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High-Precision Color Measurement
How Micro-Epsilon colorSENSOR technology enables fast, accurate and configurable color inspection for automated manufacturing and quality control.
Precise colour differentiation
The colorSENSOR CFO platform is designed for relative color measurement, comparing a product against a pre-taught reference and delivering a clear good/bad evaluation.
Why automated colour inspection matters
Quality control demands precision, speed and flexibility. In applications such as pill colour consistency, glass tint inspection and plastic bottle cap sorting, identifying exact colour shades can be critical to consistent production quality.
Micro-Epsilon’s colorSENSOR family provides a configurable approach to relative colour measurement, using a controller and sensor head combination suited to the target surface or object.
Two key elements of the colorSENSOR system
The system combines the evaluation capability of the CFO controller with application-specific CFS sensor heads connected via fibre optics.
CFO Controller
CFO controllers such as CFO100, CFO200 and CFO250 perform the internal colour evaluation, configuration and output of measurement results.
CFS Sensor Heads
Sensor heads are connected via fibre optics and can be selected according to the surface characteristics and geometry of the target object.
Built for fast, repeatable colour inspection
The CFO platform combines colour accuracy, high evaluation speed, colour memory and web-based configuration for industrial applications.
Large colour memory
The CFO200 can store more than 320 colours across 254 groups, supporting multiple batches, variants and colour references.
Web-based setup
The integrated web interface allows users to teach colours, adjust tolerances, monitor values and configure measurement parameters without additional software.
Custom calibration
Customer-specific calibration can be requested to match Lab values across systems. A measurement deviation of ΔE < 1 between individual systems can be achieved for the specified measurement arrangement.
Flexible output
Measurement values and results can be integrated into PLCs or machine systems for continuous or on-demand automated inspection.
From reference colour to automated decision
The colorSENSOR CFO performs internal evaluation based on taught-in colour values and can provide a good/bad switching result or measurement data to the machine control system.
Teach the reference
Teach the required product colour and establish the reference for inspection.
Measure the target
The sensor measures the target and compares the detected colour with the taught reference.
Evaluate tolerance
Colour groups and tolerance spaces can be configured for different shades and variants.
Send the result
Output the evaluation to the machine or PLC as a switching signal or Lab / XYZ data.
Intuitive operation through a web interface
Configure from a PC
The sensor can be connected to a PC via Ethernet. The web interface provides access to measurement values and system configuration.
- Measurement value display
- Exposure and measurement frequency setup
- Colour group configuration
- Tolerance adjustment
- Monitoring of measured values
Designed for automation
The CFO can perform internal evaluation at up to 30 kHz. Raw data can also be transmitted to PLCs or machine systems in Lab or XYZ format at up to 500 Hz.
- UDP
- RS232
- USB
- Digital switching signals
- Edge or level triggering
Powerful multi-teach for colour variants
Colour can vary when the distance between the sensor and measuring object changes. The multi-teach function allows geometry-dependent colour variants to be taught into colour groups.
Teach multiple variants
Different colour shades can be taught and organised into individual colour groups for the required application.
Adapt to geometry
Colour variants caused by different sensor-to-object distances can be accommodated within the configured colour groups.
Consistent colour measurement across systems
Why calibration matters
For certain applications, customers can request calibration against a customer-specific reference target in the required measurement arrangement.
Exchangeable systems
According to the current Sciengate article, customer-specific calibration can achieve a measurement deviation of ΔE < 1 between individual systems, supporting sensor interchangeability for the configured application.
Multiple interfaces for easy integration
The colorSENSOR CFO is designed to connect colour inspection results with PLCs, automation equipment and machine control systems.
Where automated colour measurement can be applied
The current Sciengate article highlights several industrial colour inspection applications.
Need reliable colour inspection for your production line?
Talk to Sciengate Automation about Micro-Epsilon colour measurement, automation integration and application requirements.