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06/09/2011
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Leuze electronic are specialists in optics, having manufactured optical sensors for nearly 50 years. Despite this expertise, the real world of industry throws up challenging applications which hamper even their advanced smart cameras and is why they also offer 3D measurement sensors.
 Vision systems struggle on applications where for example black components are on a black tray, because there is too little contrast between the components and the background. A large and unpredictable variety of colours, for example checking the contents of a tote box in a warehouse can also be problematic and this is when 3D measurement offers a better solution.
Unlike the two dimensional view of a vision system, Leuze electronic's new LRS & LPS sensors use distance measurement which gives a third dimension. Measuring position rather than interpreting shades or colours also makes them much more immune to differences in brightness, colours and ambient lighting – In fact they will happily work in the dark.
The sensors use a highly energetic laser to illuminate a 'slice' across an object, so that each point is illuminated to a factor 1,000 times greater than the lighting from a vision system, without risk to an operator's eyes.
The sensors project this laser line up to 600mm long across a section on the x-axis, which when combined with an encoder input to the sensor for the y-axis, enables the sensor to measure not only the location of each pixel in an x/y co-ordinate system, but also its brightness value and the distance in the z axis.
The LRS sensor is programmed using a pc to set fields of interest and Boolean logic to monitor for example if a tote bin is empty, half-full, full, or overfull, each option being output as 24v on one of four outputs – in effect a very clever but simple to set up detection sensor, ideal for an end-user.
The LPS sensor is designed for measurement, once again being easily programmed, but outputting a data stream of accurate 3D measurements, making it a solution more typically for a system integrator or machine builder. A video of it on a bin-picking robot is at www.leuze.co.uk
These sensors are equivalent to using an array of 376 laser distance measurement sensors, which are perfectly calibrated the moment they are switched on - The sensor will even handle the complexity of working with up to 5 other such sensors to profile a log or a complete pallet load for example.
PS – Leuze electronic are running FREE machine vision training workshops on 11th & 12th October at the PPMA's offices in Croydon, or at Leuze electronic in St Neots. – More info on www.leuze.co.uk
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Leuze electronic Ltd
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