October 2025 Product Roundup: Sensors and Machine Safety
AutomationDirect Inductive Sensors
AutomationDirect has added ifm fail-safe inductive sensors featuring two OSSD outputs that can be connected to a safety relay for safety applications requiring the detection of metal objects. These sensors are designed to trigger a safe state if the sensor fails, reducing the risk of injury to personnel or damage to equipment. The sensors are available in 12 mm, 18 mm and 30 mm tubular and 40x40 mm cube styles and are constructed of stainless steel or bronze-plated brass. All models come with a 4-pin M12 quick-disconnect, environmental ratings of IP65/IP67/IP68 or IP68/IP69K and a 5-year warranty.
IDEC Safety Wheel Drive
IDEC Corp. is expanding its ez-Wheel product family with the new Safety Wheel Drive (SWD), an all-in-one solution combining a wheel, gearbox, motor, safety encoder and safety drive to streamline the integration of powered motion into any type of industrial mobile platform. This maintenance-free solution reduces component count by up to 50%. With a modular architecture providing the freedom to flexibly scale as needed, the SWD reduces engineering time and simplifies the certification process. The SWD is available in a light/medium SWD 125 model or a heavy-duty SWD 150 model — both with a load supporting, IP66 rated cast iron frame.
Omron Time of Flight Sensor
Omron’s E3AS-HF advanced photoelectric time of flight (ToF) sensor was built for long distance detection of difficult-to-sense objects in a single housing setup. ToF distance sensing technology makes operations more efficient and reliable because the sensors can detect objects of any color, surface finish or angle. Flexible mounting makes it simple to integrate into existing machines or reduce commission time with stable detection of targets even at harsh angles. It comes equipped with a configurable analog output for continuous positioning applications and IO-Link for remote monitoring and reduction in setup time.
Pepperl+Fuchs Ultrasonic Sensor System
The USi-safety ultrasonic sensor system is extremely small and can be freely positioned, meaning it can be detached from the control interface for flexible positioning in the narrow space of the fork arms. The control interface offers two safe OSSD outputs per channel for the adjustable protection field and one PNP switching output for the warning field. The elliptical sound field of the ultrasonic transducer has an opening angle of ±17° and ±5°. If the USi-safety system is installed on several independent AGVs that happen to cross each other’s paths, the mutual interference suppression prevents them from interfering with their function.
Sick Displacement Sensor
Sick has released the OD200, a miniature measuring distance sensor for short ranges that features measurement stability on highly reflective, black and irregular surfaces. The newly developed triangulation measurement core with its evaluation algorithms plays a key role in delivering this high level of accuracy. It is currently designed for process speeds up to 3 kHz and will be available in various sensor variants for measuring ranges of 25 mm to 160 mm. The connectivity options of the OD200 include all required and industry-standard interfaces and I/Os, including IO-Link, an analog current/voltage output as well as one switching I/O. In addition to the measured values, the sensor also provides data for inline optimization of the measurement performance and for ongoing condition monitoring.
Teledyne Dalsa 3D Laser Profilers
Teledyne Dalsa has introduced the Z-Trak Express 1K5 3D laser profiler series. It delivers high-speed 3D inspection with real-time processing, achieving a maximum profile rate of 5,000 profiles per second. Featuring a 1,700 mm horizontal field-of-view, the Z-Trak Express 1K5 enables precise measurement and inspection of wide-body objects using a single sensor. It also supports the integration of multiple sensors in a variety of topologies. The Z-Trak Express 1K5 synchronizes multiple sensors using a data cable and supports content-based triggering for enhanced flexibility. All Z-Trak profilers are deployment-ready and come bundled with Z-Trak 3D Apps Studio, a graphical configuration utility and Sherlock8.
