Whoosh, Tap, Gone - The Door That Anticipates You

No one considers automatic doors. That's the point. Your arms are full, your thoughts are elsewhere, and the door quietly reacts. It reads the moment like a great waiter topping up your glass without asking. It is an unexpectedly complex of sensors, motors, safety logic and building code regulations that all react within half a second behind that effortless reaction. Although invented in the 1960s, modern systems are far removed from their primitive beginnings. Automatic doors have grown and become precision tools and are ubiquitous simply because they do what they are supposed to do so well that people have forgotten they are there. Sensors act as the brain of the entire mechanism. Most commercial sliding panasonic h3 automatic sliding door system doors rely on overhead microwave or passive infrared detectors, known as PIR. PIR detectors sense the body heat signature as it passes by the detector. Microwave sensors send signals and read the reflection. Both technologies have advantages and drawbacks. Extreme temperature changes, like a chilly doorway, can reduce PIR accuracy. Microwave sensors are more consistent, though they can be triggered by debris or even a passing bird. Busy environments usually integrate both systems to verify signals before triggering movement. The outcome is a minimized amount of false triggers and a reduced number of doors that simply sit there with their mouths open as everybody inside of it freezes. Motor systems have also developed eminently. Simple electromechanical systems - relays, simple timers, not much finesse - were used in early automatic doors. Today’s systems use brushless DC motors with variable speed control. The door does not slam, but slows down as it nears the complete opening, pauses in the highest position, and then closes at a slow pace. Gone are the abrupt bangs of earlier designs. The firmware now has force limitation, such that when the door encounters resistance in its movement, it reverses. This is not a luxury feature. In Europe with EN 16005 and in the US with ANSI/BHMA standards, it is a legal requirement. Any door that closes on a child or a wheelchair user and continues to push is not a door, but a motorized hazard.