(Machine Safety) In a safety light screen application, the installation of two emitter/receiver pairs to create a vertical and a horizontal sensing field. Gains advantages of both area guarding and point-of-operation guarding techniques to reduce the possibility of pass-through hazards.

Local Area Network. A system that links electronic equipment into a communication network within a confined geographical area.

(Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation) A device that creates a narrow, intense and coherent light. Many lasers deliver light in an almost-perfectly parallel collimated beam that is very pure, approaching a single wavelength.

(Machine Safety) The response of a safety or safeguarding device in which an OFF-state is maintained after the device has been actuated until the safeguard is cleared, re-closed, or re-armed and a manual reset is performed.

Setting in which an output will stay on until the inspection result from subsequent inspection changes.

Maximum acceptable delay between transmission and reception.

The leading edge of the sensing event is the first occurrence in a material flow.

An undesirable small value stray current which flows over or through an insulator.

Abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode. A semiconductor that emits light when current flows through it. In Banner photoelectric sensors, LEDs are used both as emitters for sensing beams and as visual indicators of alignment or output status. Banner sensors use visible red, visible green, visible blue, visible white, or infrared (invisible) LEDs.

(Machine Safety) Any type of marking, sign, or inscription which identifies the device type, function or purpose.

The optical component of a sensor that collimates or focuses light rays onto a receiver optoelement (photoelectric sensing) or an imager chip (vision sensing).

One of two sensing conditions in a sensing application which is characterized by a higher level of received sensing energy. This term is generally used in photoelectric sensing. See Dark Condition.

(Machine Safety) See Active Opto-electronic Protective Device.

(L/O) The program mode for a photoelectric sensor in which the output energizes (or the timing logic begins) when the receiver becomes sufficiently light. Here's a downloadable reference about Light Operate/Dark Operate.

See Active Opto-electronic Protective Device.

Any device serving as a source of illumination.

(Vision Sensing) The physical relationship between the light source, the target object and the vision sensor. Learn more about Lighting Geometry here.

(Vision Sensing) The way a light source is physically positioned relative to the object it is illuminating. Learn more about Lighting Techniques here.

An unobstructed radio path between a radio’s transmitter and receiver antennas.

The normal in-plant power line supply voltage which is usually 120 or 220/240 or 440 V ac.

(Measurement and Inspection) Linearity actually refers to the maximum amount of nonlinearity in the output of the sensor. It is usually defined as the maximum deviation above or below the ideal output of the sensor. See figure, at right. It should be noted that linearity errors are repeatable errors and do not affect the sensor’s ability to repeatably activate discrete outputs. Furthermore, since linearity errors are repeatable, they are potentially correctable within the host system. A linearization scheme in a host system could consist of a table of actual and ideal values that serves as table for interpolation.

A load can describe electromechanical devices (such as solenoids, clutches, brakes, contactors, etc.), resistive devices (lamps, heaters, etc.), in addition to solid-state circuit inputs (counters, programmable logic controllers, Banner logic modules, etc.).

(Vision Sensing) Tool set included in vision software used locate the region of interest regardless of translational or rotational variations of the inspected part.

(Machine Safety) A safety system condition that is automatically attained in response to certain failure modes (an internal lockout). When a Lockout condition occurs, the safety system’s safety outputs turn OFF, the failure must be corrected, and a manual reset is required to return the system to RUN mode.

A graph with logarithmic x and y scales. A logarithmic scale reveals percentage changes. A change from 100 to 200, for example, is presented in the same way as a change from 1,000 to 2,000.

Methods used to condition an output signal by way of timing or counting, or to coordinate control of a process by comparing multiple outputs.

A logic module is sometimes an integral part of a sensor assembly, as in OMNI-BEAM, MULTI-BEAM, MAXI-BEAM, and the Q85 Series sensors with timing logic modules.

(Vision Sensing) Low-angle lighting enhances the contrast of surface features. The low-angle light is aimed nearly perpendicular to the imaged surface of the target object, casting shadows that emphasize changes in elevation. Learn more about low-angle lights here.