Celsum Technologies has released the DSCUSB, a compact and high-performance strain-gauge digital-signal conditioner with USB connectivity, providing accurate measurement repeatability.
A rugged metal-enclosure makes the device suitable for many environments.
Plugging the device into a PC allows the data to be read in engineering units from most strain-gauge bridge sensors such as load cells, accelerometers and pressure transducers.
The DSCUSB is configured and data is acquired by the supplied Instrument Explorer software or via the user's own code module written in applications such as Visual Basic, C++ and Labview.
This makes data manipulation possible without the need for amplifiers, filters or multimeters.
No additional power supply is required.
Multiple DSCUSBs may be connected to on a USB port by using a suitable hub.
A choice of Ascii, Modbus RTU and Mantrabus protocols is available.
The DSCUSB requires a full-bridge strain gauge: four individual strain-gauges arranged in a square Wheatstone Bridge formation.
A stable excitation voltage (the DSCUSB's USB port supplies 5V DC) is applied across two opposite corners of the bridge and the output signal taken from the remaining two corners.
The instrument can be used with single and dual strain-gauges, provided that the remainder of the bridge is provided using dummy precision resistors.
A PCB version of the DSCUSB, with solder-pad connections, is available, as is the DSJ2 for mounting the DSCUSB PCB with easy-connect screw terminals.
