Industry 4.0 – Intelligent Communication with Inductive Sensors
Through the use of intelligent inductive sensors from wenglor sensoric, a large German manufacturer of special machines has succeeded in reducing the number of sensor types required for his application by 50%. In order to detect the various positions of gripper arms which are used above all in assembly operations, it was previously necessary to use a great variety of sensor types. Thanks to the IO-Link interface and ASIC circuit technology, type I12H020 sensors can be easily integrated into existing systems: “The sensors communicate actively via IO-Link and are known individually”, explains wenglor product manager Maria Boos. “In this way they can be easily and flexibly adapted to the respective application, as is the case here with the gripper arms”, explains Boos.
The customer, who is primarily a supplier to the pharmaceuticals industry, was convinced by the intelligent communication capabilities, as well as the outstanding performance with a compact design (12 mm switching distance in an M12 housing) and the sensors’ long service life (thanks to ASIC). “Our customers keep track of their systems and are additionally provided with better performance from a single sensor”, adds Boos. “And they’re well prepared for applications in tomorrow’s smart factories as a result.”