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Active Infrared Sensor (AIR sensor)

This technology uses the invisible infrared light of 850nm which is emitted as pulses. It can operate in various ways: safety beams (emitter and receiver in two separate housings), distance measurement with background suppression (triangulation) or analysis of the background. In both latter cases, emitters and receivers are integrated in a same housing. The emitter emits pulses of infrared waves. The reception, equipped with photodiodes, catches the reflected waves, converts them into electrical signals and sends them to a microprocessor.

In the case of photocells, emitters and receivers are positioned vis-à-vis and the receiver diode is directly catching the emitted wave of the emitter. If the beam is disrupted, the sensor goes into detection.