Reliable detection of medicine packages

Whenever the position or volume of moving or static objects needs to be determined, light section sensors from Leuze electronic offer ideal application solutions. Applications such as the fully automated warehousing modules for pharmacy picking systems from Gollmann show that the advantages over camera-based image processing systems are not only in the price.

Light section sensors operate according to the so-called light-section method, a commonly used method for optical shape recognition. With this method, a line projector projects a wide light beam onto the measurement object at a known angle. In the case of the line profile sensors (LPS) from Leuze electronic, a laser that produces a narrow and bright light on the measurement object is used. The thereby produced light plane cuts the object along the profile line, which is why such sensors are often referred to as profile section sensors.

From the perspective of a position-sensitive detector (camera), the path of this profile is bent to a greater or lesser extent as a function of the object height. With knowledge of the geometry of light beam and camera, exact 3D coordinates of the test sample can be determined according to the triangulation principle. Due to its accuracy and robustness, this process has proven itself in many areas of application. A big advantage of this type of object detection over camera-based image processing systems is the exceptionally economical price/performance ratio as well as the overall very compact and easy-to-integrate sensor solution.

The LPS light section sensors from Leuze electronic combine the laser as light source and the camera in one housing. Measuring just 160 x 74 x 56 mm, they are the most compact sensors of their type on the market and can also be used when space is very tight.