Engineering Reliable Ultrasonic Sensing Solutions for Smart Manufacturing

1.The Problem Modern Factories Face
2.How Does an Ultrasonic Sensor Actually Work?
3.Four Things That Affect Measurement Accuracy
4.Where These Sensors Actually Get Used
5.Why Work With BESTAR
6.Ready to Upgrade Your Sensing System?

The Problem Modern Factories Face
One simple thing is crucial for smart manufacturing, warehouse logistics and robotics. A machine need to know how far an object is away. Even so, automation just doesn't function well without good distance measurement.
However, a real factory floor is a dirty place. There is dust in the air. There are bright lights and dark corners. It has glistening metal components and transparent glass interior. Many optical sensors are unable to function in these conditions. Transparent objects or high intensity lights could mislead light based sensors.
This is where ultrasonic sensors step in. They are not sensitive to colour. They don't value transparency. Does not like lighting conditions. This makes them one of the safest options in a Robotic or Industrial application.
However, if you want to exploit the technology fully, then it's not a matter of simply choosing a sensor off the shelf. It's a matter of years of great engineering work. BESTAR is in this field for many years. The company can provide the high performance ultrasonic sensor. It is also able to construct a customized solution to fit a challenging application.

How Does an Ultrasonic Sensor Actually Work?
The idea behind ultrasonic distance sensing is simple. It is based on timing sound waves.
Inside the sensor, a piezoelectric ceramic part called a transducer sends out a short burst of high frequency sound. This sound travels through the air. When it hits an object, it bounces back. The sensor picks up this returning echo.
The sensor measures the time between sending the pulse and receiving the echo back. Call this time "t." Sound travels through air at a known speed, call it "v." With these two numbers, the sensor calculates distance using a simple formula:
D = (v × t) / 2
We divide by two because the sound travels to the object and then back again. That round trip covers double the actual distance.
The Blind Zone Problem
There is one technical limit that engineers always ask about. It is called the blind zone, or dead band.
This is what will happen. After sending out its pulse immediately, the transducer continues to vibrate for a brief duration. Leftover vibration is known as ringing. At the same time, a transducer is ringing and it will not be able to listen for the echo. If an object is closed enough, it will send its echo to the sensor before the echo has ended and it will fail to detect it.
The distance covered during this ringing time becomes the blind zone. Objects inside that zone cannot be detected.
BESTAR works to shrink this blind zone as much as possible. This comes from careful work on both the physical structure of the transducer and the circuit design around it. A smaller blind zone means the sensor can detect objects closer to itself, which matters a lot in tight spaces.

Four Things That Affect Measurement Accuracy
It is not a one-to-one transaction to obtain good and stable readings in a real factory. There are a number of factors in the real world which can disrupt the measurement. The followings:
1. Temperature and velocity of sound. The speed of sound varies. The speed of sound in air changes depending on the changes in temperature. For each degree Celsius change in temperature, the speed goes up by approximately 0.6 m/s. This may sound tiny but over time this can add up to some measurement error. A temperature sensor is required for a high accurate sensor. It uses the corrected distance calculation to correct the temperature reading.
2. Material Select and angle. Absorbency and reflectance of sound vary throughout materials from surface to surface. The materials are soft materials such as a sponge or cloth that absorb sound rather than bounce it back. This reduces the intensity of the echo signal and may make detection more difficult. Angle is also important, too. When the surface is tilted to a greater degree, the sound wave reflects off the surface at an angle, and is not reflected back to the sensor. 
3. Air turbulence and pressure. When the sound wave is traveling quickly, such as in the wind from an industrial fan or the air vent, it could curve or diverge. This throws off the timing and can cause bad readings.
4. Background noise and cross-talk. Many times, you have a lot of sensors operating in the same factory. If the two ultrasonic sensors emit waves with frequencies that are very close to each other, they interfere with each other. The echo of another sensor's pulse has the potential to be picked up by one sensor by accident. That's known as cross talk and requires planning of the frequencies for its avoidance.

Where These Sensors Actually Get Used
Ultrasonic sensors can be seen in different industrial applications today. Three typical examples are here.
1. Technologies such as warehouse robots and AGVs. AGVs and mobile robots must make sure not to crash into objects as they navigate a warehouse. They have ultrasonic sensors for providing accurate and precise obstacle detection all day long. They operate in both shiny and reflective floors and in metallic shelves.
2. Monitor the level of fluids and solids. Frequently it's important for factories to know how full a tank or container is even though they cannot touch what is inside(such as chemical tanks, food processing lines and wastewater) Treatment is seriously affected. There is no need to touch the corrosive liquid or the dusty bulk material to be measured by ultrasonic sensor.
3. Three-dimensional manufacturing systems and robotic arms. There is a small sensor on a robotic arm that will perform an ultrasonic measurement to verify the correct positioning of a part before gripping it. This ensures the robot's picking up is perfect pitch every time.

Why Work With BESTAR
BESTAR brings real depth in acoustics and piezoelectric technology. The company handles everything from designing the core piezoelectric ceramic transducer, to building molds, to assembling the finished sensor. That means the complete process of the raw material to the product is under one company's control.
The need of a customer most of the time is more than an off-the-shelf part. Their needs are met by a specific detection angle, range, or a narrow blind zone, or a specific protocol, such as IO-Link, Modbus, or an analog output. BESTAR has all these things and more, and everything is tailored to the needs at hand, whether it's a custom housing or a tuned detection algorithm.

Ready to Upgrade Your Sensing System?
Ultrasonic sensors are a key part of modern automation and robotics. Choosing the right sensor, and matching it correctly to your application, has a direct effect on how well your final product performs.
Whether you are developing a new generation of robot obstacle avoidance, or upgrading an existing industrial level detection system, BESTAR's engineering team is ready to help. Reach out to our solution specialists today for a free technical evaluation and a custom sample designed around your project.