Banner A-GAGE MINI-ARRAY Series - Manual (Page 3)

P/N 117167 rev. A
3
Banner Engineering Corp. • Minneapolis, MN U.S.A.
www.bannerengineering.com • Tel: 763.544.3164
MINI-ARRAY ®
Two-Piece Measuring Light Screen
System Overview
1.1 System Features
Built-in features simplify the operation of the MINI-ARRAY Two-Piece Light Screen
system, which is customized to specifically address the demanding requirements
needed to reliably detect vehicle separation. Large optical lenses provide strong
optical excess gain (needed for demanding outdoor environments).
The system is pre-configured for an interlaced optical pattern, which provides
the minimum object detection necessary to detect a trailer hitch. A sensor scan
involves individually enabling each emitter channel twice. In effect, each emitter
channel fires at both its opposing receiver element, and at the one beneath it.
The result is an interlaced optical detection pattern, as shown in Figure 1-3. This
pattern can better detect objects within the middle third of the sensing area.
Along with using the interlaced pattern, the sensor processes the scan data in
a method that is tailored for Vehicle Separation applications: both for initial car
detection and trailer detection (see Sections 1.2 and 1.3). Several important
features have been built into the MINI-ARRAY Two-Piece system:
• Easy-to-understand diagnostic LEDs
• 2 discrete outputs
• EIA-485 serial communication
• Self-diagnostics to detect dirty lens, faulty or degraded sensor operation
conditions
Emitter
Receiver
Red
Operational
LED
Green Alignment LED
Red Blocked LED
Yellow Marginal
Alignment LED
Emitter
Receiver
Interlaced Scan improves optical
resolution in the middle one-third
of the scanning range.
Figure 1-2. System features
Figure 1-3. Interlaced scan