V-LINK

Product no longer stocked – limited availability
Contact for pricing and lead time--a minimum order quantity may apply

V-LINK

Discontinued

The V-Link® -LXRS® is a versatile seven channel analog wireless sensor node with high sample rates and datalogging capability.

Product Highlights

  • Four differential and three single-ended analog input channels and an internal temperature sensor
  • Ideal for remote and long term measurement of many Wheatstone bridge and analog-type sensors including: strain, force, torque, pressure, acceleration, vibration, magnetic field, displacement and geophones
  • Supports continuous, burst, and event-triggered sampling and datalogging to internal memory
  • l User-programmable sample rates up to 10 KHz
  • l IP65/66 environmental enclosures available
Datasheet Manual Software

Wireless Simplicity, Hardwired Reliability

High Performance

  • Node-to-node synchronization up to ±32 microseconds
  • High resolution data with 16-bit A/D converter
  • Scalable, long range wireless sensor networks up to 2 km
  • Lossless data throughput under most operating conditions

Ease of Use

  • Rapid deployment with wireless framework
  • Event driven triggers for efficient monitoring
  • Remotely configure nodes, acquire and view sensor data with Node Commander®.
  • Optional web-based SensorCloud™ interface optimizes data storage, viewing, and analysis.
  • Easy integration via comprehensive SDK

Cost Effective

  • Reduction of costs associated with wiring
  • Low-cost per channel with 7 input channels per node
General
 

Sensor input channels

Differential analog, 4 channels

Single-ended analog, 3 channels

Integrated sensors

Internal temperature, 1 channel

Data storage capacity

4 M bytes (up to 2,000,000 data points, data type dependent)

Analog Input Channels

Measurement range

Differential: full-bridge, 350 Ω (factory configurable) Single-ended: 0 to 3 V dc

Accuracy

± 0.1% full scale typical

Resolution

16 bit

Anti-aliasing filter bandwidth

Single-pole Butterworth

-3 dB cutoff @ 250 Hz (factory configurable)

Bridge excitation voltage

+3 V dc, 50 mA total for all channels

(pulsed @ sample rates 16 Hz to conserve power)

Measurement gain and offset

User-selectable in software on differential channels gain values from 21 to 13074

Integrated Temperature Channel

Measurement range

-40 °C to 85 °C

Accuracy

± 2 °C (at 25 °C) typical

Resolution

16 bit

Sampling

Sampling modes

Synchronized, low duty cycle, datalogging, event-triggered

Sampling rates

Continuous sampling: 1 sample/hour to 512 Hz Periodic burst sampling: 32 Hz to 10 KHz Datalogging: 32 Hz to 10 KHz

Sample rate stability

± 3 ppm

Network capacity

Up to 2000 nodes per RF channel (and per gateway) depending on the number of active channels and sampling settings. Refer to the system bandwidth calculator: http://www.microstrain.com/configure-your-system

Synchronization between nodes

± 32 μsec

Operating Parameters

Radio frequency (RF)

transceiver carrier

2.405 to 2.470 GHz direct sequence spread spectrum over 14 channels, license free worldwide, radiated power programmable from 0 dBm (1 mW) to 16 dBm (39 mW); low power option available for use outside the U.S.- limited to 10dBm (10mW)

Range for bi-directional RF link

Outdoor/line-of-sight: 2 km (ideal) *, 800 m (typical)**

Indoor/obstructions: 50 m (typical)**

RF communication protocol

IEEE 802.15.4

Power source

Internal: 3.7 V dc, 650 mAh lithium ion rechargeable battery

External: +3.2 to +9.0 V dc

Power consumption

See power profile :

http://files.microstrain.com/V-Link-LXRS-Power-Profile.pdf

Operating temperature

-20 ˚C to + 60 ˚C (extended temperature range available with custom battery/enclosure, -40 ˚C to + 85 ˚C electronics only)

Acceleration limit

500 g standard (high g option available)

Physical Specifications

Dimensions

74 mm x 79 mm x 21 mm

Weight

141 grams

Environmental rating

Indoor use (IP65/66 enclosures available)

Enclosure material

Anodized aluminum

Integration

Compatible gateways

All WSDA® base stations and gateways

Compatible sensors

Bridge type analog sensors, 0 to 3 V dc analog sensors

Connectors

Screw terminal block

Shunt calibration

Internal shunt calibration resistor 499 KΩ, differential channels

Software

SensorCloud™, Node Commander®, Windows XP/Vista/7

Software development

Open-source MicroStrain Communications Library (MSCL) with sample code available in C++,Python,and.NET formats (OS and computing platform independent): http://lord-microstrain.github.io/MSCL/

Regulatory compliance

FCC (U.S.), IC (Canada), CE, ROHS

*Measured with antennas elevated, no obstructions, and no RF interferers.

**Actual range varies depending on conditions such as obstructions, RF interference, antenna height, & antenna orientation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Documentation

Technical Notes

Mechanical Drawings (Uncontrolled)

Videos

What is Multipath?

Multipath is the phenomenon whereby a radio signal arrives at a receiver’s antenna by more than one path. This occurs by the reflection, diffraction, or scattering of radio waves from atmospheric ducting, reflection from water bodies or terrestrial objects (like mountains), etc.

Does Multipath impact signal strength?

Yes, multipath propagation of radio signals causes fading of the transmitted signal, which can be indicated by fluctuations in signal strength when received by the signal receiver.

How do I mitigate Multipath?

Pe-position base station or node to mitigate possible multipath interference.
Ensure a clear path to the antenna for the strongest signal, enhancing the strength of the strongest signal AND reducing the strength of the weaker signals.

Learn More: Mutipath Propagation

The WSDA-RGD (with internal GX3 inertial sensor) is configured to produce the following messages on startup.

GPS Data (1 Hz):

  • UTC Time
  • LLH Position
  • NED Velocity

AHRS Data (100 Hz):

  • Euler Angles

From this output the WSDA logs:

GPS (1 Hz):

  • latitude
  • longitude
  • height above ellipsoid
  • height above MSL
  • horizontal accuracy
  • vertical accuracy
  • speed

AHRS (100 Hz):

  • roll
  • pitch
  • yaw

The WSDA-RGD does not log any data until it gets a valid time, if it is set to get time from GPS only it will not log any output from the GX3 until the UTC timestamp from the GX3 is valid, even though the GX3 is producing valid AHRS data.

This data is not user configurable and is not available as a live stream through LiveConnect.

All LORD MicroStrain wireless sensor nodes, wireless base stations, and wireless sensor data aggregators are shipped from the factory with their radio frequency set to channel 15 (2.425 GHz).

This channel setting was established during 2012.

Previously all wireless products were set to channel 25 (2.475 GHz).

If you are mixing new nodes and base stations with older nodes and base stations, please be cognizant of these different channel settings.

The Node Discovery function of Node Commander will help you sort out which nodes are on what channels; Node Discovery is channel independent and allows the base station to communicate with any node, no matter what channel it is on

Sampling methods such as synchronized sampling, low duty cycle, network broadcast, etc. require that all nodes are on the same frequency so you will want to insure that you have adjusted the channels settings of the nodes to suit.

Microsoft Excel displays the timestamp contained in the wireless node data files incorrectly.  If you were to open the CSV file with Microsoft Notepad, you will see that the timestamp is shown properly.  In order to get Excel to show the human readable time, follow the below procedure:

  • Highlight all of column A (column with the timestamp)
  • Right click on highlighted region and select Format cells...
  • Select the Number Tab in the window that open and choose Custom from the Category box
  • Scroll to the bottom of the list in the Type box, find this entry: m/d/yyyy h:mm and click it
  • Add to the entry an :ss.000 so it now looks like this: m/d/yyyy h:mm:ss.000
  • Click OK

The timestamp will now be correct.

The wireless nodes all have 2 Mbytes of datalogging memory.  This 2 Mbytes is organized into 8,191 ‘pages’ of memory, each page holds 132 data points.  The maximum number of data points that can be held in memory can be calculated as follows: 8,191 pages x 132 data points/page = 1,081,212 total data points.

Now the question arises, ‘how long can a node datalog before its memory is full?’. The answer is that it varies depending on how many channels are being sampled and what sampling rate has been set. Here are two examples:

Let’s set a V-Link-LXRS so that channel 1 is active with a datalogging sampling rate of 2048 samples per second and we launch continuous datalogging.  Our calculation would be:

  • 1 channel x 2,048 samples per second = 2,048 data points per second
  • 1,081,212 data points / 2,048 data points per second = 527 seconds
  • 527 seconds / 60 seconds per minute = ~9 minutes to fill the memory

Let’s set a G-Link-LXRS so that channels 1, 2 and 3 are active with a datalogging sampling rate of 32 samples per second and we launch continuous datalogging.  Our calculation would be:

  • 3 channels x 32 samples per second = 96 data points per second
  • 1,081,212 data points / 96 data points per second = 11,262 seconds
  • 11,262 seconds / 60 seconds per minute = ~187 minutes to fill the memory

In FINITE sampling, the user sets a total number of samples to be taken which equates to a time period.  Because the sampling rate per second is known, the user can adjust the number of samples to be taken to determine how long the sampling period will be.

In CONTINUOUS sampling, the user does not set the total number of samples and therefore does not set the time of the sampling period.  By selecting CONTINUOUS sampling, the user is instructing the system to sample data until the user manually stops the sampling (via software), the power is cycled, the on-board datalogging memory is full, the battery dies, the power fails, etc.

LORD MicroStrain® Wireless Sensor Networks provide several data acquisition modes including:

  • Synchronized Sampling
  • Armed Datalogging
  • Streaming
  • Duty Cycle

See the particular wireless node for specifics.

 

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