What is a tilt sensor?

Tilt sensor is a non-contact angle measuring instrument using a laser autocollimator.

Originally, autocollimators were large, cylindrical telescope-like instruments that used a white light bulb as a light source, which was common knowledge in the industry. At the time, however, the industry did not understand that this product, which was completely different from conventional autocollimators, was an autocollimator. Therefore, we called it a laser tilt sensor and marketed it as a product capable of non-contact angle measurement. The name “tilt sensor” is a remnant of that time.

Today, autocollimators that use lasers are well known in the industry to some extent, but the origin of all these products is the laser tilt sensor developed by our founder.

What is an autocollimator?

A collimator is a device that artificially produces collimated light (i.e., light that travels in a straight line). The basic mechanism of this device is to refract and emit light emitted from a light source through a lens so that it becomes parallel light. A machine that uses this mechanism to emit light inside is called an “autocollimator. In short, it refers to a device that automatically emits light that travels straight ahead.

Autocollimators are used in industry for very precise angle measurements. The light used in an autocollimator is straight and has little spread, making it more efficient when reflected off the surface of an object and allowing it to accurately capture angles. In the past, autocollimators were often used for optical axis adjustment and confirmation at production sites, such as optical pickups used to read information on optical media such as CDs and DVDs.

The most common methods for measuring angles include protractors and levelers, but these instruments require visual inspection to read the scale. Therefore, accuracy and error can be a problem when measuring the same angle over and over again. Especially in measurements where precision is required, it is sometimes difficult to fully guarantee the reliability of data with these instruments.

One method is to use a displacement transducer to measure the height of an object at multiple locations to create a plane, which is then converted to an angle. However, in order to perform accurate measurements, the devices must be at a certain distance from each other. Also, to obtain accurate measurement values, the accuracy of the distance is also necessary. The autocollimator is a device that solves these problems.

The autocollimator is a device specialized for angle measurement. Therefore, it is the best method for angle measurement.