CIE Components in Electronics
ScioSense, a manufacturer of integrated environmental and flow sensors, today announced the availability of a new tool suite which accelerates the development of utility meters and other applications for its latest AS6031 and AS6040 ultrasonic flow converters (UFCs).
The new development tools include general-purpose or microcontroller-specific boards, and evaluation software which provides an intuitive GUI for sensor configuration and for the display of measurement outputs.
In a system consisting of ultrasonic transducers and spool piece (tube), both the AS6031 and the AS6040 UFCs provide precise measurements of time-of-flight that convert into flow rate of gas or water. The UFC Evaluation Software supplied with the ScioSense evaluation kits provides an easy-to -use framework for configuring transducer and spool piece settings, enabling developers to start acquiring flow rate data from the sensors quickly after powering up the sensor board. The software displays the measurement results in either a graphical or numerical format.
Developers can also choose to use a wizard to guide them through the settings. Data can be exported for subsequent data analysis in other tools.
The UFC Evaluation Software is supplied free with any of the evaluation boards for the AS6031 and AS6040. Stand-alone evaluation kits, the AS6031-QF_DK and AS6040-QF_DK, include a PICOPROG USB programming interface and cables. ScioSense also supplies Nucleo shields (demoboards) which are compatible with any STMicroelectronics STM32 microcontroller family. The AS6031-QF_NUC and AS6040-QF_NUC boards are supplied with sample code for communication with STM32 microcontrollers, including libraries for configuration download, initialization and data readout.
Norbert Breyer, product marketing manager for ultrasonic flow converters at ScioSense, said: ‘The combination of evaluation boards and evaluation software provide a convenient platform for users to integrate an AS6031 or AS6040 ultrasonic flow sensor instantly into their measurement set-up. This means that, instead of wasting time on basic system configuration, they can focus on characterizing the operation of their application over the range of flow rates and ambient temperatures.’
The AS6040 and AS6031 ultrasonic flow converters with integrated 32-bit CPU core include all the functions required to drive a pair of external transducers, and to convert ultrasonic time-of-flight measurements to a calculation of the rate of flow. The sensors are notable for their low power consumption, high accuracy, and high sensitivity.
The AS6031 and AS6040 evaluation kits are available for purchase directly from ScioSense or from authorized distributors.
For more information about the ScioSense range of ultrasonic flow converters, go to www.sciosense.com.
