A retro-reflective photo eye (shown below) has the emitter and receiver in the same housing with a reflector on the opposite side.Because through-beam photo eyes have the receiver on the opposite side, it does not face the same challenges regarding color, mirrored finishes, or short distances as the other methods– the tradeoff here is cost. This method is the most accurate and has the longest sensing range however, it is also the most costly as it requires a separate emitter and receiver. A through-beam photo eye (shown below) has the emitter and the receiver in separate housings opposite each other– often on either side of a conveyor.
There are three principal types of photo eyes used in the material handling industry (although this list is by no means exhaustive): through-beam, retro-reflective, and diffuse-reflective. What are Photo Eye Sensors, and How Do They Improve System Automation?įor those unfamiliar, a photo eye (or photoelectric sensor, if we get technical) is a type of sensor commonly used in the material handling industry to sense the presence or absence of an object within the sensors range without physically touching the object. A photo eye primarily consists of an emitter - to emit light, and a receiver – to receive the emitted light. By monitoring the electrical output of the receiver, a control system can tell when there is an object in the path of the photo eye and even how far away the object is. These capabilities lend themselves well to a variety of controlled systems.
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