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COVID-19: opto-sensors for touch-free life

The Omron non-contact sensors, available from Anglia Components, enable future generations of automated devices to help prevent the spread of disease

Anglia is offering a full range of Omron touch sensors to reduce the need for contact and shared surfaces, as facilities adapt to coronavirus counter-measures. 

The Omron B5W LCR sensors, W7ED capacitive touch sensors, and D6T non-contact temperature sensors all enable future generations of automated devices to further improve safety and help prevent the spread of disease.

David Pearson, Technical Director at Anglia Components, commented, “With social distancing set to become a new norm, there are opportunities for sensing technologies to provide extra protection. Anglia FAEs are fully trained to support this portfolio of Omron solutions which draws on the company’s expertise in presence, proximity and touch sensing. In addition to typical applications such as security and energy management, these sensors are ideal for detection of raised body surface temperature, a key symptom of Coronavirus.”

Omron’s B5W Light Convergent Reflective sensors have a wide sensing range to allow object shifting and are particularly well suited to detecting challenging objects such as those that are reflective, transparent, or diffuse. 

Photo sensors are widely used to automate equipment such as door openers, hand sanitiser dispensers, bathroom taps and toilet flushers. 

Contactless operation in such high-traffic applications is effective in reducing the spread of germs.

Omron W7ED capacitive touch sensors are designed to simply fasten to the touch electrode with a screw, unlike others which usually require complex set up. They combine the simplicity of a mechanical switch with the advantages of touch control, and enable designers to create aesthetically pleasing products. 

By allowing use with wet hands or when wearing latex gloves as personal protective equipment, they also permit additional safety. 

In other applications such as lift controls, touch sensors provide a reliable alternative to traditional mechanical switches.

Omron’s D6T thermal infrared sensors could provide a way forward for the new need to check for raised body surface temperature. This compact device is well suited to embedded applications and relieves key signal-processing workloads from the system host processor. 

D6T sensors can be added to an access-control system, for example, to automatically check the surface temperature of a visitor on arrival, protecting the occupants and warning the individual, who may not know that they are infected.

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