The eSpider 6400
Interface Card enables for the easy integration of many sensors.
It was used for one of our Structural
Health Monitoring (SHM) systems
where numerous strain gages (up to 128) were required along the
structure.
The eSpider, with
its 64 sensor ports, helps organize the connection of multiple
sensors. It collects measurement data from the sensors, performs
A/D conversion, and is capable of converting the measurements
into engineering units. One 8-pin expansion port is provided for
future feature enhancements and a Power Over Ethernet (POE) port
is provided for power. The eSpider uses a quarter Wheatstone bridge
circuit and has an integrated variable potentiometer to fine-tune
DC bios (and eliminate effects when long/variable wire lengths
are used). It also provides shielded RJ45 interconnections to
reduce noise. The eSpider uses high quality components to ensure
excellent data quality. The unit reduces noise, wiring and fine-tuning
complexities of integrating wired analog sensor along a long structure,
thus easing in-field deployment. The module is approximately 6x5x5
inches.
eSpider6400 Interface Card Specifications:
Eases integration of many sensors
Paired w/ analog MUX card to collect strain measurements from sensors
Each card has up to 32 channels
Uses excitation voltage of 3.3V
Measures each channel using 16-bit ADC w/ -1V to +1V
Amplifies strain gages by 100x
Testing performed using 1000x mode
Measures vibration at frequencies below 20 micro-strains