Inductive positioning and material detection

IndLoc® positions objects in defined volumes, displays fill levels and identifies materials

IndLoc® is suitable wherever objects have to be positioned or identified in defined volumes with high precision and in real time. The technology works using passive coils. In the case of conductive objects, the coil or additional markers are not required. This inductive near-field positioning technique is capable of determining the type, size and shape of the material and the object in manufacturing and logistics environments.

In inductive near-field positioning, a weak magnetic field is generated around a defined area of variable size. The object or material to be detected must either have conductive elements itself or else contain a coil, which then generate(s) a secondary magnetic field. Sensor antennas record the changes in these magnetic fields. The data is then forwarded to an analytical system to be interpreted.

This enables IndLoc® technology both to position objects without visual contact and to precisely distinguish various metallic objects such as screws. In picking applications, for example, short-term changes in the fill level can be displayed and electronic components can be distinguished from one another in closed packaging.

Integration of a machine learning model additionally generates individual magnetic “fingerprints” of the objects, which help optimize the precision and detection capability even further.