Crystal Group’s Industrial Server Series Passes UL 60950-1 Testing for Electrical Safety

Crystal Group Inc one of our trusted manufacturing partners of rugged commercial-off- the-shelf (COTS) custom developed computers, displays, switches, and storage devices, has announced that their Industrial Server series has passed UL 60950-1 testing, one of the most widely- used electrical product safety standards around the world. Designed for challenging industrial applications, the series passed rigorous tests to ensure that it meets electrical criteria intended to reduce certain risks.

The UL 60950-1 standard specifies requirements intended to reduce possibilities of fire, electric shock, radiation or injury for the people who may come into contact with the equipment.  The UL 60950-1 standard is applicable to AC powered or battery-powered equipment with a rated voltage not exceeding 600 volts.

Crystal Group’s Industrial Server series is designed and manufactured to meet the computing requirements in a variety of challenging environments. The series embodies 1U, 2U and 3U form factors and is built using Supermicro X7, X8, X9 and X10 motherboard options; all of which passed the UL60950-1 test.

Crystal Group’s IS100, IS200 & IS300 servers are compact, powerful and feature rugged aluminum chassis construction with state of the art cooling which make them perfect for extreme or industrial applications.

Application 150 - Wire Bond Testing

Application Summary

In microelectronics production environments, bond testing can provide a means of evaluating bond quality and verifying bond consistency and reliability. In this automated wire bond testing system FUTEK’s LSM300 or LSB200 can be integrated to the cartridge mechanism in line with the testing hook to record the peak force or breaking force of the wire bond under test.

Products in Use

Precision Load Cell or Miniature S-Beam Jr. (LSM300 or LSB200) paired with Instrumentation (USB Solutions).

How it Works

1. Wire bond testing systems enables two types of wire pull testing: destructive and non-destructive.
2. During a destructive wire pull test, a wire is pulled upward (perpendicular to the substrate) by a hook until there is either a bond failure or the wire breaks. This type of test is intended for process setup.
3. During a non-destructive wire pull test, a wire is pulled upward (perpendicular to the substrate) by a hook at a predesignated force to ensure high reliability packaging.
4. Wire bond testing systems also have the ability to perform the following test: Solder Ball Shear, Die Shear, Stud Bump Pull, Passivation Layer Shear, Ribbon Pull, Tweezer Peel, Fatigue and Push.
5. Specifically during a wire pull test FUTEK’s LSM300 precision load cell or LSB200 miniature load cell can be attached to the hook tool to measure the pulling force exerted on the wire under test.
6. These force measures can be streamed to a computer for analysis utilizing FUTEK’s USB Solutions.

For further information on Futek and its products please contact Metromatics +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

For outside this region please contact our supplier Futek +1 949 465 0900 or ehsan@futek.com 

Crystal Group Announces New RCS6450-12 & RCS6450-24 Rugged Switch Line

Crystal Rugged have recently introduced the RCS6450-12 & RCS6450-24 Rugged Crystal Switches based on the Brocade® intelligent, scalable edge switch line. The ruggedised switches are ideal for small and medium size applications with improved cooling, shock, vibration, and humidity performance designed for heavy industrial and military environments.

The ruggedised switches operate in harsh environments where size, weight, and power limitations are a concern. Weighing between 4.3-4.5kg dependent on supply configuration requirements, the 12” (30.48cm) depth units offer fixed mounted or Delrin® Glides mounting on standard EIA-310 racks.

The RCS6450-12/24 are also cooled with forced air convection via internal high reliability long life fans. This compact, light-weight unit offers full Layer 3 routing, LLDP-MED plug and play operations, as well as availability in MIL-CIRC I/O or gigabit ethernet standard connectors.

Both the 12 port and the 24 port units are available with a standard 120/240VAC COTS power supply and front or rear I/O options, a single 120/240VAC EMI compliant power supply, an 18-36VDC EMI compliant power supply or a combination of AC or DC supply modules in a 1+1 configuration.

Crystal Group’s RCS6450-12 Rugged Crystal Switch is ideal for uncontrolled environments found in military and industrial applications.

Reliability | Jim on Engineering, Episode 40

If you want to know what and how the products from Crystal Rugged are made. Check out Jim Shaw's, Executive Vice President of Engineering Video Blog. He explains in detail topics related to operational, deployable, and high reliability computing applications.

In this video blog Jim Shaw discusses picking the right server for the right application to meet customer needs and expectations.

If your interested in more information in video blog form by Jim shaw check it out here https://www.crystalrugged.com/video-blog/

Information on this blog has been provided by our supplier Crystal Rugged.

For further information on Crystal Rugged products in Australia and New Zealand, please contact Metromatics +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

for outside that area please contact Crystal Rugged on +1 319-378-1636

Application 706 - Industrial Automated Robotic Arm

Application Summary

Industrial robots make assembly lines more efficient and reliable. Paired with any full-bridge strain-gauge-based sensor, operators can use new IAA amplifiers to send clear, clean signals to logic controllers that govern the assembly line.

Products in Use

A strain-gauge, full-bridge multi-axial sensor that measures torque and load paired with the IAA100 (voltage) or IAA200 (current).

How it Works

1. In order to automate an industrial robotic arm, control engineers will program a PLC to specify response triggers.
2. In the above diagram, a full-bridge strain-gauge-based load and torque sensor resides within the claw of the robotic arm measuring torque and load of an object.
3. The IAA Series amplifies a mV/V signal coming from the strain-gauge-based sensor.
4. The output of the IAA amplifier will produce an accurate and low noise signal to the PLC to complete the feedback loop. (Because this application is utilizing a multiple channel sensor, the operations engineer will require one IAA amplifier per channel output.)

For further information on Futek and its products please contact Metromatics +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

For outside this region please contact our supplier Futek +1 949 465 0900 or ehsan@futek.com 

Ethernet I/O Simplifies Communication Between One PLC and Multiple Remote Locations

Defining the Problem:

A customer has multiple remote locations linked over an Ethernet network, each requiring discrete outputs. They all need to be sent the same communication signal at the same time.

Implementing the Solution:

1. Set up Ethernet communication between master PLC device and the BusWorks XT discrete I/O module (XT1111).
2. Connect the XT1111 module and the remote site discrete I/O modules (989EN) to an Ethernet network.
3. Configure the XT module to use Acromag’s i2o peer-to peer communication to replicate the PLC’s discrete signal to 8 other multiple locations by IP address.

Featured Products:

• 16-Channel Discrete I/O, Modbus/TCP XT1111-00
• 16-Channel Discrete I/O, with Counter/Timers 989EN-4C16
• Software Interface Package XT-SIP

Why Acromag:

Our BusWorks XT Modbus/TCP remote I/O modules include a peer-to-peer feature known as i2o, where two or more slaves can talk to each other without requiring a master. With i2o communication, one signal from the PLC is split by the XT1111 module and sent to multiple locations. The XT1111 automatically re-transmits the discrete level to each 989EN module’s IP address, thus reproducing the status of the original PLC input.

System Requirements

All remote sites need to be controlled simultaneously from one central control room via Ethernet protocol

Rugged Crystal Switch RCS6450 | Jim on Engineering, Episode 39

If you want to know what and how the products from Crystal Rugged are made. Check out Jim Shaw's, Executive Vice President of Engineering Video Blog. He explains in detail topics related to operational, deployable, and high reliability computing applications.

In this video blog Jim talks about the Crystal Group partnership with Brocade and how the RCS6450 switch is ruggedized for temperature, vibration, shock, and EMI applications.

If your interested in more information in video blog form by Jim shaw check it out here https://www.crystalrugged.com/video-blog/

Information on this blog has been provided by our supplier Crystal Rugged.

For further information on Crystal Rugged products in Australia and New Zealand, please contact Metromatics +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

for outside that area please contact Crystal Rugged on +1 319-378-1636

New Signal Conditioners and Ethernet I/O Simplify Redundant Power with Rail Power Bus

Acromag's TT330 series of 4-wire process transmitters and Busworks XT Ethernet I/O modules boast options for bussed and redundant power connections.

These I/O modules accept power through the terminal block and/or a DIN rail bus connector. This allows for easy installation of a redundant backup power supply.

You can also simplify your power wiring by snapping multiple units together along the DIN rail bus to conveniently share a single power supply. (See image below)

Acromag has recently released the XMC-7A200 user-configurable Artix-7 FPGA Modules

An FPGA Module designed for applications requiring low-power without sacrificing high performance.

Acromag’s  XMC-7A200 is a XMC mezzanine module enhanced with Xilinx® Artix® -7 FPGA for low-power consumption and exceptional 128M x 16-bit Quad DDR3 SDRAM processing performance.

The rear I/O provides 8-lane high-speed serial interface on the P16 XMC port. Select I/O or LVDS pairs plus global clock pairs direct to FPGA via rear P4 or P16 port. The FPGA module serves as a co-processor applying custom logic and algorithms to streams of remote sensor data.

The reconfigurable Artix-7 FPGA module is possible via a direct download into the Flash configuration memory over the PCIe bus or the JTAG port. Four-lane high-speed serial interface on rear P15 connector for PCI Express Gen 1/2 (standard), Serial RapidI/O, and Xilinx Aurora implementations are supported.

In combination with the new Kintex®-7 series, the new XMC-7A Artix®-7 family further expands Acromag’s offer of FPGA products. The XMC-7A will provide users with an unbeatable lower-end combination of capabilities; lower power consumption, excellent functionality and a balanced mix of I/O, all based on Xilinx’s® latest Vivado® development package

Typical applications include hardware simulation, communications, in-circuit diagnostics, military servers, signal intelligence, and image processing.

Export Compliance and Controls| Jim on Engineering, Episode 38

If you want to know what and how the products from Crystal Rugged are made. Check out Jim Shaw's, Executive Vice President of Engineering Video Blog. He explains in detail topics related to operational, deployable, and high reliability computing applications.

In this video blog Jim defines what the export compliance and controls issues are that affect the rugged computer manufacturing industry in the United States. He also describes checklist items that Crystal Group completes in order to comply with these requirements.

If your interested in more information in video blog form by Jim shaw check it out here https://www.crystalrugged.com/video-blog/

Information on this blog has been provided by our supplier Crystal Rugged.

For further information on Crystal Rugged products in Australia and New Zealand, please contact Metromatics +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

for outside that area please contact Crystal Rugged on +1 319-378-1636

Acromag Webinar Transmitter Applications with Frequency / Pulse Sensors

Transmitter Applications with Frequency / Pulse Sensors 

Acromag offers a variety of solutions for signal conditioning of frequency/pulse sensor signals. New transmitters feature a space-saving design, rail power bus for redundant-primary power, and easy USB configuration.

In this video Rob discusses Sensor/Instrument types including magnetic pickup, photoelectric, proximity, capacitive, turbine flow meter, and tachometers. Applications using frequency and pulse sensors are explained and then Acromag’s interface solution is described.

If your interested in more information about Acromag webinars or products   check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFs8vt3VB0QQtonyvw2gX1g

This webinar was provided by our supplier Acromag.

For further information about the Acromag products used in this application, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Metromatics   I    07 3868 4255   I   sales@metromatics.com.au

Portable Vibration Recorder - Ready for Action!

From our supplier Dytran Instruments, the VibraCorder is a field portable recorder for capturing critical vibration data ideal for a multitude of applications.

It is compact, lightweight, battery operated in an environmentally sealed package and fits into tight spaces.  The VibraCorder is installed easily and the user configurable software optimises data collection via its internal accelerometer which eliminates the need for external cables and complex signal conditioning. 

The beauty is the removable memory card plugs straight into your lap top or PC for instant analysis of the recording.

It has 3 axis, static and dynamic acceleration measurements all systems go with a press of a button

It can be used in a multitude of applications such as

• Automotive
• Vibration testing
• Remote vibration measurement
• Rotating machine diagnostics
• Impact testing
• Ride & Handling
• Sports
• Safety Equipment
• Playground testing
• Motorcycles
• Development of ATVs
• Suspension testing
• Powersports
• Bicycles

Features of the VibraCorder

• VibraCorder™ Includes: Model 4400A vibration recorder, SDHC 8GB memory card and USB drive containing the software
• Multiple recording regimes: Free run, triggered event, triggered free run, auto stop, etc.
• Several sampling rates available up to 3200 samples/second
• Environmentally sealed with IP64 rating
• Magnet mount or screw mount
• Battery operated (9V)
• Up to 24 hours of recording time
• Low battery indicator with emergency file save feature
• Available in two ranges: +/-16 g and +/- 200 g
  

Software Features

• Immediate retrieval of the recorded data from the SDHC card
• Data selection and zoom
• Automatic cursor location
• Data overlay
• Event comparison
• High pass/Low pass filtering
• Oversampling
• FFT analysis
• Time Synchronous Averaging
• Data export to multiple formats

If you are in Australia or New Zealand, please contact Metromatics on +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

For outside this area, please contact Dytran Instruments Directly on +1 818 700 7818  or info@dytran.com

Product Cooling Design | Jim on Engineering, Episode 37

If you want to know what and how the products from Crystal Rugged are made. Check out Jim Shaw's, Executive Vice President of Engineering Video Blog. He explains in detail topics related to operational, deployable, and high reliability computing applications.

In this video blog Jim talks about thermal design in various product applications. Using three Crystal Group products Jim explains a range of thermal considerations used in a completely sealed and convection cooled device, a fanless design, and an air over components cooling design.  

If your interested in more information in video blog form by Jim shaw check it out here https://www.crystalrugged.com/video-blog/

Information on this blog has been provided by our supplier Crystal Rugged.

For further information on Crystal Rugged products in Australia and New Zealand, please contact Metromatics +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

for outside that area please contact Crystal Rugged on +1 319-378-1636

Webcast: Learn how Acromag's rugged mission computer offers greater flexibility to meet your requirements

The ARCX small form factor rugged computer offers a range of expansion options using industry standards such as PMC/XMC and mSATA/mPCIe. This enables customers to assemble the system they want instead of just buying a system that is available.
 

This mission computer is customisable-off-the-shelf and SWaP-optimised. Designed and manufactured in the USA to be compatible with industry standards. Russ would like to invite you to participate in this discussion about the benefits of using the ARCX for your rugged applications. 

Topics Include

• Understand how easy it is to customise your mission computer
• Learn why this rugged system is ideal for use in defence, aerospace, and industrial applications
• Learn how COTs designs save time and money in NRE costs

 

For further information and if you are in Australia or New Zealand, please contact Metromatics on +61 7 3868 4255 or sales@metromatics.com.au

If you are outside this area, please contact Acromag directly on +1 248 295 0310 or solutions@acromag.com