Sensors are devices, which are meant to sense physical parameters around them, like the length until the next solid object in front of them by a light barrier, or temperature by thermometer or pressure by a barometer. As already described in the chapter summary, sensors are a very important part of a control loop and are present in basically all machine processes.
We recommend you are watching this video to get to know about different types of sensors.
IO-Link
Sensors, as are actuators, are usually linked to other devices by IO-Link, which is a point-to-point protocol used to connect them and let them communicate.