y
devi
cesareaff
ectedbyt hefol
lowingsurroundi
ngconditi
ons:
•Embeddabl emount ing.Capaci t
ivesensor saregener al
lyt reatedas
nonshi elded, nonem- beddabledevices.
•Flyi
ngchi ps.Capaci tiv
edev i
cesar emor esensi tivet omet all
icand
nonmet all
icchi ps.
•Adjacentsensor s.Allow mor espacet haninductivepr oximi tydev ices
becauseoft hegr eatersensingrangeofcapacitivedev ices.
•Targetbackgr ound.Relativ
ehumi dit
ymaycauseacapaci t
ivedev icet o
operateev enwhenat argetisnotpr esent.Also,t hegr eatersensi ng
rangeandabi l
itytosensenonmet all
ictar
getmat erial
sdi ctategr eater
careinappl yingcapaci ti
vedev i
ceswithtargetbackgr oundcondi ti
ons.
•Magnet i
cf ields.Capaci ti
vedev i
cesar enotusual lyappl i
edi nwel ding
env i
ronment s.
•Radio-frequency i nterf
erence. Capaciti
ve sensor ci rcuit
ry can be
affectedbyRFIi nthesamewayani nducti
vedev i
cecan.
•Shower i
ngar c.Ani nducedel ect
ri
calnoisewi l
laffectt heci rcuit
ryofa
capaci ti
vedev iceinthesamewayi tdoesani nduct i
v edev i
ce.
LIMI TSWI TCHES
Al imitswitchi sconstruct
edmuchl i
ket heordinaryli
ghtswi tch
used i n home and of fi
ce. I t has t he same ON/ OFF
char acter
istics.The l imitswi tch usual l
y has a pr essur e-
sensi t
ivemechani calarm.Whenanobj ectappl i
espr essureon
themechani calarm,theswi tchci r
cuitisener gi
zed.Anobj ect
mi ghthav eamagnetat t
achedt hatcausesacont actt or ise
andcl osewhent heobjectpassesov erthearm.
Limi tswitchescanbeei thernor mallyopen( NO)ornor mal ly
closed ( NC)and may hav e mul t
iple pol
es ( Fig.1. 63).A
nor mallyopenswi tchhascont inuitywhenpr essurei sappl ied
andacont acti smade,whi leanor mallyclosedswi t
chopens
whenpr essur eisappliedandacont actissepar at
ed.Asi ngl e-
pol eswi t
chal l
owsoneci rcuittobeopenedorcl osedupon
swi tchcont act,whereasamul ti
ple-poleswitchal l
owsmul tipl e
circuit
st obeopenedorcl osed.

FI
GURE1.
63Nor
mal
l
yopen/
nor
mal
l
ycl
osedmi
croswi
tches.

Li
mitswitches ar
e mechani
caldev
ices.Theyhav
ethr
ee
pot
ent
ial
pr obl
ems:
•Theyar
esubj
ectt
omechani
cal
fai
l
ure.
•Thei
rmeant
imebet
weenf
ail
ures(
MTBF)i
slowcompar
edt
o
noncont
actsensor
s.
•Thei
rspeedofoperat
ioni
srel
ati
vel
ysl
ow.

MICROWAVE- SENSINGAPPLI CATIONS

Micr
owave sensors arev al
uabl
et ool
si n the indust
ri
al
envi
ronment for measuri
ng mot ion,veloci
ty,directi
on of
movement,andr ange.Theyarei ntri
nsi
call
ysaf esincethey
havenomovingpartsandrequir
elowpower .

Char
act
eri
sti
csofMi
crowav
eSensor
s
Micr
owave sensor gener
al char
act
erist
ics i
mpor
tant i
n
i
ndustr
ial
andcommerci
alappl
i
cati
onsare:
•No cont
act
.Mi
crowav
e sensor
s oper
ate wi
thoutact
ual
l
y
contact
ing t
heobject.Thisispart
icular
lyimport
antifthe
objecti
sinahostil
eenv i
ronmentorsensiti
vetowear.They
can monitorthe speed ofpower-plantgenerat
orshafts,
 cont inuousl y moni t
oring accel eration and decel erati
on i n
or dert omai ntainaconst antrot at i
onal speed.
•R ugged.Mi crowav esensor shav enomov ingpar tsandhav e
pr oven t hei rr eliabili
tyi n extensi ve mi li
taryuse.Theyar e
packagedi nseal edi ndust ri
alencl osur est oendur et her igor s
oft hepr oduct i
onenv i
ronment .
•E nvironment alr el i
abi l
ity.Mi crowav esensor soper ater eli
abl y
i
nhar shi nhospi tabl eenv i
ronment s.Theycanoper atef rom
−55° Ct o+125° Ci ndust y,di
rty, gust y,pol l
uted,andpoi sonous
ar eas.
•Int r
insical ly saf e. I ndust ri
almi crowav e sensor s can be
oper at edi nanexpl osiv eat mospher ebecauset heydonot
gener atespar ksduet of r
ictionorel ectrostati
cdi schar ge.
Mi crowav eener gyi ssol owt hati tpr esent snoconcer nabout
hazar di ni ndust rial appl i
cations.
•Long r ange.Mi cr owav e sensor s ar e capabl e ofdet ect i
ng
obj ects at di st ances of 25 t o 45, 000 mm or gr eat er
,
dependi ngont het argetsi ze, mi crowav epowerav ail
able, and
theant ennadesi gn.
•S i
zeofmi crowavesensor s.Mi crowav esensor sar el arger
thani nduct ive,capaci tive,andl i
mi tswi tchsensor s.Howev er
,
use of hi gher mi crowav ef requenci es and adv ances i n
mi crowav eci rcui tdev elopmental l
ow t heov eral
lpackaget o
besi gni f
icant lysmal l
erandl esscost ly
.
•T argetsi ze.Mi cr owav esensor sar ebet tersui t
edt odet ect
l
ar geobj ect sthansmal leronessuchasasi nglegr ainofsand.

Pr
inci
plesofOper
ati
on
Microwav e sensors consi
st of three major part
s: (1)
tr
ansmi ssi
on source,(2)focusi
ng antenna,and (
3)signal
processingrecei
ver
.

 Usuallyt he t ransmitterand r eceiverar e combi ned

togetherinonemodul e,whi chiscal l
edat ransceiver.A
typi
calmodul eoft hi
st y peisusedbyi ntr
usional arm
manuf actur
ersf oranindooral ar
m sy stem.
 Thet r
ansceivercont ainsaGunndi odemount edi na
smal lprecessioncav ityt hat
,upont heappl i
cationof
power ,oscil
lates atmi crowavef requencies.The DC
i
nputpowerf ort hisstage( 8Vat150mA)shoul dbe
well r
egulat
ed, sincetheosci l
l
atorisvoltage-
sensiti
ve.
 Att he end oft he wav eguide assembl y,a f l
ange is
fastened tot he antenna.The ant enna focuses t he
 mi crowav eener gyi ntoabeam.
 Regar dlessoft heant ennasel ect i
on,whent hebeam of
mi crowav e ener gy strikes an obj ect ,some of t he
mi crowav eener gyi sreflect edbackt ot hemodul e.The
amountofener gywi l
ldependont hecomposi tionand
shapeoft het arget .
 Whent her ef l
ectedener gyr eturnst ot het ranscei ver, the
mi xerdi ode wi llcombi ne itwi th a por ti
on oft he
transmi tted si gnal.I ft het argeti smov ing t owar d or
awayf rom t hemodul e,t hephaser elat ionshi psoft hese
twosi gnalswi llchangeandt hesi gnaloutoft hemi xer
wi l
lbeanaudi of r
equencypr opor tionalt ot hespeedof
thet arget .Thi si scalledt heDoppl erf requency .Thi si s
ofpr i
mar yconcer ni nmeasur ingv eloci tyanddi rect i
on
ofmot ion.
 Thesi gnalf rom t hemi xerwi l
lbei nt hemi crov oltt o
mi l
li
v oltrange, soampl i
ficationwi l
l beneededt opr ov ide
ausef ullev el.Thisampl ificati
onshoul dal soi ncl ude60-
Hzand120- Hznot chf il
terst oel imi natei nterf erence
from power l i
nes and f l
uor escent l ight f ixtures,
respect ively.
 Besi desampl if
ication,acompar atorandout putci rcuitry
relays ar e added t o sui tt he appl icat i
on ( Fig.1. 95).
FIGURE1. 95Ty picalmi crowav emot i
onsensormodul e

Detecti
ngMot i
onwithMicrowaveSensor
s
Thepr esenceofanobjectinthemicr
owavefiel
ddist
urbsthe
radi
atedfiel
d.Ther
emaybeaDoppl erfr
equencyassoci
ated
withthedi st
urbance.Thesi gnalf rom t hemi xert othesignal
processingcircuitr
ymayv arywi thal argeampl itudeandl ong
durati
onsoi tcanbedet ect ed.Theampl it
udegai nandt he
delayper i
odar eofspeci fici mpor tancei nt ail
or i
ngt hedev i
ce
forparticul
arappl icati
ons,suchasmot i
ondet ecti
on.These
sensors are primar il
y used i ni nt r
usion al arm appl icat
ions
wher eitisonlynecessar yt odet ectt hemov ementr atherthan
deriv
ef urt
herinformat i
onaboutt hei ntruder.
In general,t hi
st ype ofsensori s usef ulwher et he
objectstobesensedar emov ingi nt hef iel
dofi nt
erest(Fig.
1.96).Otherdev icest hatcompet ef ort hesameappl icat
ions
areultr
asonic,phot oel
ectri
c, andi nfraredsensor s.

Ultr
asoni c sensor s are sensi tiv
et o dr afts and hi gh-
frequencyambi entnoi secausedbybel l
sandst eam escapi ng
from r adiators.I nfrar ed sensor s ar e sensi t
ivet other mal
gradient s caused by l ights t urni ng on and of f. The
effecti
v enessofi nfraredsensor si ssev erelyreducedathi gh
ambi entt emper atures.Howev er,ut il
izingdualt echnologi esi s
recommended t o mi nimize f alse al ar ms—combi ni
ng
mi crowav etechnol ogywi thinfraredt echnol ogy .
I
n ot herappl icat i
ons,mi cr owav e sensor s can show
adv antagesov erphot oelectri
csensor si nt hear easofl onger
range,i ncreased ar ea of cov erage,oper at i
on i n host il
e
env i
ronment s,andi nappl icat
ionswher ei tisnecessar yt osee
throughonemedi um ( suchasacar dboar dboxort hesideofa
nonmet all
ictank)t osenset heobj ectont heot hersi de.
I
ft he targeti s mov ing t owar d oraway f r
om t he
transceivert herewi l
lbeanaudi o-f requency( Doppl er
)si gnal
outoft hemi xerdi odet hatispr opor tionalt ot hev eloci
tyoft he
target.Thef requencyoft hissignal isgi venbyt hef ormula:
 Fd=2V(
Ft/
c)
(
1.2)

wher
eFd=Doppl erfr
equency
V=veloci
tyofthet
arget
Ft=t
ransmitt
edmicrowavefr
equency
c=speedofl i
ght

I
fther
eisananglei
nvol
ved,
thentheequat
ionbecomes:
Fd=2V(Ft
/c)cosΘ
(1.4)

whereΘi stheanglebet weenthetranscei

verandt heli
neof
mov ementoft hetar
get.
Evi
dent l
y,as the targetis movi
ng across the f
ace ofthe
tr
anscei v
er,cosΘ=0,andt hefr
equencyis0.I ft
heangleis
keptbelow18° ,however,t
hemeasuredfrequencywil
lbewithi
n
5per centofthecenterfr
equency(
Fig.1.
97).

DetectingPr esencewi thMicrowav eSensors

Ast ati
cobj ectcanbedet ectedi nthefiel
dofami crowave
sensor .Thepur poseoft hisdet ecti
onistodet er
minet hatthe
objectisst il
lint hef i
eldofi nterestandhasnotdepar ted.This
i
spar t
icularl
ydesi rousi ncont r
olsystemswher ethecont rol
l
er
i
sper formingot hert asksandt henaccessest hesensort o
determi newhet hert hereisasensedobj ectatthatpar ti
cul
ar
ti
me.
To det ectt he pr esence ofan obj ect,a mi crowave
sensorwi thasepar atet r
ansmi tterandrecei
vermustbeused.
At ransceiveri nt hisappl icationi snotadequate,al
thought he
tr
ansmi tt
erand t he r eceiv
ercan be mount ed i
nt he same
enclosur e.Ther ecei v ermustnotsenseanyener gyunl essthe
objecti s pr esenti nt he field.A means t o modul atet he
transmit
terisneeded,andt
herecei
vershoul
dbenar r
ow-band
toampl i
fyanddet ectt
hemodulat
edrefl
ect
ion.Thesensi
ti
vit
y
oft he recei
vermustbe adjustabl
et o all
ow forambient
refl
ecti
ons.

MeasuringVel oci
tywithMicrowaveSensors
Microwav e sensors areideall
y sui
ted to measur
ing l
i
near
vel
ocit
y.Pol ice radaris a simple example ofa Doppler
-
fr
equency-based v el
ocit
y sensor.Thist echnol
ogy can be
appl
iedwher ev eritisnecessaryto deter
mi nevel
oci
tyina
noncontactmanner .

Detecti
ngDir
ecti
onofMot ionwithMicr
owaveSensor s
Directi
onofmot i
on—whet herat ar
getismov i
ngt owar dor
away from the micr
owav e sensor
—can be determined by
thr
oughuseoft heDoppl er-
fr
equencyconcept(Fig.1.99)by
addinganext
ramixerdiodetothemodule.

A discri
mi natingef f
ectisgeneratedbyt headditi
onal
diode,whichisl ocatedint hewaveguidesucht hattheDoppl er
outputsfrom t het womi xersdiff
erinphasebyone- quarter
wav el
ength,or90° .Theseout putswillbesepar at
elyamplifi
ed
andconv ertedintol ogiclevel
s.Theresulti
ngsignalscant hen
bef edintoadi git
alphase- di
scr
iminati
oncircuittodetermine
thedirect
ionofmot ion.Suchcircui
tsarecommonl yfoundi n
mot i
on cont rol appl i
cations i
n conj uncti
on wi th optical
encoders.

Outputsf r
om thismodul ecanv arywi delytosui tthe
appli
cati
on.Thesi mpl
esti stwoout puts,onef ormot i
onand
theotherfordirecti
on(towardoraway )
.Theseout putscanbe
addedt oat hi
rd,whichprov i
dest hevel
ocit
yoft hetarget.The
combinati
onofsi gnal
scoul dbeanal yzedt opr ovideaf inal
output when speci fi
c ampl itude,dir
ection,di stance,and
vel
ocitycr
iteri
aar emet(Fig.1.99).
LASERSENSORS

Li
ght i s wav e energy travel
ing wi t
h some of t he
characteri
sti
csofamov i
ngpar t
icl
e.Thet otaltr
ansmit
tedas
l
ighti sthesum oft heener
giesofal ltheindivi
dualphot
ons
emitted.
Velocity
,f r
equency,and wav el
ength arer el
ated by t
he
equation:

c=f
λ (
1.6)

ec=v
wher el
ocit
y of
li
ght
, km/ s f =
fr
equency,Hz
λ=wav el
ength,
m
Thi
s equati
on shows t
hatt he f
requency ofa waveis
i
nversel
y propor
ti
onaltot he wavelengt
h—that i
s,hi
gher
-
f
requencywaveshaveshor
terwavel
engths.

Essent
ialLaserComponent
s
Lasersy
stemsconsi
stoff
ouressent
ial
component
s:
•Theact
ivemedi
um
•Theexci
tat
ionmechani
sm
•Thef
eedbackmechani
sm
•Theout
putcoupl
er

TheAct
iveMedi
um. Theact
ivemedi
um i
sthecol
l
ect
ionof
atoms,ions,ormoleculesinwhi chst imul atedemi ssionoccur s.
I
tisinthismedi um t
hatlaserl
ighti spr oduced.
Thewav el
engthemi t
tedbyal aseri saf unctionoft heact i
ve
medium.Thi sisbecauset heat omswi thint heactivemedi um
havet heirown char acter
ist
ic ener gy l ev els atwhi ch they
rel
easephot ons.Theref
ore,agiv enact ivemedi um canpr oduce
alimi
tednumberofl aserwavelengt hs, andt wodifferentacti
ve
mediacannotpr oducethesamewav elengt hs.

Exci
tat
ion Mechani
sm. The exci
tat
ion mechani
sm i
sthe
deviceusedt oputener gyintot heact i
vemedi um.Thet hree
pri
mar ytypesofexci tationmechani smsar eopt ical,el
ectri
cal,
andchemi cal.Allthreepr ov i
det heener gynecessar ytoraise
theener gyst at
eoft heat om,i on,ormol eculeoft heact i
ve
medi um toanexci tedst ate.Thepr ocessofi mpar tingenergy
totheact i
vemedi um iscalledpumpi ngthelaser.
 Opt icalExci tation. An opt i
calexci tat
ion mechani sm
usesl i
ghtener gyoft hepr operwav elengtht oexcitethe
activemedi um.
 El ectri
calExci tati
on. El ectri
calexci tation is most
commonl yusedwhent heactivemedi um wi llsupportan
el
ect ri
ccur rent.Thisisusual lythecasewi thgasesand
semi conduct ormat eri
als

FI
GURE1.
105Gasl
aserwi
thel
ect
ri
cal
exci
tat
ion.
Thegasmi xt
ureisheldinagaspl asmat ubeandthepower
suppl
yisconnect
edt otheendsoftheplasmatube.Whenthe
powersuppl
yisturnedon,elect
ronmovementwi t
hint
hetube
i
sfr
om t
henegat
ivet
otheposi
ti
vet
ermi
nal
.

 Chemi calExci t
ation. Chemicalexcit
ationisusedi na
numberofl asers.Whencer tainchemi cal
sar emixed,
energyi sr eleased as chemi calbonds are made or
broken.Thi sener gycanbeusedasapumpi ngsour ce.
These l asers are attr
acti
vef ormili
tary appl
icat
ions
becauseoft hel argepower-t
o-weightrati
o

Feedback Mechani
sm. Mi r
ror
s ateach end oft
he acti
ve
medium are used as a f
eedbackmechanism.The mirr
ors
ref
lectthelightproducedi ntheactivemedi um backint
ot he
medi um along i
tsl ongit
udinalaxis.When t he mirr
ors are
ali
gnedpar all
elt
oeachot her,theyfor
m ar esonantcavi
tyfor
thelightwavesproducedwi thinthel
aser.Theyrefl
ecttheli
ght
wav esbackandf ort
hthrought heacti
vemedi um.

Out
putCoupl
er. Thef
eedbackmechani
sm keepst
hel
i
ght
i
nsidet helasercavit
y.Inor dertoproduceanout putbeam,a
porti
onoft heli
ghtint hecav i
tymustbeal l
owedt oescape.
Howev er,this escape mustbe cont r
oll
ed.Thi sis most
commonl yaccompli
shedbyusi ngapar ti
all
yreflect
ivemirr
orin
thefeedbackmechani sm.
The out putmi r
rort hati s designed tot ransmita gi ven
percentageofthelaserlighti
nthecav i
tybetweent hefeedback
mirror
si scall
edtheoutputcoupler.

I
ndust
ri
alAppl
icat
ionsofLaserSensor
s

El
ect
ri
cal
andel
ect
roni
csi
ndust
ri
es:

•War
page and pi
tch ofI
Cleads.The vi
sibl
e beam spot
f
aci
li
tates the posi
ti
oni
ng oft he sensorhead f
orsmal l
wor
kpieces.Warpageandpit
chcanbemeasur edbyscanni
ng
I
Cleadswiththesensorhead(Fi
g.1.
107).
•Measur
ementofl
eadpi
tchofel
ect
roni
ccomponent
s.The
sensorper
formsprecisenoncont
actmeasur
ementofpi
tch
usi
ngalaserbeam (
Fig.1.
108).
FI
GURE1.107Warpageandpi
tchofIClead. FI
GURE 1.
108
Measur
ementofl
eadpit
chofelect
roni
ccomponents.

Aut
omot
ivemanuf
act
uri
ngi
ndust
ri
es:

•Posi
ti
oni
ngofr
obotar
m.Thel
aserdi
spl
acementsensori
s
usedtomai nt
ainaspecif
icdist
ancebet weentherobotarm
andtarget.Thesensoroutput
sapl usormi nusvolt
ageifthe
di
stancebecomesgr eaterorl
ess,respecti
vel
y,thanthe100-
mm referencedist
ance(Fi
g.1.
120).

FI
GURE1.
120Posi
ti
oni
ngofr
obotar
m.

•Measur
ementoft
apewi
dth.Measur
est
hewi
dthofr
unni
ng
t
apetothesubmicrometerlevel
;100 per
centi
nspect
ion
i
mprov
espr
oductquali
ty(
Fig.1.
131).

FI
GURE1.
131Measur
ementoft
apewi
dth
Bar
-CodeI
dent
if
icat
ionSy
stems
Theuni
ver
salproductcode(
UPC)usedi
nret
ailst
oresi
sa
st
andar
d12-di
gitcode.
 Fiv
eofthedigi
tsrepresentt
hemanuf
act
urerandf
ive
theit
em bei
ngscanned.
 Thef i
rstdigi
ti dentif
iesthetypeofnumbersy st
em
bei
ng decoded and t hesecond i
sa par i
tydigitto
det
ermi nethecor r
ectnessofthereadi
ng.Thefir
stsix
di
gitsarerepresentedbycodeinanal t
ernat
ingpatt
ern
ofl
ightanddar kbar s.

FIGURE 5.1 Encodi ng of t

he bi
nary stri
ng
10011100 bydel
ta code (
top)and wi
dth code
(bot
tom).
Figure5.1showstwoencodi
ngsoft hebi
naryst
ri
ng100111000.
I
nbot hcases,themini
mum printedwi dt
histhesame.The
deltacoderequi
resni
nesuchwidths(thenumberofbi
ts)
,whil
e
thewi dt
hcoderequi
res13suchwidths.
 FIGURE 5.
2 Specifi
cat
ions ofthe UPC sy
mbol
.The
readabl
echar
act
ersar
enormallypr
int
edint
heOCR-
Bfont
.

Theremai ningsi xdi gi

tsaref ormedbydar kal t
ernati
ngwi th
l
ightbarsr eversi
ngt hesequenceoft hefir
stsixdi gi
ts.This
all
owsbackwar dscanni ngdetection( Fig.5.
2).
 Bar -
codel abelsar esimplet opr oduce.Barcodesarenot
necessar il
ypl acedonl abel s.Tool s,forexample,hav e
hadt hecodeet chedont heirsur f
acest oall
ow fortool
tracking.Techni queshav ebeendev elopedformol di
ng
barcodesont orubbertires.Hol ographicscannersall
ow
reading ar ound cor ner
s so t hatpar ts need notbe
orientedper pendicul
artot her eaderast heyfeeddowna
processingl ine.

Adi f
fi
cult
ywi thbarcodinghasbeent hefactthatitcannot
bereadi fthebar sbecomeobscur edbydirt
,grease,orother
substances.Inf
raredscannersar
eusedt oreadcodest hatare
coatedwi thblacksubst ancesto pr
eventsecrecyv i
olat
ions
thr
oughr eproducti
onofthecodes.Onewayt ogener al
lyoff
set
theproblem ofadi rt
yenv ir
onmentistousemagnet i
cstri
pe-
encodedinformation.

Opt
icalChar
act
erRecogni
ti
on
Anotherfor
m ofautomat icidenti
fi
cati
oni sopticalchar
act
er
recogni
ti
on (OCR). Al phanumeric char act
ers f or
m t he
i
nf or
mati
on,whi
chtheOCRr eadercan“read
Manyothermeansexistforpartident
ifi
cati
on,suchasvisi
on
systemsandvoi
cerecogniti
onsy st
ems.
  Visi
onsyst emsut il
izeTVcamer ast oreadal phanumer i
c
dataandt ransmi tt heinf or mat i
ont oadi gitalconv er
ter .
OCR dat a can be r ead wi th such dev i
ces,as can
conv ent i
onal l
yt ypedchar acters.
 Voice r ecogni ti
on syst ems have pot entialwher e an
i
ndiv idual’s ar ms and hands ar e ut i
li
zed i n some
funct i
ont hati snotconduci vet or eporti
ngi nformation.
Suchanappl icationmi ghtbet heinspect ionofpar tsby
anoper atorwhohast omakephy si
calmeasur ement s
ont hesamepar ts.
 Inlaserscanni ngappl i
cat i
ons,al aserbeam scansand
i
dent ifi
esobj ectsataconst antspeed.Theobj ectbeing
scannedi nterruptst hebeam f orat i
mepr opor ti
onalt o
i
tsdi amet erort hickness
 Inlinearar rayappl ications,par allellightbeams ar e
emit tedf rom onesi deoft heobj ectt obemeasur edtoa
phot o-opt i
cal di ode ar ray on t he opposi t
e si de.
Diamet ers ar e measur ed by t he number of ar ray
element sbl ocked.
 InTVcamer aappl i
cations,aTVcamer ai susedi nt he
digi
tizingoft hei mageofanobj ectandt her esul
ti s
compar edt ot hest oredi mage.

FACTORSAFFECTI
NGPOSI
TIONSENSOR

I
nselect
ingaposi
ti
onsensor
,sev
eralkeyf
act
orsshoul
d
beconsi
dered:
•Cost.Bot hinitial purchasepr i
ceandl if
e- cyclecostmust
beconsi dered.
•Sensi ngdi stance.Phot oel ectri
csensor sar eof t
ent he
bestsel ect i
onwhensensi ngdi s-tancesar el ongerthan25
mm.Phot oelect ri
csensor scanhav esensi ngr angesas
l
ong as 300, 000 mm f orout doororext remely di rt
y
appli
cat ions,downt o25mm f orext remelysmal lpar t
sor
forignor ingbackgr ound.I nduct i
vepr oxi
mi tysensor sand
l
imitswi t
ches,on t he ot herhand,hav e shor tsensi ng
dist
ances.Thei nduct ivepr oxi mitysensor sar elim-itedby
thedi stanceoft heel ectromagnet icf i
eld—l esst han25
mm f ormostmodel s—andl imitswi t
chescansenseonl y
asfarast helev eroper atorr eaches.
•Typeofmat er ial.Induct ivepr oximit
ysensor scansense
only f errous and nonf er r
ous mat erials, wher eas
photoel ect r
icandl imi tswi tchescandet ectt hepr esence
ofanysol idmat er ial.Phot oel ectri
csensor s, howev er,may
requir
eapol arizeri ft hetarget ’
ssur f
aceisshi ny.
•Speed.Electr
onic dev
ices using DC powerar et he
fastest
—asfastas2000cy clespersecondforinduct
ive
proximit
ymodels.Thef ast
est-
acti
ngl i
mitswit
chescan
senseandreseti
n4msorabout300t imespersecond.

•Env ironment .Pr oximi t

ysensor scanbesthandl edi rty
,
gri
ttyenv ironment s,butt heycanbef ooledbymet alchi ps
andot hermet alli
cdebr i
s.Phot oelectri
csensor swi l
lal so
bef ooledorl efti noper ablei ftheyar efoggedorbl indedby
debr i
s.
•Ty pesofvol tages,connect ions,andr equi rement soft he
device’s housi ng. Al lt hree t ypes can accommodat e
varyingr equi rement s,butt hepr opersel ecti
onmustbe
madei nlightoft hepowersuppl i
es,wi ri
ngschemes,and
env i
ronment s.
•Thi rd-partycer tifi
cation.TheUnder wr i
tersLabor atories
(UL), Nat ional El ectri
cal Manuf acturer s Associ ation
(NEMA) ,Inter nat i
onalEl ectrotechni calCommi ssion( I
EC),
Factor yMut ual ,Canadi anSt andar dsAssoci ati
on( CSA),
andot heror gani zationsi mposer equirement sf orsaf ety
,
oftenbasedont het ypeofappl i
cat i
on.Thecer ti
fication
willensur et hedev i
cehasbeent estedandappr ov edf or
certainuses.
•Intangi bles. These can i ncl ude t he av ail
abi l
ity of
applicat i
onsuppor tandser v i
ce,t hesup- plier’
sr eput at
ion,
l
ocalav ail
abi li
ty ,andqual i
tyt est i
ngst atement sf r
om t he
manuf actur er.