Evaluation kits allow a wide range of strain gauge based to be connected directly to the serial port of a computer or plc
Magna Projects is offering a range of evaluation kits based upon the DSC digital strain card and the D-cell digital strain puck. These versatile and cost-effective devices allow a wide range of strain gauge based devices such as pressure transducers, load cells, force transducers, and displacement sensors to be connected directly to the serial port of a computer or plc.
Just connect your strain gauge and a power supply, then hook up to your computer.
A choice of fieldbus connections is available: RS232 or RS485, with ASCII, Modbus, CanOpen or Mantrabus protocols.
The DSC is a small rectangular package, whereas the D-cell is in a cylindrical package designed to fit directly in the strain gauge pocket.
By fitting these intelligent conditioning amplifiers close to the strain gauge and converting the signals into digital form, the chances of picking up extraneous noise are minimised.
The DSC and D-cell have remarkably low noise and drift, have user-settable calibration and thermal compensation tables built in, and have an integral temperature sensor with an option of fitting and external thermometer.
The instruments offer a resolution of 19 bits (approx 1 part in 500,000 or 0.0002%) at a rate of reading of 1Hz, to 15 bits (1 part in 32,768 or 0.003%) at a reading frequency of 100Hz.
All parameters are user-selectable from software, and the device may be programmed to read directly in engineering units.
The evaluation kits contain a DSC or D-cell of choice, a PCB, a manual, and a demonstration copy of the VisualLink easy-to-use HMI/Scada software package which will allow the DSC or D-cell to be configured and permits full applications to be written, although a licence must be purchased to run without interruption.
The units are useful for OEM manufacturers, for process and applications, and for research and development.
