Categorías

The eKo Pro Series system can support a wide range of external sensors from different manufacturers. Its plug-and-play open Environmental Sensor Bus (ESB) architecture provides the versatility to interface both smart and custom sensors, with direct plug-in for any 2 or 3-wire sensors. The availability of the ESB Developer’s platforms allows users to quickly and easily interface their own simple and smart sensors to this solution.

There are three types of sensors that can be interfaced to the eN2100:

Type 1: Analog sensors that can be connected directly to the EN2100 node without any additional signal or power conditioning. Type 1 sensors only need to be wired to a Switchcraft EN3C6F connector with a programmed Dallas EEPROM for self-identification. Customers looking to integrate these sensors will utilize the ES9000.

ES9000
The ES9000 includes a Switchcraft EN3C6F connector with a programmed Dallas EEPROM for self-identification and a five foot cable. The node (EN2100) can interface directly to two-wire resistive sensors that need 10K ohm completion resistors, and three-wire sensors (power, ground, and signal out) that are excited from 3 to 4 volts and output signals up to 3 volts. The eKo node can supply power from a regulated GPIO line (8 mA max) or directly from batteries (3.6V to 4.2V).

Type 2: Analog sensors requiring additional signal conditioning and/or power conditioning. Crossbow’s ES9100 analog board interfaces between the eN2100 and the sensor; also the Dallas self-identification EEPROM is embedded in the Switchcraft EN3C6F connector. Customers looking to integrate these sensors will utilize the ES9100.

ES9100
The ES9100 is a reference design analog board that contains flexible signal and power conditioning circuits to interface to many different types of Type 2 sensors. The ES9100 provides support for two analog sensors on one eKo port, selectable jumpers for sensor power, two 6-pin screw terminals (one for external sensors and one for the eKo cable) and a five foot cable.

Type 3: Digital sensors requiring serial or other communication protocols. These sensors use an external interface circuit between the EN2100 and the sensor. They do not require the Dallas EEPROM embedded in the cable as the self-identification information is contained in the microprocessor on the ES9200. Customers looking to integrate these sensors will utilize the ES9200.

ES9200
The ES9200 can be powered continually from the eKo node and can support multiple sensors at the same time. Type 3 sensors may need to be continually updating versus other sensors that only power-on when a data sample is taken. The ES9200 includes a programmable Atmega128L µP for eKo communication and sensor interface, a JTAG connector for code development and debugging, RS485 transceiver for half-duplex communication with the node, RS232 transceiver for communication with intelligent sensors, two 6-pin screw terminals and a five foot cable with Switchcraft EN3C6F connector for the eKo port.

Each node has 4 sensor ports to allow users to monitor various parameters at any one location. eKo is an innovative platform that allows users and developers to customize their system by providing the flexibility to add a wide range of sensors to the node. The ESB solutions offered by Crossbow allow users to quickly and easily interface their own simple and smart sensors to the eKo system. For more documentation regarding the ESB Integration, click here