Three common industrial sensors are inductive proximity sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, and photoelectric sensors.
Inductive sensors can detect a target from 0.5 millimeters to 40 millimeters. They only detect metallic targets and therefore use a magnetic field to detect presence when a ferrous metal enters the magnetic field.
Capacitive proximity sensors on the other hand can detect dielectric materials such as liquids plastic glass, wood and granulated substances as long as it has a dielectric constant of 1.2 or more. Their range is from three millimeters to 15 millimeters depending on the dielectric material to be detected.
Photoelectric sensors have the greatest detection range from one millimeter to 25 meters or more. They operate by the use of an emitter which transmits a beam of light to the receiver. They operate by detecting the presence, or absence, of a light beam sent from transmitter to receiver.
These are three very basic sensor technologies used in many common applications. The video above provides an elementary understanding of the operational differences.
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