Florence Engineering designed a board for data acquisition from different types of sensors, powered by batteries, capable of storing acquired data in local memory or sending via radio to a remote device.
The board has inputs for interfacing with different analog sensors, such as thermocouples, thermistors, ratiometric sensors, Wheatstone bridge sensors and in general sensors with voltage or current output. Digital interfaces such as I2C, SPI and UART are also available, and a bistable relay output can be controlled automatically by setting appropriate threshold values on the acquisition channels. A clock with a backup battery allows acquisition at pre-set time intervals.
The board can be configured in USB or radio operating mode. In USB mode the measurement data are stored locally, and can be downloaded to a PC via the USB interface. In radio mode, data are sent through a sub-GHz radio link to a remote gateway. In both configurations, with three AA alkaline batteries the board can operate for several months.
A software to be installed on a PC completes the acquisition system, through which it is possible to make all the operating settings, download and view data, both in tabular and graphic form. Data can then be exported in csv files.
Dimensions of the board are such that it can be housed in a commercial watertight containers, through a special adapter plate, allowing outdoor operation in any climatic condition.
The system consisting of hardware, firmware and software constitutes a ready-to-use solution that satisfies the most common application needs. However, if necessary, Florence Engineering is able to customize every part of the system to adapt it to particular customer needs.