What are the Different Types of Gate Vehicle Detection? — Keeping Cars Safe from Damage

Like the name implies, a vehicle detection device’s entire job is to detect vehicles on either the inside or outside of your security gate and cause the gate to either open or stay open without the need for a gate remote or keypad.

The Basics

To let your visitors out of your gate so that they can go home, if you don’t have vehicle detection installed, you’ll need to give them a gate remote or ride along with them down the driveway to press your gate remote button, or have a keypad installed on the property side of your gate so that your guests enter a code to open the gate so that they can exit.

You may also use a telephone entry system to “call” the gate and send the telephonic “gate open” command to it via your phone. The downside to this option is that, if your guest stops in the middle of your driveway to call her husband to give him a long grocery list let’s say, the gate might be closed by the time she reaches it.

Vehicle Detection Loops to the Rescue

What are the Different Types of Gate Vehicle Detection? — Keeping Cars Safe from Damage
There are two main types of vehicle detection devices: vehicle detection probes and vehicle detection loops.

Vehicle Detection Probes

Want your visitors to be able to freely exit your gate without hassle? You might want to have a vehicle detection probe installed.

Vehicle detection probes are used only to freely exit (meaning, without the use of a device such as a remote or keypad) or freely enter an automated gate. Vehicle detection probes are not meant to be used as a reversing device.

If you’re wondering what they look like, probes are cylindrical in shape and approximately 12” long. They are placed 15’ to 100’ away from the gate, parallel to the driveway, and are triggered by a moving metal object which is typically a vehicle.

One of the downsides of a probe is that it can be triggered by a non-vehicle metal objects such as a bicycle or even a dog’s collar.

Probes are also prone to false triggers due to vibration. If you live near a busy highway, the vibration from large trucks could trigger the gate to open. Vehicle detection loops do not suffer from these problems.

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