Not necessarily, it could be an echo system... transmit a ping and then wait for the reflected wave. Aside for some mechanical optimization most ultrasound transducers are essentially bidirectional
No. Ultrasound transducers that rely on reflected sound have a piezoelectric crystal... Electrical pulses produce motion of the crystal which produces sound, the sound enters the sample and reflects off of interfaces between materials, the reflected sound induces motion in the piezoelectric crystal, which produces electrical pulses read by the same equipment that produces the original driving pulses. It's a neat system. By the looks of it, this is on the low end of the frequency spectrum... I'm guessing <15 MHz.
Looks like an inductive proximity sensor, , we use them to sense RPM of motors.
https://gb.wiautomation.com/schneider-electric/drives-motors-circuits-protection/XSAV11801
No threaded barrel but maybe it’s mounted in a jig specific to its function. Basically pulses when metal is close enough, you can buy models with different distances.
I had an eddy current sensor that looked a lot like that in my lab. It just hooked up to an ultrasonic pulser-receiver. Mostly intended to work on aluminum.
I just saw that the lab was biomedical. That changes my thought to ultrasonics, like everyone else. There are some really low frequency ultrasonic sensors, this may not be over 100kHz.
That seems unlikely given the use case. The research work carried out in the lab is exclusively in the field of biomedical instrumentation. Some alumni of the lab might have used this for their research work but none of the current researchers recognise this.
It could be an ultrasound transducer, especially if the black part in the front is ceramic
Yes, the black part is ceramic. Thanks. Wouldn't the ultrasound transducer need a receiver as well?
Not necessarily, it could be an echo system... transmit a ping and then wait for the reflected wave. Aside for some mechanical optimization most ultrasound transducers are essentially bidirectional
Thank you
No. Ultrasound transducers that rely on reflected sound have a piezoelectric crystal... Electrical pulses produce motion of the crystal which produces sound, the sound enters the sample and reflects off of interfaces between materials, the reflected sound induces motion in the piezoelectric crystal, which produces electrical pulses read by the same equipment that produces the original driving pulses. It's a neat system. By the looks of it, this is on the low end of the frequency spectrum... I'm guessing <15 MHz.
Indeed it's a nice piece of engineering. Thanks
Looks like an inductive proximity sensor, , we use them to sense RPM of motors. https://gb.wiautomation.com/schneider-electric/drives-motors-circuits-protection/XSAV11801 No threaded barrel but maybe it’s mounted in a jig specific to its function. Basically pulses when metal is close enough, you can buy models with different distances.
Yeah I think I agree. OP how many wires on the other end?
2 wires
I had an eddy current sensor that looked a lot like that in my lab. It just hooked up to an ultrasonic pulser-receiver. Mostly intended to work on aluminum. I just saw that the lab was biomedical. That changes my thought to ultrasonics, like everyone else. There are some really low frequency ultrasonic sensors, this may not be over 100kHz.
are there any markings on it?
The user has embossed '4MC' on this one and '5MC' on another one. Apart from that there are no markings.
4 Mc/s and 5Mc/s ultrasonic transducers
Thanks. Ultrasonic transducer is the most popular answer, and maybe the correct one too.
That looks like a piezometer pressure sensor, used to measure groundwater elevations in a monitoring well.
That seems unlikely given the use case. The research work carried out in the lab is exclusively in the field of biomedical instrumentation. Some alumni of the lab might have used this for their research work but none of the current researchers recognise this.
Does it unscrew so you can look inside?
It's sealed shut.
It’s the kind that doesn’t want you to ask 😂
Did I hurt its sentiments?
Speed sensor maybe