In manufacturing, it is important to invest in various technologies that might help improve the production processes. One of the worthwhile investments in this field are industrial sensors. These are proven beneficial in improving business processes because it provides a collective data of the distribution of goods and services. Using the idea of IoT or Internet of Things, it is possible for these smart sensors to capture and deliver data even though these are installed in remote locations.
What is IoT?
IoT is about installing smart sensors on various objects that are often used in our everyday lives. In manufacturing, the sensors are often placed all over the industrial plant in which these are connected to a communication device just like a smartphone or a computer. As long as there is an Internet connection, a wireless network, and a bunch of computer chips, it is possible for the sensors to deliver real-time information to the communication device.
Industrial Sensors for Manufacturing
Even though there are lots of industrial sensors used in manufacturing, these are the ones that are often chosen:
Capacitive Proximity Sensors
This kind of sensor makes use of two “plates”. The plates serve as an electrical conductor between the sensor itself and the object that it is supposed to monitor. Once these plates are installed, the oscillator circuit of the sensor will be activated and this would be used to determine whether the monitored object has moved or not. This is possible because the oscillator circuit creates an “air gap” that tells whether the position of an object has changed.
In manufacturing, capacitive proximity sensors are widely used in warehouses with limited spaces. This is because most warehouses that are used as storage facilities for various construction materials such as metals, wood, and plastic. Thanks to these smart sensors, it would be easier for the workers to find out where a specific metal or wood is positioned inside the warehouse. This is beneficial when it comes to product distribution because the workers won’t have a difficult time in locating the needed construction materials for deliveries.
Another advantage of using capacity proximity sensors is that they have built-in adjustment features. This means that it can be set according to an object’s specific weight or mass. With this, it is now easier to determine where it is placed inside the warehouse even though the object is encased inside a box or bin.
Magnetic Sensors
As for the magnetic sensors, these are split into many different types because they are widely used in various industrial applications. In manufacturing, it is useful in robotics and automation because the magnetic sensors can sense the change in the linear and angular position of the motors of a machine. In simple terms, it means that it can monitor if the machine’s movements are efficient. If it is not, then there might be something wrong with its motor parts. This ensures that the production processes of a manufacturing plant are running smoothly and seamlessly.
One of the reasons why magnetic sensors are effective smart sensors is because they measure the vector components of the magnetic field or they calculate the total magnetic field as a whole. Using these, it’s easier to detect the position of an object.
Vision Sensors
Vision sensors are more than just security sensors. They are also used for quality control in various industrial applications. Its unique features include combining its camera, controllers, and light sensors, thus creating an all-in-one smart sensor in detecting the orientation and parts of a particular product. Vision sensors also have a wide field of view. This means that it’s easier to know the condition of a particular object even though it is moving.
One of the greatest benefits of using vision sensors is that they can inspect or verify multiple objects in different conditions all at once. This is a huge advantage when it comes to maintaining the quality of each of your products since there isn’t a need to use different photoelectric sensors.
Benefits of Industrial Sensors
These smart sensors are beneficial in manufacturing because of these various reasons: it provides real-time value data because most used the concept of cloud technologies, and it can garner significant cost-savings. The former reason is quite advantageous because it allows the workers to monitor the state of their production line even from a remote location. This helps hasten the production process. As for the latter one, it becomes beneficial because there are smart sensors like the magnetic sensors that have low power consumption features. Also, vision sensors are cheaper than those smart cameras and are easier to install so the vision sensors are cost-effective.
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