One of the hassles with recorded info of any type is figuring out exactly what else is going on with the observations when something is seen or heard on the recording. Time-stamping readings can be correlated later, of course, but that takes time. Connecting cables is also no fun when it comes to field instrumentation.

Looking at this problem, Extech Instruments and FLIR Systems teamed up to create METERLiNK, a Bluetooth connection between a clamp meter and an infrared camera. This allows the meter reading to be imprinted instantly on the IR image, making inspection information available quickly and accurately – a simple but creative idea.

Texas Instruments is continuing to grow its ARM offerings with new devices in the Sitara processor family. This time, TI is targeting industrial apps with an ARM9 core and peripherals such as SATA, USB 2.0, 10/100 Ethernet, MMC/SD, and a unique new feature to help designers configure I/O.

The Programmable Real-time Unit (PRU) does two things. It offers programmable I/O, such as general parallel and serial interfaces, as shown in the diagram, or lightweight versions of things like CAN. It also offloads I/O from the core, with data-handling features and operation while the ARM9 core is sleeping to save power. This family also allows scaling up and down to TI’s OMAP processor families.

Cypress Semiconductor’s PSoC 3 and PSoC 5 devices have been out for a while now, but with the current push for developing smart energy applications, it’s noteworthy that the company’s new application kits for the PSoC are targeting Power Line Communication (PLC).

The CY8CPLC20-based PLC kits have a Frequency-Shift Key (FSK) PHY modem, network protocol, and application code with programmable analog and digital blocks and a microcontroller for the PSoC architecture. Kits also provide functions beyond communication, such as power measurement, system management, and an LCD drive. Cypress claims greater than 97 percent packet success rates without retries and 100 percent success rates with retries built into the solution’s coding.

Panel PCs are pretty common, but taking the features found in most and making the unit MIL-STD-810 and IP65 compliant is more interesting.

American Industrial Systems has integrated the Intel Atom N270 processor into a line of rugged panel PCs designed for vehicular applications. With a choice of 8.4" or 10.4" direct sunlight readable LCD and touch screen, a solid-state drive, 802.11b/g wireless, and two USB ports, the unit is ready to mount and compute in agricultural, fleet, marine, and other applications. It runs on 8 to 36 VDC and operates from -10 °C to +55 °C.

Edge platforms are where sensors and devices meet the network. The job involves capturing data, aggregating it, and then distributing it back to the cloud for sharing and decision making.

Eurotech has come up with a small platform, the Helios, based on an Intel Atom Z5xx processor running Wind River Linux 3.0, Windows Embedded CE 6.0, or Windows Embedded Standard. Its USB bay offers three ports to integrate wireless, storage, or data acquisition devices, as well as a GbE port and optional GPS. Besides the OS choice, it also provides the unique Everywhere software with Java development capability.

We’ve been covering MEMS accelerometers for quite a while, and we’ve been looking for companies to do something interesting by embedding processing directly on the sensor module. Kionix has introduced the KXTF9 with an integrated feature called Directional Tap/Double-Tap detection.

Algorithms on the sensor create up to 12 tap-enabled commands for OEM-specified functions. The sensor detects quick, light taps or double taps on any of the six faces (±X, Y, and Z) of an object and computes the event and direction. This information can be used to create unique user interfaces in devices.

National Instruments recently announced additions to its line of Wi-Fi data acquisition modules. In thinking through the solution for customers, the company introduced new IP54-rated enclosures for those modules, enabling any of the Wi-Fi DAQ devices to be installed in harsh environments.

The NI 9921 is a low-cost enclosure allowing the antenna and I/O through, while the NI 9922 (pictured) adds an Ethernet port and a 4-pin trigger connector for more control, with all ports protected from both dust particles and splashing water from all directions.

The Camera Link specification was recently enhanced to incorporate Power over Camera Link (PoCL), which as the name implies allows power to be delivered to a camera over the Camera Link cable without the need for a separate power connector. A Safe Power mode determines if a camera is PoCL compatible and only delivers power if it is.

The ADLINK Technology PCIe-CPL64 frame grabber supports PoCL with two channels providing data transfers up to 4.0 Gbps and pixel clock rates up to 85 MHz. It also supports 64-bit operating systems for large address space vision applications.

Once data and images are acquired, showing them is important, and that display might have to be located in the same harsh environment. Stealth Computer’s new TT-840 comes to work with an IP68 rating (immersion proof) and an 8.4" sunlight-readable LCD.

The display is 1,000 nits bright with a contrast ratio of 600:1. It also has IR touch-screen technology, which works in wet, vibration-prone environments. The unit is powered with 12 to 36 VDC and has power, video, and USB connections via rugged circular Connectors.

Onboard battery power can be a headache – or worse. In addition to disposal problems, conventional batteries can leak or even explode. SNAPHAT packages are relatively bulky and a hassle to replace. Super caps lose storage life because of leakage currents.

Cymbet’s EnerChip batteries, however, are made of a thin-film nanotech material, not a chemical paste, so there’s nothing to leak. These batteries come in surface-mount packages, solder to a board just like a regular IC, and can recharge via any number of harvesting techniques. They’re a good match for ultra-low-power MCUs.

Amulet Technologies is putting its LCD driver chip and Graphical OS in Silicon firmware expertise into next-generation IP running on an Atmel ARM-based CAP7 microcontroller.

The new IP supports a color LCD with touch-panel capability and has been fitted into an Atmel CAP7 customizable MCU, demonstrating a single-chip solution. The LCD controller IP operates independently of the MCU core using a frame buffer bus and DMA. Programming is done via HTML and photo editing tools, and support is included for alpha blending to give interfaces a much more realistic and colorful look.

Designing a dynamic digital signage system or a Point-Of-Service (POS) kiosk? The Green Calliope Engine from LocoLabs is based on a Marvell PXA310 application processor coupled with a Marvell 88DE2710 1080p HD video processor and the Marvell 88W8688 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo chip. Other I/O includes USB, audio, a 2 megapixel camera, and an IR receiver.

The pint-sized system (1.3" H x 4.2" W x 2.4" D) runs Linux, Trolltech’s Qtopia application framework, a Web browser and flash player, and networking stacks. The basic package docks to an expansion module for debugging or adding custom logic to complete the final design.

Put together an Imsys Java processor, Cypress PSoC mixed-signal array, and connection options including a wide selection of cellular, Bluetooth, ZigBee, 900 MHz, and other wireless radio technologies, and you get a powerful Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interface platform.

The AVIDdirector-M2M Model 200 from AVIDwireless supports a complete Java environment, including Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), Java Native Interface (JNI), and M2MXML, along with a complete set of networking tools. The system is open for adding wireless radio boards, simple serial or general-purpose I/O-connected devices, or user-developed boards via an expansion interface.

Bigger monitors are the trend, and this one is really big. The CPPM-8U23 from Chassis Plans is an 8U 23" TFT LCD display with native WUXGA 1920 x 1200 resolution at 60 Hz – 75 percent more pixels than a 1280 x 1024 19" display. Viewability is great with 400 nit brightness, 700:1 contrast, 178 degree viewing angle, and fast 12 mS response time.

But here’s the twist: it mounts to the front of a standard 19" rack with an articulating ARM, allowing the monitor to be rotated to almost any position.

Programmable Automation Controllers (PACs) continue to improve. United Electronic Industries’ UEIPAC runs Linux with two Ethernet ports, a serial port, an SD card interface, and an inter-PAC sync interface. It provides either three or six slots for I/O boards, including analog input, analog output, digital I/O, counter/timer, quadrature encoder, serial I/O, CAN bus, and ARINC 429 interfaces.

The latest UEIPAC upgrade now allows analog input sample rates up to 576 KSps and up to eight simultaneous Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) loops at greater than 20 KHz. No changes to existing code are required to take advantage of the 8x performance improvement, and existing UEIPACs are field-upgradeable at no charge.

Sealed enclosures are subject to strong pressure differentials as temperatures vary widely. But letting air in and out opens the enclosure to possible dust, moisture, or worse contamination.

The Polyvent/M12 high-airflow GORE Protective Vent from W. L. Gore and Associates comes in plastic or metal versions, providing water protection to meet IP66 for water jets, IP67 for 30 minutes of water submersion, and IP69K for high-pressure spray. Metal versions are explosion rated and temperature rated from -40 °C to +125 °C.

The trick is a unique expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane with a microporous structure that allows air in while preventing water and most environmental contaminants from entering.

Video over IP is all the rage, but handling MPEG-4 streams requires special processing power. Intellivisions and Cradle Technologies have partnered to create a new solution for streaming video in surveillance networks.

Trinetra provides four-channel video surveillance capability with selectable MPEG-4 streaming and hard disk recording and playback of stored video streams. Using the Cradle multicore DSP architecture, Trinetra enables streaming full 640 x 480 resolution at up to 30 frames per second (NTSC) or 25 frames per second (PAL), and delivers outstanding picture quality across a standard network interface.

BACnet devices have become extremely popular in building automation networks, connecting systems such as heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning control; lighting control; access control; and fire detection systems. But managing a wide array of devices from different manufacturers on a single network can be tricky. The BACnet browser within the insight Revision 3.7 graphical workstation software from Siemens provides enhanced capabilities that enable facility managers and systems operating staff to easily acquire comprehensive information about the state of devices and device communication within a BACnet network with an APOGEE modular equipment controller or modular building controller.

Through nsight, users (depending on their level of access) can write properties, import objects, reinitialize devices, or engage device communication controls. Regardless of device manufacturer, users have access to detailed data such as vendor name, device status, protocol revisions, and a list of supported objects and services. Users can then read and write to any object properties the device permits for complete command and control of the network.

Sometimes, the job calls for data logging in a remote location. Setting up big data loggers, power supplies, and sophisticated software is painful - it’d be much easier to just plug something simple into a laptop and go. But accuracy and proven measurement technology are still required. With a new family of data loggers from National Instruments, engineers get all this and more.

The low-cost National Instruments USB-6210, USB-6211, USB-6215, and USB-6218 devices draw power directly from the USB port and therefore do not require an external power supply. They feature NI signal streaming technology, a new technology for high-speed data streaming over the USB cable, which leads to four times improvement in sampling rate over previous NI bus-powered multifunction data acquisition devices. They also feature M Series technology, including NI-MCal, a revolutionary design for calibration at every input range that improves measurement accuracy, and the NI-PGIA 2 family of programmable-gain instrumentation amplifiers, which dramatically reduces settling time to ensure accurate measurements even at the fastest scanning rates.

Vision systems used to mean expensive hardware and complicated software. Today, designers can get a camera on their Ethernet network in minutes. Prosilica’s GE-Series Gigabit Ethernet cameras offer high-performance digital imaging for applications in machine vision, industrial inspection, traffic monitoring, and public safety. The GE-Series sends noncompressed images ranging from VGA at 200 frames per second up to 4-megapixel resolution running 15 frames per second over standard Gigabit Ethernet hardware with cable lengths up to 100 meters long. The GE-Series are among the first machine vision cameras shipping that conform to the Automated Imaging Association GigEVision standard.

The Linux GigE Vision SDK provides programmers the means to control and capture images from Prosilica GE-Series cameras. The SKD also includes sample code to help programmers more easily integrate and use Prosilica’s cameras in the Linux-based applications running on either x86 or PowerPC systems, make it a great choice for embedded designs.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will soon be ubiquitous on items in your friendly big-box retail store where conditions are fairly benign. In industrial environments, however, conditions may be much more hostile. For example, on food processing applications, tags may be partially or completely immersed in liquid or encased in solids, making reading difficult for commercial gear.

The Cobalt HF series of RFID readers is designed for exactly this problem - reliable reading of tags in industrial environments. With USB and industrial Ethernet connectivity, these readers integrate a 13.56 MHz RFID antenna with a microprocessor-based controller featuring C-Macro programming. Addressing two of the key concerns with RFID technology for high-speed automated lines, network traffic overload and high-speed local decision making, C-Macros allow host systems to enable local intelligence. The readers support a simultaneous read/write to dozens of tags and anticollision technology for multiple tag-in-field situations. With the antenna and controller in one integrated package, setup is quick and easy.