Lasers

AR2500 Laser Sensor

AR2500 Laser Sensor

AR2500 laser sensors are Acuity Laser’s ultra-compact rangefinder models. This eye-safe rangefinder has a measurement frequency of up to 30 kHz and can measure the distances to natural targets up to 30 meters away or to retroreflective targets 260 meters away. This laser is best for applications that demand high sampling rates.

Fast Speed, Compact Design

Acuity’s AR2500 sensor uses time-of-flight measurement principles to measure long distances at short measurement intervals to provide precise accuracy at high sampling rates.

The ultra-compact AR2500 laser distance sensor can measure distances from 0.2 m (8 in) to 30 m (100 ft) to natural targets of low reflectance (10%). In simple sampling averaging modes, the AR2500’s typically achieves accuracy less than 10 mm throughout the measurement range. The sensor has a maximum sampling rate of 30,000 Hz, and at its furthest measurement ranges, the sensor’s sampling output rate is still able to be up to 16,000 Hz.

For very distant measurements, you can use retroreflective target material (such as 3M Scotch lite 3000X) to increase the maximum range to 260 meters (853 feet).

Class 1, Eye-safe Laser

The AR2500 laser sensor operates with a Class 1, eye-safe, 905 nm infrared diode. The tiny laser spot has a beam divergence of 3 milliradians. The Class 1 laser is able to be used in most environments and is FAA approved to be operated in outdoor applications near airports.

Versatile, High Speed Applications

The AR2500 sensor is designed for industrial environments with NEMA-6, IP67 enclosure ratings, making the sensor impervious to dust infiltration and moisture impregnation. Typical applications for the AR2500 include high-speed vehicle height profiling, bridge crane monitoring, trolley positioning and altitude measurements, amongst others. It’s high sampling rate and ultra-compact case make it ideal for industrial scanning applications and tight OEM installations applications.  For large-volume machine builder applications, a stripped-down module version of the sensor is offered for customers that intend to insert the sensor module into a larger housing.

Outputs and Inputs

You can choose a standard RS232 or optional RS422 serial interface for communication with a computer or PLC. The AR2500 also comes with a standard, 4-20 mA, analog, current loop output. The AR2500 has two limit switches for indicating alarms and are useful for triggering an external device when a target reaches a set position. Data formats are available both in ASCII and Binary with selectable termination characters. This sensor has the ability to output the sensor’s internal temperature and return signal amplitudes in its data stream.