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SINGLE POINT PROFILE SENSORS
Single point profile sensors are laser distance measurement devices. They operate on the triangulation principle, projecting a single laser spot onto the target.
Single point sensors are capable of profiling a contour of a target along the direction of part travel, or measuring displacement in a fast moving process. They are frequently used to measure thickness, height, and surface roughness, as well as monitor target position for closed loop control.
Single Points have very high sampling rates (up to 32,000 Hz), which makes them ideal for monitoring high-speed operations. Also, they can rapidly and automatically respond to targets with surfaces that change in color or reflectivity.
MULTI-POINT PROFILE SCANNERS
Multi-point profile scanners are a simple extension to single-point profile scanners. These scanners project and image multiple laser spots from a single package, which provides multiple discrete profiles as the target moves past the sensor.
Functionally, multi-point profile scanners are equivalent to mounting a number of single point sensors side by side, but offer many advantages:
- Acquisition cost usually lower than multiple sensors
- Simplified mounting – only one mount required
- Simplified cabling – needs only a single cable set
- Factory pre-calibrated with laser spots aligned
Multi-point scanners can rapidly and automatically respond to targets with surfaces that change in color or reflectivity. They are primarily used in lumber mill applications to optimize cutting paths and maximize yield.
LINE PROFILE SENSORS
Line profile sensors project a continuous line of laser light onto the object surface, which is imaged by a camera in the sensor. The image of the laser line on the camera maps out the cross sectional profile of the target surface as it moves past the sensor, generating a high-density 3D point cloud.
3D point clouds of whole parts are used to perform dimensional and volumetric measurements and decision-making.
Smart line profile sensors offer built-in measurement tools and can also generate highly detailed 2D surface images, synchronized with 3D data. Intensity images can then be analyzed with common 2D image processing software for surface inspection as well as character or bar code recognition.
SNAPSHOT SENSORS
Snapshot sensors use a blue LED structured light module (SLM) and stereo scanning technology to generate high-resolution, full-field scans with fast scan cycles at up to 5Hz.
Blue LED SLM produces high-contrast patterns that deliver high-resolution scanning with excellent ambient light immunity, even in challenging conditions. 3D snapshot sensors produce highly reliable and repeatable results with rich 3D data visualization.
Snapshot sensors are used in a wide variety of factory automation applications for 3D measurement of stationary targets. They are used for both in-line and near-line offline measurements. They also are used with robots to create flexible measurement systems and for robot guidance applications.
LINE CONFOCAL SENSORS
Line confocal sensors use an optical principle called lateral chromatic aberration where white light emitting from a sensor’s transmitter is split into a continuous spectrum of wavelengths. Reflected wavelengths that are “in focus” (return through a pinhole) map to height variations.
What makes these sensors unique is their ability to generate 3D topography (3D surface geometry), 3D tomography (multi-layer 3D geometry), and 2D intensity data simultaneously over a 2k line scan at scan rates up to 3 kHz. Confocal scanning avoids unwanted reflections from shiny metal surfaces, and their off-axis design permits multi-layer (tomography) scanning.
In addition, confocal sensors are much easier to mount to acquire high quality scan data, while delivering angular performance of +/- 20 degrees on transparent/mirror-like surfaces and +/- 80 degrees on opaque/matte surfaces.
