At the recent SPS/IPC/Drives show in Germany, Leuze electronic demonstrated a range of laser-based area scanning distance sensors which, it claims, are the first to incorporate Fast Ethernet ports.

The ROD 4plus sensors, which have a 50m range, provide 2D information on the width, contour and positions of objects. They are designed for applications such as contour measurement, gripper positioning, access control or collision recognition, as well as for the positioning of automatic guided vehicles.

The Fast Ethernet interface, with a transmission rate of 100Mbit/s, makes the sensor around ten times faster than previous systems. It allows 3D profiles to be generated by rotating the measured object or the laser.

The sensors transmit light pulses at short intervals over an angle of up to 190 degrees. The time difference between transmitting a pulse and receiving its reflection from an object is used to calculate the distance to the object. This method works with both light and dark surfaces and is immune to spurious light.