Laser Sensor

I am working on an application and looking for a laser sensor or somthing that can work for my appliaction.

-Measuring distance of 21 feet
-Accuracy of 1/8”
-Outdoor use
-Feed back to a read out (able to change the values)
-Prefer wireless
-Battery power is an option

I tried Keyence, Siemens, etc. I still have not found the one that will carry the range that I'm looking for the for less price.

If you can help, that will be great.

Thanks

Have a look at IFM. They produce a very compact sensor which should do what you want. I have not used one in anger but I have seen one demonstrated and they look very good.
Andybr

I just spoke to IFM in PA, USA. I explained to them my application and the application engineer told me that they wouldn't carry something for outdoor use.

Try Micro Epsilon, they have a great range of laser sensors although I've never asked for an outdoor version, but it might be worth giving them a call.

http://www.me-us.com/contact.htm

Sick.

You dont state much about what exactly (material) you must measure or by which principle (sensing on surface, or on reflector ?).
It is also not clear if you are after an analog value or just have to detect presence.
"feed back to read out (able to change values)" is a bit cryptic.

Anyway, SICK (www.sick.com) have many different models, and they are normally rated to IP65 which is quite high. If "outdoor" also means extreme temperatures, then this may not be enough for you. You may have to add some additional housing around the sensor.
I guess that for example DME3000 can do the trick for you, but not sure.

This is the unit I mentioned. It is not specifically for outdoors use but I would have thought that it could be mounted in a suitable housing.

http://www.ifm-electronic.com/ifmuk/web/dsfs!O1D106.html

Andybr

Andybr said:

Have a look at IFM. They produce a very compact sensor which should do what you want. I have not used one in anger but I have seen one demonstrated and they look very good.
Andybr

Click to expand...

IFM laser sensor have very false notlinear output 4-20 mA/0-10V - bad hardware scheme.
LED display show true distance.
I have tested 4 IFM sensors.

Maybe someone can remember the name from the description. I have used a unit in the past that is outdoor rated and is used with automated crane crane systems. It can even do closed loop position control and will tune itself to changes in the system (as in start a decel sooner if your mechanical brakes start to wear). It has been around quite a long time and uses infrared send receive and can definitely work at the distance/accuracy you are looking for. The other thing I liked about it is that if it lost the signal it would gracefully decel and stop the load.

It has a blue housing and you could get it with multiple fieldbus interfaces or analog. All those options (including the positioning control) were actually in there, even though you paid for them separately. If you knew the unit you could take hyperterminal and activate the features you needed.

Darren

I do remember this much. Part of what you need to look for is not a laser sensor that typically uses angular displacement, but one that measures time of flight. This will give you much longer distances and the accuracy you are looking for.

Well I found it. It was a Trimble ICS 5000, but looking at the website it looks like they may not make a device like that anymore. The website is www.trimble.com

Maybe this will help,

Darren

Looks like there is a German company making an exact version of the Trimble unit. http://www.psi-technics.com/index.php?LANG=EN&PAGEINDEX=POS

They also have an outdoor rated enclosure for it. With the fieldbus interface there are a couple of devices available to make the data available wireless (fist one to think of is the Omron DeviceNet wireless bridge).

You may also want to look at http://www.trelectronic.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.products&prod_ID=51

Does not have environment data, but looks awfully robust. They also have a watercooled housing available.

Use Banner.
I have used there sensors in project with luck and no problems.

http://www.bannerengineering.com/en-US/products/8/Sensors/38/Laser-Sensors

JesperMP said:

You dont state much about what exactly (material) you must measure or by which principle (sensing on surface, or on reflector ?).
It is also not clear if you are after an analog value or just have to detect presence.
"feed back to read out (able to change values)" is a bit cryptic.

Anyway, SICK (www.sick.com) have many different models, and they are normally rated to IP65 which is quite high. If "outdoor" also means extreme temperatures, then this may not be enough for you. You may have to add some additional housing around the sensor.
I guess that for example DME3000 can do the trick for you, but not sure.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up with SICK. I saw the OS2000 on their website, and I'm really interested in giving that system a try. It's a light curtain that's rated for outdoor use. I can't describe the amount of grief that would save me.

Has anyone used one before?

Never mind. It's not out in NA, only in Germany, and they have "no plans" to submit it for cUL / CSA approval.

So other than the minor problems of it:
a) not existing and
b) being illegal to use even if it did exist,

it sounds great.