Newsletter 12/2007

Test Controller e.gate and e.pac offer extended functionality

With version 1.4.3 of the configuration software e.commander it is possible to upload a new firmware to the test controllers to extend the range of functionality of these devices. The new firmware provides virtual variables with functions like average, minimum, maximum, RMS, standard deviation and many more.

All functions can be combined with each other and provide fast and PC independent conditioning of the system. Running as a FTP client the controllers now have the possibility to send process or time controlled data to a server and to send e-mails. When updating to the new controller structure it is necessary to pay attention to use the new e.commander version 1.4.3 only. Therefore we recommend either to reconfigure an existing system with e.commander version 1.4.2 or to update the whole system to the new controller structure.

e.series - the first measuring system with EtherCAT interface

With the industrial testing technology realtime Ethernet gets more and more important. EtherCAT with its high performance and easy handling at a reasonable price plays a major role.

For the measurement and I/O system e.series we provide the test controller e.gate EC and e.pac EC with a fast EtherCAT interface. These units are available already. The EtherCAT interface fulfils the standard of ETG (EtherCAT Technology Group), provides full performance and it is based on a 100 MByte Ethernet interface with a data rate of 5 kHz.

e.pac DL with USB interface

What about a huge amount of data? User often think about this when logging data for weeks or even months PC independent on a measurement system. Device internal solutions such as flash memory cards are sufficient for most applications but not for all of them. The controller e.pac DL provides an internal flash memory with 128 MByte. Using 4 Byte float values up to 32 million measurement values can be logged. Additionally via the USB interface external memory sticks and hard disks (HDD) with commercially available capacity can be connected. The organisation of the data storage depends on the data rate and the number of channels and can be configured within the controller.

Integration of serial sensors and actuators into e.series

If serial sensors (e.g. pressure- or ultrasonic sensors) have to be integrated into a measurement system usually this requires a lot of effort and high costs. With the PAC controller with its new structure it is possible to change the module interfaces UART 1 to UART 4 to a PAC controlled ASCII protocol. Afterwards with the e.con version 4.2.0 Build 06 the communication format can be adapted to the serial participant individually. Any module interface can be selected, e.g. 2 UARTs are being used as module interfaces and 2 UARTs are being used as an ASCII interface with different configuration.

Multifunctional digital module D1

The module D1 is an all-rounder. Next to the previous functions digital I/O, frequency measuring (Chronos method up to 2 MHz), counter up to 400 kHz, frequency output and PWM (pulse width modulation) output now the functions time measurement via I/O and PWM measurement had been added. The resolution of the measurement is 20 ns, the measuring rate is selectable from 10 ms up to 1 s. With the pulse width measurement the duty cycle (a value from 0 up to 1 (100%) and the frequency of the signal are being measured. Per module two time signals or two PWM signals can be acquired. Additionally 4 status I/Os are available. This way the digital I/O module can be used in the test automation more flexible.

Fairs 2008

Appointed Dates:
6th to 8th May 2008: Sensor+Test, Nuremberg/Germany
6th to 8th May 2008: Automotive Testing Expo, Stuttgart/Germany