All Environment (IP67) Ultrasonic Sensors

MaxBotix® Inc., announces the MaxSonar®-WR1™ sensors. These sensors are designed for either indoor or outdoor use while maintaining very low cost. The MaxSonar®-WR1™ will work in many industrial application such as presence sensing (determining whether an object is present or not), distance measurement, outdoor mounting, people and proximity detection, snow measurement, and tank level detection. The rugged packaging and narrow beam width of the WR1™ means that these sensors can be used for mobile robotics applications like room mapping, where a precision beam is required. The LV-MaxSonar®-WR1™ was released for sale in October 2008.

The LV-MaxSonar®-WR1™ features 3V – 5.5V low power, provides very short to long-range detection and ranging, in a compact, robust PVC housing, designed to meet IP67 water intrusion criterion, operates over a wide temperature range from -40ºC to 85ºC, and with mounting that matches standard electrical ¾” pipe fittings (14 NPTS). The LV-MaxSonar®-WR1™ detects objects from 0-inches to 254-inches (6.45-meters) and provides sonar range information from 12-inches out to 254-inches with 1-inch resolution. Objects from 0-inches to 12-inches range as 12-inches. The interface output formats included are pulse width, analog voltage, and serial digital. Users of the popular MaxBotix® Inc., LV-MaxSonar®-EZ lineup will find the user interface of the WR1™ sensors familiar.

Additionally, a feature rich version of the LV-MaxSonar®-WR1™, the XL-MaxSonar®-WR1™ is scheduled for release with in the second quarter of 2009. This will have the features of the LV-MaxSonar®-WR1™ along with many customer requests. Included features are temperature compensation, higher accuracy, finer resolution, wide power range 3V – 40V, longer distance ranging, and a lower peak current while in standby mode (making it ideal for battery or power conscience applications). An unusual feature is the analog return signal amplitude provided as the envelope of the measurement for advance users.

The pricing structure of the MaxSonar®-WR1™ sensors makes them the lowest cost sensor in its class. The LV-MaxSonar®-WR1™ retails for $99.95 and the XL-MaxSonar®-WR1™ retails for $159.95. All MaxSonar sensor products meet RoHS compliance standards. For more information, please visit the MaxBotix® Inc., web site www.maxbotix.com, or E-mail: info@maxbotix.com