Optical sensors with longer range and enhanced performance

22nd November 2019

Alex Lynn

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Omron Electronic Components has announced a new series of optical sensors, featuring a longer detection distance. Omron B5W sensors are particularly effective at identifying black, transparent, reflective and other hard to detect services, and the new range also features enhanced performance in this area.

Omron B5W Light Convergent Reflective (LCR) Sensors detect target objects much more reliably than general reflection photo sensors, even those that are often a challenge such as reflective, transparent, diffuse or black surfaces. The sensor’s convergent light beam can be accurately set to trigger on the presence of an object within a tightly specified target area, and ignore any objects in the background or foreground.

The new Omron B5W-LB LCR sensors offer enhanced performance compared to the existing B5W-LA devices, and are offered in super miniature and miniature form. The miniature B5W-LB2101 and LB2112 are available with analogue or digital outputs with a sensing range of ten to 55mm for white paper, falling to ten to 40mm for black.

The device is sized at 40x8.4x15.9mm. For applications requiring an even more compact solution, the super-miniature B5W-LB1112 is just 26x8.4x13mm. It offers a sensing distance of two to ten millimetres for white paper and three to eight millimetres for black. All digital devices are offered in light-on and light-off form and are sealed to IP50.

Omron B5W-LB Light Convergent Reflective (LCR) sensors are distinguished by the reliability and repeatability of their detection performance, even when presented with target items of different colours and types of surface including reflective surfaces.

Applications include detecting transparent cups and glasses in vending machines, diffuse surfaces that scatter incident light like carpets, black surfaces that absorb light and mirrored surfaces and other objects that are often a challenge for traditional sensors. The devices are for general use to detect target items of various different colours.

For example, the B5W is used in a robot cleaner to detect a step. The B5W can reliably distinguish wood, glass, carpet and other floor surfaces from a downward step, to avoid risk of the robot falling. Other functions that can be reliably fulfilled by the B5W-LB include detection of coffee bean levels in drinks machines (low reflectivity) and the detection of paper of all colours including transparent sheets in printers.