Representing this year’s best in the industrial category are an eight-channel, digital-input serializer from Texas Instruments and a six-degree-of-freedom (DoF) inertial sensor from Analog Devices. Both devices bring advanced functionality to industrial designs while saving significant space compared to similar solutions on the market.
EIGHT-CHANNEL CONVERSION Designing high-density industrial automation systems that fit in small spaces is challenging. To help along those lines, Texas Instruments introduced the SN65HVS882 in June, calling it the industry’s most highly integrated digital-input serializer. The device converts eight digital inputs, ranging from 0 to 34 V, into a single data stream on a serial peripheral interface (SPI). This simplifies the design and reduces overall board space by up to 60% for industrial automation equipment.The SN65HVS882 integrates several key functions typically performed by external components. For example, an internal programmable debounce feature filters out spurious pulses up to 3 ms on noisy switch inputs, eliminating the need for external components or software.
Furthermore, several SN65HVS882 serializers can be cascaded through an integrated SPI port, reducing both the isolation channels and controller pins required for high-channelcount input modules. These capabilities help create a more cost-efficient, high-density input system.
A built-in voltage regulator converts the industrial field voltage of 10 to 34 V to a 5-V level, which can power a system’s isolation device or logic controller. The serializer’s wide operating temperature range of –40°C to 125°C suits it for process control systems and factory automation. Individual outputs can be connected to LEDs to easily observe the input status.
An adjustable input current limit means that a single resistor can set the maximum input current in the range of 200 µA to 5 mA. As a result, system-level power dissipation can drop by more than 50% in typical industrial applications. For 24-V applications with a 5-V/3-mA turn-on point, estimated power savings is 275 mW per channel, a boon for applications like elevators or programmable logic controllers.
The SN65HVS882 is available in a 28-pin HTSSOP package for $3.00 each in 1000-piece quantities. For more information, visit www.ti.com/sn65hvs882-pr.
SIX DEGREES OF FREEDOM In 2007, Analog Devices introduced the ADIS16355, a six- DoF inertial sensor for industrial applications. This past June, the company introduced its successor, the ADIS16365, which comes in a compact module measuring just 23 by 23 by 23 mm. Both are members of Analog Devices’ iSensor intelligent sensor product family.The ADIS16365 makes complex motion-sensing design significantly easier and more cost-effective for industrial engineers developing high-performance platform control and navigation equipment. This industrial measurement unit (IMU) cuts power consumption by at least 20%. That along with a tenfold increase in startup time and up to 50% boost in bias stability helps lower noise sensitivities that impede navigation accuracy.
Designed using Analog Devices’ iMEMS Motion Signal Processing Technology, the ADIS16365 IMU combines three gyroscopes and three accelerometers, which gives it the six-DoF motion sensing. With embedded features like the Precision AutoNull and a 0.05°/sec/g dynamic linear acceleration compensation factor, designers can achieve in-run bias stability of 0.009°/sec or better without having to perform further motion testing.
By leveraging Analog Devices’ proprietary motion and calibration testing processes, the device captures sensor data and alignment compensations across all three axes. These are then embedded within the IMU, along with calibration for voltage variances, temperature variances, and other influences, which are then dynamically compensated in-use, all transparent to the user.
Since the ADIS16365, like its predecessor, comes fully calibrated and compensated for temperature, voltage and more, the device delivers meaningful data immediately. Several unique features further reduce design time and complexity, including an automatic sensor point-of-reference realignment, digital range scaling, dynamic environmental compensation, autonomous self-test, and embedded sensor condition monitoring.
The ADIS16365 is backward-compatible with other iSensor six-DoF sensors, but includes a faster data-access interface, additional system I/O, a higher dynamic range accelerometer (17g), and an extended temperature range of –40°C to 105°C.
The ADIS16365 costs $375 in 1000-unit quantities. Evaluations boards are available. For further information, visit www.analog.com/pr/ADIS16365.