Strain-Gage Signal Conditioner Optimized For Bridge Sensors

Nov. 24, 2003

The V385 eight-channel VME strain-gage signal conditioner adds individual remote-sensed excitation supplies to each channel, increasing its precision over the previous model V385 single-excitation supply. Its new firmware makes it more applicable to...

Roger Allan

Designed by Highland Technology for weighing applications, it supports more generic strain-gage and load-cell applications with greater precision at faster acquisition rates. Each input channel features a 5- or 10-V switchable excitation source and a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter.

Input impedance is 60 MΩ, with a maximum input of 50 mV and a common-mode rejection ratio of more than 100 dB. The standard version of the V385 delivers raw sensor data, while an instrumentation version is available with advanced filtering and normalization functions.

The V385 costs $2800.

Highland Technology Inc.www.highlandtechnology.com (415) 753-5814

About the Author

Roger Allan

Roger Allan is an electronics journalism veteran, and served as Electronic Design's Executive Editor for 15 of those years. He has covered just about every technology beat from semiconductors, components, packaging and power devices, to communications, test and measurement, automotive electronics, robotics, medical electronics, military electronics, robotics, and industrial electronics. His specialties include MEMS and nanoelectronics technologies. He is a contributor to the McGraw Hill Annual Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He is also a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and holds a BSEE from New York University's School of Engineering and Science. Roger has worked for major electronics magazines besides Electronic Design, including the IEEE Spectrum, Electronics, EDN, Electronic Products, and the British New Scientist. He also has working experience in the electronics industry as a design engineer in filters, power supplies and control systems.

After his retirement from Electronic Design Magazine, He has been extensively contributing articles for Penton’s Electronic Design, Power Electronics Technology, Energy Efficiency and Technology (EE&T) and Microwaves RF Magazine, covering all of the aforementioned electronics segments as well as energy efficiency, harvesting and related technologies. He has also contributed articles to other electronics technology magazines worldwide.

He is a “jack of all trades and a master in leading-edge technologies” like MEMS, nanolectronics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, military electronics, biometrics, implantable medical devices, and energy harvesting and related technologies.