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Fiber Optical Sensor, how to use it and its applications

Fiber optical sensor:

Basically today we will discuss about Optical Fiber sensor the Model Number is E3XNA-11. This Sensor is used in many industries. The Operating voltage is 10-24 V DC. Fiber optical sensor which have basically three led wires brown wire which is 24 V, blue wire which is 0 V and black wire which is signal wire. Two for Power Supply and one wire for OUTPUT of Sensor. This Sensor has NPN-type Output. The fiber optic core which can we purchase according to our needs. There are fiber optic adapter sleeve and a fixed base. Connect brown wire and blue wire to DC 24 V switching power supply.




Now let’s, see how we will use the sensor?

Here is the LED Bar which varies with sensing range and shows the variation of distance with target.  The fiber optic sensor consists of sensing Adjustment Port, switch for Light ON/Dark ON Mode and the delay switch. This is basically a diffuse type Optical Fiber with diameter of 8mm meaning of diffuse type is it has inbuilt transmitter and receiver in one Dia.

Fiber Optical Sensor

Now Question come is how we will use it?

For using this, open up the flap it has a locking Switch which must be in Vertical position. Optical fiber has two pints, one for transmitter and one for receiver. I plugged the wire in the transmitter side and other one into receiver side. Both are plugged in now and we have to press this switch to lock the fibers. Now fibers are intact and it won’t move our Sensor is ready for work. Now we will give supply to sensor.



Optical sensor with Relay:

First i will explain this Control Unit which gives Power Supply to Sensor. Power is turned ON and these are the points of 220 VAC sense is connected at these points. This is a NPN type Sensor so + , – and output is connected to inbuilt relay is connected with Output. When target comes in range of sensor, the relay operates. We can see that relay working sound of relay will tell it Works. Now i have given the supply to sensor and when any object comes in sensing range. We can also see in Indication LEDs which vary with sensing distance. We can also adjust Sensing range off the sensor for adjusting sensing range, we have an adjustment port. For maximizing range, turn it clock wise for minimizing turn it anti-clockwise.

In first switch its written L and D Just simply understand that one gives NO contact and other one gives NC contact. If i switch it on right side then relay will operate when target is not present in sensing range. If i switch it in Left side then relay would work when target comes in range. Now relay is ON simply understand that this point is NO which is on the left and right side is NC point.

Fiber Optical Sensor

Optical fiber comes in variants this is diffuse type transmitter and receiver and it also comes in through beam optical fiber in which transmitter(TX) is one one side and receiver(RX) on other side any object that passes between the ray that is called through beam type Sensor.

Applications of optical fiber sensors:

The main application of these sensors for sensing very small target which is less than 5 mm or 1 mm target and we have to sense it. So this sensor will best for that application rather than a normal photoelectric sensor this sensor can also be used for high frequency application which means moves fast moving objects without any malfunction this sensors works.



DF-G1fiber optic sensor:

DF-G1 fiber optic sensor is an innovative easy-to-use fiber amplifier with a simple setup and reliable performance the easy-to-read dual display shows the signal level and threshold simultaneously giving you complete insight to the application parameters.

Fiber Optical Sensor

The mode selection switch and rocker button simplifies sensor setup and ensure precise threshold adjustment an intuitive user interface puts the most frequently used adjustments at your fingertips to reduce installation time and ensure a quick setup the lever-action.

Fiber Optical Sensor

Fiber clamp provides stable reliable and trouble-free fiber clamping it’s compatible with any plastic or glass fiber with a two point two millimeter diameter vanna’s powerful teach and set method sensure reliable detections in both low contrast and long range applications thermally stable electronics minimize production delays do the sensor warm up and allow several amplifiers to be mounted side by side the fast response time makes the DF-G1 great for detecting small objects with a wide selection of standard and custom fiber. It is suitable for many application needs for more information about the DF-G1 amplifier.



E3XHD Fiber-optic Amplifier:

The basics of fibers and also about the basic setup for calibration first let’s take a look at how to get set up the E2X HD amplifier is din rail mountable so you can see here’s where the din rail mount option is and then that’s the clip actually slides back and forth so you want to make sure that when you mount it you’re going to put that end down first push it to the left and then just pop this end on by pushing straight down.

Fiber Optical Sensor

So I will show you again now the amplifiers mounted on the din rail with the sensor heads as I mentioned there’s hundreds of different options but they’re all going to have two ends one is the emitter and one is the receiver. So if we look at the amplifier you have the emitter option and the receiver option in the amp. So when we set this up we want to make sure we are plugging in one of these to the emitter one to the receiver and then you have a lock option here that you always want to make sure you clip down you will know that it’s locked because these are secure and because the lid can actually closed. I now have the fiber-optic head mounted you can see there’s a clamp up here with it clamped in and the beam spot is down on the table keep in mind the fiber amplifier is actually going to hold the emitter and the receiver. So the light is traveling from the amplifier through the fiber-optic cable out the head and then once the light bounces off of the table or your target it’s going to go back up through the fiber-optic cable to the amplifier so really the amp is going to be the brains of the operation.

Dual digital display of optical sensor:

As you can see on the display above we have red values and a green value the red values slightly fluctuating right now that is your live or current value and it’s based on light intensity. So as I move closer to the fiber head you can see the value increases and when we move further away it’s going to decrease this is not based on units a measure like millimeters or lumens. It is really just points of light how much light is coming back to the fiber-optic amplifier. So also you can see this is a white background darker targets send back less light so you can see that amp display actually dropped down quite a bit compared to how much light is reflected off of the white surface and so this is the basics of really how the amplifier detects the green value is your set point or your threshold so the amplifier as a whole will send an output signal based on where this red value is being either above or below your threshold.




Basic calibration of the two point tuning:

Let’s take a look at the basic calibration of the E3XHD amplifier because this is a lighter background I am actually going to use a dark surface target. So there is a significant difference between the two because as I mentioned this is a light intensity based sensor two point teach is there commended basic calibration to use with the E3XHD amplifier you can see that there is an S tune button all the way to the left on the amplifier that’s your set button. So first step is to push the set button once and you can see it says s T one point and I did that without the target there it does not matter which order you do this in but my second point I am going to actually put the target in front of the beam and hit the set button again you can see now it’s flashing and it says to point that was it so what it did was it looked at the red value in both of those instances.

Fiber Optical Sensor

So without the target and with the target and it placed the green value the threshold about halfway between those two so it’s doing the work of a potentiometer or trim pot setup for you. The way that I know that it’s actually working or outputting. I can see on the display the output indicators going to go on and off as the target moves in front of and out of the view of the sensor or the fiber.

Full automatic tuning:

Another option for calibration of the E3X HD amplifier is the auto teach you would use this method if you are actually detecting falling parts and therefore you cannot freeze them in mid-air to do the two-point teach or if you simply do not want to stop the line to add the sensor or recalibrate it. So I am going to move the target back and forth in front of the beam spot to simulate the parts moving by and all you need to do for this calibration method is hold down the tuned button. So I am going to hold this down and move the part for about six seconds until you see the display say Auto then I will lift up the button you can see it flashes briefly and that was it that’s all you need to do keep in mind with this method whatever goes in front of the beam spot during the time when I’m holding down the tuned button that’s going to be kind of factored into what the threshold value should be so make sure that you don’t have parts moving wobbling in ways that they wouldn’t naturally move during detection of the targets.



E3X-HD Fiber-optic Amplifier Light ON and Dark ON:

It is actually sending an output signal on the table not when the target is present the reason for that is that the sensor is currently in light on mode. I know this because I can see the indicator above the green value is lit up so with a fiber-optic amplifier like the E3X-HD.

Fiber Optical Sensor

I don’t need to worry about rewiring this instead I can locate the LD button all the way to the right on the amplifier if I push that once you can see that the L is no longer lit up and actually the D is so I will push that a few times so you can see it and actually the output indicator is also changing the reason for that is that we put it in dark on  mode meeting when the darker target or the target that sends back less light is in the view of the fiber that’s when it’s going to output. So to say that a different way when the red value is below your threshold the output is sent and the output turns off. When the red value is above the green value so really your choice and using light on a dark on really depends on your application and what you’re trying to do are you trying to make sure a part is always present and if it moves out of the line of sight then we want to send a signal concerned that you know something is not aligned where it should be for the process or are we doing part detection where we want to send a signal every time that part is present. So it’s really up to you with light on or dark on but this is your basic setup for a two-point teach again pressing set once with a target there and set again with the target absent.

Engr Fahad

My name is Shahzada Fahad and I am an Electrical Engineer. I have been doing Job in UAE as a site engineer in an Electrical Construction Company. Currently, I am running my own YouTube channel "Electronic Clinic", and managing this Website. My Hobbies are * Watching Movies * Music * Martial Arts * Photography * Travelling * Make Sketches and so on...

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