PROXIMITY SWITCH

A proximity switch is used to check the presence of a material in its nearby close surroundings.
The proximity switch can be used in security applications. We are using a proximity switch to
calculate the speed of rotation of the motor.
To calculate the speed of rotation a piece of metal is attached to the motor shaft. A proximity
sensor is kept in close range to the shaft. The metal piece gets detected every time it passes the
proximity sensor. The proximity sensor is kept at a specific range from the metal object which is
to be detected. This is required for good output results of proximity sensor.
LM12-3002NA
The proximity sensor used for metal detection is LM12-3002NA. This is an inductive type
proximity sensor which detects metal objects with no physical contact. The working principle is
based on the electromagnetic field which is created in the close range of the proximity sensor.
The presence of a metal object causes the electromagnetic field to collapse and damping of
oscillation amplitude.
This proximity sensor is a 3-wire sensor, NPN, normally open (NO) type. It has a DC voltage
output.
The NO configuration means that the current flow is zero through sensor when there is no object
detection and current flow is observed when metal object is in close range of the sensor.
NPN configuration of proximity sensor states that it changes the common voltage terminal to
load when switch is on. The load is connected in between the positive voltage and the negative
voltage terminals. Current flows from load to the output and back to ground terminal when the
switch is on. This type of switching is called current sinking or negative switching. It has a
detection distance of 2mm. This means it can detect objects which are kept within the two
millimeter range of the sensor.






CONNECTIONS
The proximity sensor, LM12-3002NA, is a 3 wire proximity sensor. The brown wire is for
positive voltage which is connected to the positive input port of the RPM meter. The negative
cable is connected with the zero voltage input of the RPM meter. This is the blue wire. The black
wire is connected to the load terminal of RPM meter. When the switch is on current flows
through the black wire through the load and returns back to sensor from blue wire.
ACTUATOR
The actuator is an object which actuates the sensor. The object used is a copper wire. It is
attached on the motor shaft. The sensor is kept at a minimum distance from actuator. As the
sensor cuts copper wire cuts the electromagnetic field the sensor detects the object and gives
output to load connected to it.