Fast Response Optical Sensors Prove Invaluable in Demanding Gaging Applications

Fiber optic sensors operate by monitoring the amount of light reflected from the target surface being measured. They are able to precisely determine parameters such as displacement, vibration, position and gap and are frequently used to determine surface condition. A variety of sensor configurations provide sub-micron resolution and/or a large measurement range. MTI's Fotonic ™ sensors provide accurate measurements on almost any type of surface or material including metallic, plastic, glass and ceramics. They can also operate in water or oil, however, a slight sensitivity change occurs that can easily be accounted for. For confined spaces, the optical fiber probes can be bent or prisms can be attached to redirect the direction of light. Armored cable and non-metallic jackets coupled with ceramic tips extend the usefulness of the equipment into production and high vacuum applications. The MTI-2100 Fotonic Sensor System (Photo 1) consists of a mainframe signal processor/controller which accepts up to two fiber-optic probe plug-in modules. The plug-in modules incorporate a seven-position low-pass filter and a three-position high-pass filter for improved signal to noise ratio. Typical frequency response of the sensor is 150 kHz, however, special systems are available that can exceed 1 mHz.