KYOTO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OMRON Corporation (TOKYO:6645)(ADR:OMRNY) today announced the release in November of a new group of ZW series confocal fiber displacement sensors.
ZW series confocal fiber displacement sensors:
- Controllers with EtherCAT
- Sensor heads (2 models with measuring distances of 7 mm and 30 mm)
Following the Sysmac automation platform*1 launch in July
2011, Omron further expands the Sysmac lineup with the addition of new
confocal fiber displacement sensors with EtherCAT interfaces to the ZW
series released in February 2012. Connection with controllers and drive
devices, such as servomotors, via ultra-high-speed open network EtherCAT
enables flexible, high-speed machine control.
Ultra-compact sensor
heads with measuring distances of 7 mm and 30 mm will also be released
to enhance the sensor head lineup which currently features 20-mm and
40-mm models.
The Sysmac automation platform has reduced the need for wiring work and has enabled centralized management with one single EtherCAT network allowing connection of the NJ series machine automation controller with vision sensors, AC servomotors/drivers, inverters, and I/O terminals. The addition of the ZW series confocal fiber displacement sensors to the Sysmac automation platform makes machine construction more convenient than ever.
The new sensors will be exhibited at "SPS/IPC/DRIVES" to be held in Germany in November 2012. Please visit the Omron booth to witness the fast and highly accurate performance of Sysmac Studio software-controlled machines equipped with the ZW series sensors.
*1. Sysmac automation platform
Complete machine control through one
software suite and one seamless connection with a variety of I/O
devices. Machine and motion programming is fully compliant with IEC
61131-3, and the dedicated software suite features functions such as
programming, motion designing, and network setting allowing easy control
of all connected devices and freeing users to engage in further
production innovation.
Features
1. The features of existing ZW series sensors that make them highly-suited to integration into devices have been retained including the following three important features:
- Ultra-compact and ultra-lightweight sensor head: 24 x 24 x 64 mm and only 105g
- Sensor heads with low impact on operating environment: no noise or heat generation
- Stable measurement from the same mounting position even for different materials
2. The linking of height information and position coordinates helps to improve system productivity
EtherCAT can be used to connect to servo drives or encoder input slaves to quickly get the position coordinates and ZW displacement. The height information and XY position coordinates can be easily linked, which increases processing precision in machine control applications and facilitates maintenance in the inspection applications, such as helping to isolate errors or carrying out alignment-drift monitoring management.
3. Shorter machine takt times with high-speed digital outputs
Response times for measurement commands when using the kind of Ethernet or RS-232C generally used for digital (serial) outputs of displacement sensors are both inconsistent and slow, making them unsuitable for real-time control. With high-speed digital output through EtherCAT, it is possible to achieve a continuous output with a constant period as short as 500 μs ― eight times faster than Omron's previous models. Digital communications also provides great immunity to noise and this solves common problems with analog output methods, such as the inability to support long-distance transmissions and the need for noise countermeasures.
4. Improved measurement resolution for multipoint measurement applications
The high speed and concurrency provided by EtherCAT enable high-precision multipoint measurements with multiple sensors for displacement sensor applications. Multiple sensors can perform synchronous measurements of the distance from the sensor to the target surface and the thickness of wide-surfaced objects such as sheets of metal and glass by eliminating the previous time error in measurements between different sensors.
5. Tracing, adjustment, and simulation of machine movement
Sysmac Studio enables development, testing, and adjustment of devices connected via EtherCAT. The entire range of actions from sensing to motion control can be visually represented on screen and this reduces the man-hours required to set up systems and identify problems. There are also offline functions to debug signal control programming. It is also possible to simulate machine operation before actual installation onsite.
* As of November 2012, version 1.04 of Sysmac Studio does not have setting functions for the ZW-series Displacement Sensor and will be upgraded soon.
6. Sensor head capable of providing stable thickness measurement of thin sheets of glass
The newly-released sensor head with a measuring distance of 7 mm can stably measure the thickness of thin sheets of glass, a feat not easily achieved with conventional compact sensor heads. To measure transparent glass, light waves received from the front and back surfaces of the glass must first be separated. This sensor head achieves separation for stable measurement of surface displacement of glass sheets as thin as 75μm while boasting a compact size.
ZW series Product Lineup
|
Sensor Controllers with EtherCAT |
||||
| ZW-CE10T (New) | ZW-CE15T (New) | |||
| Input/Output type | NPN | PNP | ||
| External interface | EtherCAT, Ethernet , EtherNet/IPTM, RS-232C, Analog output, Parallel I/O | |||
| Measurement cycle | 500μs to 10ms | |||
| Filtering | Median/average/differentiation/high pass/low pass/band pass | |||
| Outputs | Scaling/various hold values/zero reset/logging for a measured value | |||
| Number of configurable banks | Max. 8 banks | |||
|
Sensor Heads |
||||||||
| ZW-S07 (New) | ZW-S20 | ZW-S30 (New) | ZW-S40 | |||||
| Measuring range | 7±0.3mm | 20±1mm | 30±3mm | 40±6mm | ||||
| Spot diameter | 18 μm dia. | 40 μm dia. | 60 μm dia. | 80 μm dia | ||||
| Static resolution | 0.25μm | 0.25μm | 0.25μm | 0.25μm | ||||
| Linearity | ±0.8μm | ±1.2μm | ±4.5μm | ±7.0μm | ||||
| External Dimensions | 24mm×24mm×64mm | |||||||
| Weight | Approx. 105 g | |||||||
About OMRON
Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, OMRON Corporation
is a global leader in the field of automation. Established in 1933, and
headed by President Yoshihito Yamada, OMRON has more than 37,000
employees in over 35 countries working to provide products and services
to customers in a variety of fields including industrial automation,
electronic components, social systems, and healthcare. The company has
five regional head offices in Kyoto (Japan), Singapore (Asia Pacific),
Shanghai (Greater China), Amsterdam (Europe, Africa, and the Middle
East), and Chicago (the Americas). For more information, visit OMRON's
website:
http://www.omron.com/
Sysmac® is a trademark or registered trademark of OMRON Corporation in
Japan and other countries for OMRON factory automation products.
EtherCAT®
is a registered trademark and patented technology, licensed by Beckhoff
Automation GmbH, Germany.
EtherNet/IPTM, is the
trademarks of ODVA.
Other company names and product names in this
document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.