Non-Contact Speed & Length Measurement

Slip-resistant, safe for sensitive surfaces, and safe for tactile sensor elements—the SPEETEC is an innovative, non-contact sensor for speed and length measurement of objects moving in a linear path, able to measure a wide range of web and continuous materials.

For sensitive, soft, or smooth surfaces, customers from factory or logistics automation require non-contact measurement options for the length, speed, and position of continuous webs and blanks. Optical scanning prevents damage or contamination, thereby increasing product quality.

The SPEETEC offers a new way to measure without slip, measuring elements or marking, and wear and tear on tactile sensor elements. Materials that cause wear, adhesion, or abrasion damage to measurement solutions such as measuring wheel encoders, impairing their function, can be measured by the SPEETEC with a high degree of process reliability and availability.

The non-contact measurement is performed with a laser Doppler process at speeds of up to 10 m/s. Two transmitters emit laser light—one in the direction of movement of the material, the other in the opposite direction. Since the transmitters work independently, possible mounting tolerances and surface fluctuations (i.e., with wavy surfaces) can be balanced out.

All measurements are done with high precision. At a resolution of four micrometers, the accuracy relating to the object length of a meter is one millimeter. The repeatability in this case is specified with a half a millimeter. Measured values are output via the TTL or HTL interfaces common in the encoder world, making integration easy.

With the SPEETEC, length, speed, and position can also be detected in linear movements when switching between forward and backward motions. In addition, acceleration measurement in applications with high motion dynamics is possible since, with the SPEETEC, only three milliseconds pass between the start of the movement and the output of measured values.