Requires a WiDig running firmware v8.10 or higher, or USB-microDig running firmware v7.60 or higher.

Application examples

• Measurement of the distance of objects like a hand, person or wall.
• Combine with lasers and make a laser harp.
• Pamper your robot or toy car and combine with a Orient4D to detect approaches to and/or impacts with walls and what have you.

Other human, animal and object sensors

We offer a number of sensors to detect motion and/or presence and/or proximity of humans, animals and objects in a space:

• For a motion sensor with variety of sensitivity and output configuration options, view the MoveOn v1.8.
• If you need a motion sensor of which the output changes each time any motion is detected so that it can be smoothed to give a signal that roughly represents the amount of activity, checkout the MoveOn v1.4.
• A smaller version which output stays high while motion is detected and during a fixed length of time afterwards, try the MoveMiniOn.
• Want to detect motion through walls ? See the MoveThruOn.
• Need to detect presence as well as body temperature ? Try the HotSpot2D.
• The Advance-645 detects the distance of a person in a 50° cone.
• Need pin-point distance detection ? The ReachFar and its digital, laser-accurate cousin ReachFarD detect distance up to 4 m within a cone of a few degrees. The ReachClose and its digital, laser-accurate cousin ReachCloseD do the same but up to 2 m.
• Setup perimeters with break-beams made from a SeeLaser-Red or the invisible SeeLaser-IR (or any of our SeeLaser products) and a Flash.
• Place TapTile, TapMatOn or TapStripOn sensors on the floor or stairs to detect a person stepping or standing on it, and even get a measure of the exerted force.
• To know exactly who is present, use the ReachID and let each visitor be detected through their RFID tag.

Technical specifications

Product		ReachFarD sensor
Version		1.3 (August 2023)
Sensing parameter		distance, proximity
Sensing method		modulated infra-red (940 nm) laser light reflectance sensor
Field of view		27 ° cone
Range		0 to 400 cm (157 inch) using method 1 or 5, 360 cm (142 inch) using method 3 or 7, 310 cm (122 inch) using the default method, 130 cm (51 inch) using method 2 or 6. Target (white, 88% reflectance) must cover full field of view in dark (no light) conditions.
Range accuracy		20 mm (minimum) with white (88% reflectance) target. Target must cover full field of view in dark (no light) conditions.
Response time		20 ms (method 2 or 6), 33 ms (default), 100 ms (method 3 or 7), 200 ms (method 1 or 5)
Range, Latency, Accuracy and Method		Range Latency Accuracy Output Method 130 cm 20 (ms) lower Object 2 130 cm 20 (ms) lower Always 6 310 cm 33 (ms) medium Object 0 (default) 310 cm 33 (ms) medium Always 4 360 cm 100 (ms) higher Object 3 360 cm 100 (ms) higher Always 7 400 cm 200 (ms) higher Object 1 400 cm 200 (ms) higher Always 5
Power supply		4.75 to 5.25 V DC, 19 mA at 5 V
Operating temperature		-20 to 85 °C (-4 to 185 °F)
Dimensions		19 x 14 x 4 mm (0.75 x 0.55 x 0.2 inch)
Mounting		two 2.8 mm (0.11 inch) mounting holes spaced apart 20 mm (0.79 inch)
Cable		1.0 m (39 inch), shielded, red wire = power, black wire = ground, white wire = sensor output, extendable at least 20 m (66 ft) with ExtendCableD-10
Connector		male 1x4 plug with a row of 3 pins in a row spaced 2.54 mm (0.100 inch)
Weight		12 g (0.42 oz), incl. cable
Software support		Our EditorX software allows you to configure the digitizer to process and map the sensor data of multiple sensors simultaneously. 24 Jul 2019: ReachFarD v1.00 for MacOS and Windows from source code in Max. For multiple sensors or sensor outputs, run multiple instances of the application, each started in its own folder. Requires a digitizer with firmware v7.60 or higher (but lower than v8.00) or firmware v8.10 or higher. Use together with Connect (MacOS / Windows).
Application notes		Make sure the sensor is plugged into the digitizer with the red wire connected to power. Reversing the plug may cause damage to the sensor. Requires a WiDig running firmware v8.10 or higher, or USB-microDig running firmware v7.60 or higher. The default I2C address is 41 (0x29). Both I2C lines have 10 kOhm pull-up resistors. Our software enables you to use most features of this sensor. In EditorX, use the method parameter to set the sensor to output distance with medium accuracy 3.1 m range (method 0 or 4), high accuracy 4 m range (method 1 or 5), low accuracy 1.3 m range (method 2 or 6) or high accuracy 3.6 m range (method 3 or 7). Methods 1, 3, 5 and 7 measure with higher accuracy than methods 0, 2, 4 and 6. To achieve this the measurement using methods 1 and 5 take about 200 ms and methods 3 and 7 take about 100 ms, whereas the medium accuracy methods 0 and 4 take about 33 ms and lower accuracy methods 2 and 6 take about 20 ms. Accuracy also depends on ambient light as well as target size and reflectance. In standalone mode, methods 0..3 don't output a value if there is no object in the beam, ie. if the detected distance is the maximum range. Methods 4..7 always output a value. See also the ReachFarD function description in the firmware documentation for more details about the various methods available in host and standalone mode. For more technical specs, and to find out how to access the sensor data in detail, please consult this datasheet. For best results when using a high accuracy range method, operate under dark or at least low ambient light level conditions. The sensor will not measure the distance of objects placed behind glass (or other transparent surfaces) but the distance to the glass instead. To extend the cable, use ExtendCableD-01 and/or ExtendCableD-10.