An injection device assembly including a housing, a syringe, a drive mechanism and a status sensing system and a module are described. The drive mechanism advances the syringe from a storage position to an injection position, and a plunger advances the syringe piston from an initial position to a final position. The status sensing system includes a light emitter that emits electromagnetic radiation into the housing transverse to the longitudinal axis, a light detector and a controller. The system determines a current status condition from at least three of the following five status conditions: 1) an injection ready state; 2) a needle insertion state; 3) a drug delivered state; 4) a needle guard present state; and 5) a needle retraction state.