A laser triangulation sensor is one of the most sought-after non-contact measurement technologies for measuring distance and displacement in industrial automation applications. They are available in a wide variety; from standard to high precision models, low-cost to high-end models as well as different laser types and measurement ranges from as short as 0.5mm to 1000mm.
Bestech Australia supplies laser triangulation sensors from Micro-Epsilon, which manufactures the largest selection of laser sensors in the world for almost all measurement applications; from compact, entry-level sensors to high-end sensors with improved precision and advanced functions. All these sensors can be used for performing measurements on difficult surfaces such as reflective, hot glowing, diffusive, and organics and still provide stable measurement results, which is often not achievable by general-use laser sensors that are widely available in the market.
With such a wide range of sensor selections, it can be challenging to select the most suitable sensors for specific applications. We have compiled several points to consider which may be useful for you to decide on the most suitable sensors for your test and measurement tasks.
What is the required measurement range?
In most cases, entry-level laser triangulation sensors such as ILD 1320 and ILD 1420 are suitable for accurately measuring distance and displacement up to 500mm. The mid-range ILD 1750 sensor is suitable for general measurement application in industrial and factory automation with a maximum measurement range of 750mm. If a higher measuring range is required, the high-performance ILD1710 sensor can be used for measuring displacement up to 1000mm.
What is the quantity needed?
To cater for high-volume applications and the OEM market, Bestech offers the compact entry-level laser triangulation sensor ILD 1220 from Micro-Epsilon. The ILD1220 is designed based on ILD 1320 with limited capability. It has a lower measurement rate of 1kHz and offers only measurement output in Analog, which makes it unsuitable for streaming data. However, it is a recommended choice of the sensor in the application where a higher quantity is required due to ease of customization to suit different types of applications.
Required measuring rate
For general measurement applications, there is a wide range of selections of lower-tier laser sensors which can be freely selected based on the measurement range. For higher measurement rates, the new addition of optoNCDT 1900 is designed to measure on highly dynamic objects with 10kHz. It is a recommended choice over ILD 1420, where the measuring range remains the same, however, the target object is fast-moving and demands a higher measuring rate. Another high measuring rate laser sensor is the advanced ILD 2300, specially designed for highly dynamic applications and measurement of fast-moving objects with an adjustable sampling rate of up to 49kHz. The maximum sampling rate is compensated by the measurement range of the sensor. The maximum range is decreased by half when the sensor is configured to measure at the maximum sampling rate of 49kHz.
Standoff distance from objects
In some applications, it is required to install sensors at some distance from the targeted objects. Examples of these applications may include the measurement of hot objects in the metal industry or the measurement of moving parts in industrial machinery. The ILD1710 and ILD 2310 offer a large standoff distance of 1000mm which is suitable for these measurement applications. Selection between these two sensors depends on the required measurement range, measuring speed as well as the type of objects to be measured. The ILD2310 is a high-end sensor suitable for dynamic applications and can also be used for measuring the thickness of transparent materials. In any other applications, it may be more suitable to choose the ILD1710 for a better cost-to-performance ratio.
The type of objects to be measured
Our laser triangulation sensors are integrated with a real-time surface compensation feature which offers outstanding accuracy and reliability for measuring displacement on changing surfaces. In some special applications, such as the measurement of organic or hot glowing metals, the conventional laser sensor may not give accurate results as the laser diffuse does on the surface. There are blue laser sensors with a shorter wavelength which offer more accurate measurements for this type of application. The high-end ILD 2300 laser triangulation sensor is equipped with laser line scanning technology in which the laser focus point is modified into an oval shape to filter for physically-induced interference. This enables a stable measurement on shiny and structured surfaces.
Browse the selection of our laser triangulation sensors here. Contact us if you need more information. Our application engineers will be able to support you to select the most suitable sensors for your current requirement.
