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Technologies + Products
| News for Factory Automation 1/2016
Photoelectric Sensors:
The Next Generation
Photoelectric sensors
The new generation of small photoelectric sensors continues to
grow: Like the R100 and R101 before it, the R103 packs an entire family of sensing modes
into a single, standard housing.
From the thru-beam sensor to sensors with multiple switch points and
distance sensors, the R103 integrates the whole portfolio of photo-
electric sensing modes in a standard design. “In addition to our Multi
Pixel Technology for precise object detection, DuraBeam, a unique
laser technology, is also particularly worthy of mention. It combines
the advantages of LED and laser sensors,” explains Sebastian Pesch,
Product Manager for Photoelectric Sensors.
This is because DuraBeam enables use at temperatures from –40 °C
to +60 °C and impresses with robustness and a particularly long
service life. In addition, all sensor variants have an IO-Link interface that
enables continuous communication down to the sensor level – the
basis for Sensorik4.0
®
. The SmartBridge
®
technology can also be easily
integrated via IO-Link. Sensor data can thus be conveniently accessed
via a mobile screen and the sensors can be parameterized.
“As with the first two representatives of this new generation of photo-
electric sensors, R100 and R101, the R103 also offers a future-oriented
product architecture: An integrated design and installation concept
for different applications – and therefore maximum flexibility and cost
savings,” explains Holger Unger, Product Manager for Photoelectric
Sensors. Regardless of the functional principle, all series have a wide
range of connection options, making them very versatile.
Users benefit from a uniform operating concept. The multiturn poten-
tiometer and the push buttons allow the quick parameterization of all
functions; the display of sensor states is also uniform across all series.
This saves time, reduces operating errors, and commissioning costs:
“Once understood always understood, that is the motto here,” says
Pesch.
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