Description
The M4 optical sensing instrument is an economic commercial-grade interrogator, featuring 4 monitoring channels. Enclosed in a field-deployable enclosure, the instrument can be operated in full-spectrum and in sensor peak detection modes. The M4 is optimized for both static and dynamic measurements of up to 30 Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) based sensors on each of its 4 channels.
Our family of rugged MX interrogators is used extensively in civil engineering, marine, railways, roads, energy, geotechnical, industrial, security, medical, and many other commercial applications. This economy model is specifically useful for security, civil engineering, energy, process control, material qualification labs, and R&D programs. The industrial grade design scales well for volume production.
Benefits
Repeatability, accuracy, and dynamic range: The M4 Interrogator provides measurements across its wavelength scanning range of 40nm. Using US patented laser calibration technology, the instrument features +/- 2pm repeatability, +/-10pm accuracy, and 25dB dynamic range with automatic gain and threshold control adjustments. Manual settings option for thresholds and gain stages also included.
Top reliability: The M4 Interrogator is based on a semiconductor tunable laser that has been deployed in large volume in various field applications and features the world’s lowest MTBF. The interrogator has no movable parts, no tunable filters, and no optical switches, which enables top reliability over the standard temperature range of -15C to +55C. The M4 is also available upon request with -40C to +85C rating. The M4 is suitable for use as an integral part of a very rugged and reliable sensing system.
Adaptive to more types of sensors: The integrated electronics and embedded software allow the user to quickly adapt the instrument’s performance parameters to fit many different sensor configurations. Designed to monitor many types of sensors from narrow bandwidth (100pm) FBGs used in accelerometers and pressure sensors, to wide bandwidth (3.0nm) FBGs used in bio-sensing. Hardware implementation of peak tracking algorithms for FBG sensors included. The laser output power is <4 dBm and performance is maintained even with 20dB optical power loss on each of the M4’s four channels.
Systems and network-ready: High-speed data acquisition and on-board computer processing make the M4 easy to use and easy to transmit large volumes of data by network connection. The Ethernet port for high-speed data transfer is 100Mbit/s. Separate serial UART port available to change the M4 IP address.
Lowest Cost and High Quality: The M4 Interrogator is based on the company’s solid-state instruments platform and it has been optimized to address applications demanding the lowest cost while maintaining the quality and reliability of a high-quality instrument. Also available in 8 and 16 channel configurations.