Products
Custom Design & Engineering
When standard is not specialized enough
The breadth and variety of our product portfolio offers a suitable solution for a large number of applications. Nevertheless, there are always individual requirements with regard to design, interfaces or other specifications that cannot be covered by standard products.
For these cases, we offer special customized solutions for camera and sensor components from our Custom Design & Engineering (CDE) division. With our technologies and knowledge, we can supply solutions for demanding tasks beyond the standard portfolio. The modular architecture of our products allows us to quickly and flexibly adapt them to your requirements and optimize your time-to-market. In this way, we work with you to find the best solution for your individual needs.
Minimize risks and expand your competitive advantage
Thanks to our comprehensive expertise, we are the ideal development partner for customer-specific sensor and imaging technologies. We see ourselves as a partner at eye level and offer you holistic support throughout the entire product life cycle. In addition to hardware and software adaptations, we also offer other project-related engineering services.
This allows you to concentrate on your core competencies and achieve an optimized project process with our cooperation. This minimizes development costs, conserves resources and helps you reach your goal faster.
Our CDE team is available to you for customer-specific projects and also coordinates technical cooperation with the experts Balluff's respective competence centers.
Our custom-specified products
Customized BVS camera products
Limited space, additional interfaces or special image sensors, optics and filters: the requirements for industrial cameras are often so individualized that even the large number of standard products is not sufficient. Our modular camera system provides the ideal basis for customer-specific solutions.
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Lenses |
Lens holders |
Filters |
Sensor boards |
Camera housings |
Adapters |
Cables |
In addition to the already existing variation possibilities, we can make the following modifications easily and at short notice due to their modular architecture:
- Individual filters according to your specifications
- Customized housing colors and printing
- Firmware freeze for your released software version
- Customer-specific serial number ranges
- Factory assembly of optics including adjustment
- Calibration and output tests according to your specifications
In addition, we develop special solutions and modifications of camera assemblies as well as software adaptations for optimal integration into your application:
Connection technology and interfaces:
Depending on your needs, we offer special connectors or angled solutions to reduce the required installation space. We can modify the I/O modules and expand the interfaces so that you can easily control your peripherals like motors, lighting, optics, etc.
Lens holders:
The camera front can be adapted to accept low-cost lenses (S-mount). Higher-end mounts for use with precision or specialty lenses are also possible. The housing can also be designed to meet your protection requirements and your wishes regarding shape, color and logo printing.
Sensor heads:
For unusual viewing directions, we enable the image sensor to be separated from the camera electronics and the two to be flexibly connected. Rigid flex boards ensure a space-saving and cost-efficient design.
Form factors:
According to your specifications, we can change the board form factor and adapt the electronics to specified housing shapes.
Embedded solutions:
We can integrate our cameras into existing assemblies. To do this, we adapt the form factor, connection technology and interfaces according to your specifications.
Software:
When it comes to camera software, we implement specific optimizations for you in addition to complete special developments: For example, we expand camera functionality with additional real-time preprocessing. We reduce hardware expenditure and costs through additional smart features. On request, we can create complete camera assemblies, including image sensors and camera electronics.
Customized BOH photoelectric sensors
Our optoelectronic sensors are true specialists in object detection with a wide range of applications. Our particularly precise, small and very flexibly applicable BOH Micromote system can also be adapted to most individual requirements:
Thanks to the modular system of Micromote sensors, we can meet your specific requirements in various areas:
- Precisely define the light spot
- Adaptation to minimum size
- Individual housing designs
- Flexible adaptation of the cabling
- Design for special environmental conditions, e.g. high vacuum and increased temperature ranges
- Individual amplifiers with high sampling frequency
- Multiplexing of many (up to 30) channels
In many applications our individual solutions have already proven themselves. Here are some examples:
Wafer mapping in demanding installation situations
For wafer mapping, we offer a high-precision sensor that can be perfectly integrated into the end effector of a robot. Specially developed for the sometimes extremely thin end effectors, our mapping sensor has a tightly controlled and focused light spot with outstanding homogeneity. This allows you to detect the edges of the wafers, which are only a few μm thick, extremely precisely, and reliably detect full slots, double wafers or wafers in a skewed position at any time.
The mapping sensor is based on the optoelectronic Micromote technology, which combines its exceptionally small optical sensor head with an external evaluation unit (amplifier) and connects it via a highly flexible cable. Thus, like all Micromote sensors, we can adapt the mapping sensor perfectly to highly demanding mechanical installation situations.
Automated packaging with a modular system
To count tablets and correctly feed them into containers, Balluff provides you with light band sensors from the Micromote family with exceptional precision, flexibility and contamination compensation.
The modular system, consisting of an external evaluation unit and sensor head with transmitter and receiver, can be optimally aligned to your requirements to, for example, adjust the distance and size of the drop gap. In terms of mechanical integration, you have great design freedom thanks to the high degree of miniaturization and possible specifications, by, for example, using a very flexible sensor cable with high flex fatigue strength. By using different types of light and wavelengths, the system can be adapted to a wide variety of applications.
Customized BCS capacitive sensors
Capacitive sensors from Balluff detect objects as well as levels extremely precisely and reliably.
They have many application fields and areas of use, since the sensors are suitable for detecting a wide variety of objects and media. And with our know-how, they can also be modified for individual applications:
- Adaptation to size requirements
- Housing adaptations and individual mounting options
- Flexible adaptation of cabling and connectors
- Adaptation of the housing material for special environmental conditions
- Special high-pressure and high-temperature sensor variants
- Customer-specific switch point presetting
Examples of proven custom solutions:
Modified cable/housing for applications in harsh environments
A wide variety of aggressive acids are used in semiconductor manufacturing. In associated filling and distribution systems, sensors for level detection must be resistant to these and dirt-repellent. For this purpose, we offer appropriate adaptations of the housing material and high sensor sensitivity to reliably detect that media.
For example, in addition to a housing made of POM, we also supply a PTFE version with PTFE sheathing for the associated cable. Furthermore, our Smart Level technology is ideally suited for the detection of electrically conductive liquids through plastic tank walls. Mounting holes and presetting the switching point can also be added according to your application or specification.
Customized development for the automotive industry
We have developed the concept of our high-pressure, high-temperature sensor (HPHT sensor for short) especially for various suppliers to the automotive industry. In lightweight body construction for e-vehicles, molded parts are formed from carbon fiber using castable resin.
During the injection process, sensors must check whether the mold has been completely filled so that a perfect molded part is produced. To do this, the HPHT sensor has to withstand temperatures of up to 180 °C and high pressure. To prevent the heat from affecting or destroying the electronics, a special coaxial cable with integrated electronics was accommodated in the connector.
Customized BML magnetic coded sensors
Highly accurate, robust and fast, our magnetic coded sensors are designed for precise positioning and speed sensing in highly dynamic applications. With various options beyond the standard, we provide you with the best solution for your specific task:
- Adaptation to minimum size
- Individual housing designs
- Flexible adaptation of cabling
- Individual interface adaptation
- Customized magnet coded displacement encoder systems
Examples for individual solutions with magnetically encoded sensors:
Perfect adaptation of magnetic targets to single-chip solutions
We offer a comprehensive target portfolio especially for the iC house chips iC-MU, iC-MU150 and iC-MU200 for absolute angle measurement. These extremely flat magnetic targets can be fixed to the shaft with high precision and offer the best possible system accuracy in their class across all competitors.
From a minimum 17 mm to a maximum 85 mm outer diameter, you can choose from the standard offerings. We will be happy to make mechanical adaptations to special geometries on request.
Individual solutions for highly dynamic applications
Magnetically encoded position encoders from Balluff are used for precise positioning of highly dynamic applications, including robots in automatic pharmaceutical machines. Almost unlimited accelerations and extremely high travel speeds are possible without loss of precision.
A large selection of sensor and coding variants allows optimization to your specific conditions. Thanks to system accuracies of up to +-5 μm and resolutions of up to 0.5 μm as well as the possible adaptation to confined installation conditions, you can integrate these small, robust measuring systems into a wide variety of applications.
Customized BIS RFID products
Balluff is known for its over 30 years of RFID experience, in which development and practice have always gone hand in hand. Based on this know-how, we can also offer customer-specific solutions:
- Adaptation to size requirements with special housing geometries and housing materials
- Housing adaptations and individual mounting options
- Adaptation of the housing material for special environmental conditions
- Flexible adaptation of cabling and connectors
Typical examples are modifications to data carriers or read/write heads:
(1) Data carriers: As required, we can implement a special housing geometry with individually positioned screw holes for mounting the data carrier. The housing material can also be adapted to your requirements and, for example, designed from PEEK material for use with aggressive liquids.
(2) Read/write heads: It is not uncommon for an initially specifically designed customer solution to prove itself useful in further applications. Our BIS00PA read/write head, for example, was originally designed for the limited space available in a metalworking application but has since become a "quasi-standard" for similar special installation situations.
If required, we can also design read/write heads with a housing made of stainless steel and PEEK, for example, to meet high hygiene requirements. Security functions can also be integrated as additional options by means of password protection for the data carrier, read/write head and evaluation unit.
(3) Hybrid read head: Another example of how we incorporate customer-specific requirements into a product development is a hybrid read head that supports two RFID frequencies. In this case, to give customers flexibility in using two different RFID standards, two coils were integrated into one housing. The coil signals are routed to the evaluation unit via two separate connectors.
Do you have any questions? Contact us!
We will meet your challenges. Describe us your individual task and we will present you our suitable solutions: