Microstar Laboratories's home page includes a new section that shows how to implement high-performance temperature measurement systems when off-the-shelf solutions won't work
Off-the-shelf temperature measurement products do what they do very well, says Microstar Laboratories.
If they do what you want, by all means use them.
If they don't have exactly what you need, the company says, take a look at the integrated thermal sensor tutorial and application pages it has just posted on the web.
You used to have to put in time and effort to pull this information together from various places on the web, but now you can find it quickly and easily in one place: an integrated information source that complements an integrated system solution.
You also can download the material formatted as a PDF file to print or to read off-line whenever you need it.
The new reference material describes what may make an off-the-shelf temperature measurement product less than ideal for your application.
Possible issues are cost, packaging, display, integration, diversity, accuracy, speed, and noise.
Microstar Laboratories makes data acquisition processor (DAP) boards and network-ready DAPservers, and all solutions offered naturally include DAP boards - with an explanation of how you can resolve the particular issues listed above by using them.
DAP boards make a robust platform for high-performance industrial temperature measurement systems.
PCs and rack-mountable DAPserver system packages each can contain - and control - more than one DAP board.
Every DAP board includes an onboard processor running a real-time operating system.
Windows applications that support DLL calls can control a DAP board by communicating with this onboard operating system.
You can control a DAP board from DAPstudio - a Windows application from Microstar Laboratories - as well as from third-party (or your own) software, and you can do this from any PC on a network.
For smaller systems, you can hook up a single DAPserver to any PC with an Ethernet connection.
Or attach a keyboard and screen to the DAPserver and control it directly - using software preloaded at the factory.
And, of course, a DAPserver does not have to be installed in a rack.
Details covered in the new material include discussions on three main topics: on the appropriate class of sensor for each type of temperature measurement and given environment, on calibration and linearization, and on applications - including thermocouple, thermistor, and RTD examples.
The application discussions specify typical hardware configurations and software routines that implement required system behavior at runtime.
Hardware details include signal-conditioning products that conform to the company's channel architecture and that fit into standard 19-inch industrial enclosures with factory-installed backplanes, or that fit directly into DAPserver system packages that can be ordered with all required signal-conditioning boards pre-installed.
When off-the-shelf temperature measurement products will not meet your requirements, you no longer have to invest time and effort into going through various PDF documents or white papers to determine what to do.
The information you need is all in one place, online or downloadable.
The solutions offered in the example applications all include DAP boards.
You can download a free copy of DAPstudio to try it out.
DAPstudio lets you control an application from anywhere on a network.
To try out all its features, you need a DAP board.
The company provides demonstration hardware at no charge.
