W4P Portable Interrogator

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Description

The W4P (W for wide scanning and P for portable) optical sensing instrument is  a premium grade commercial grade interrogator with 160nm scanning range on each of its 4 monitoring channels. The instrument is a true powerhouse, driven by a triple parallel processing architecture consisting of an internal FPGA, a primary high speed processor, and  a secondary Raspberry Pi processor. Optimized for both static and dynamic measurements, the W4P can be operated in full spectrum mode at 10Hz and in sensor peak detection mode at 1000Hz per channel, or 250Hz for all 4 channels in parallel. The W4P supports up to 44 Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) based sensors on each of its 4 channels, for a total of 176 sensors per instrument. Through its secondary internal Raspberry Pi processor, customers can choose to operate the W4P Interrogator by using its factory equipped PicoSense software, or to develop and run their own OEM applications software and graphical user interface. The W4P features a rugged field enclosure, a high resolution touchscreen, and an internal rechargeable battery. The W4P Interrogator leverages the experience we derived from our engineering know-how through the years, and from customers feedback that we received for our FAZT Series, M Series, S Series, and W Series Interrogators, which are used extensively in civil engineering, aerospace, marine, railways, roads, energy, geotechnical, industrial, security, medical, and many other applications. The W Series Interrogators represent a significant enabling technology for the optical sensing instruments marketplace.

Benefits

Repeatability, accuracy, and dynamic range: Using state-of-the-art internal laser calibration technology on every scan and spectral analysis firmware, the W4P interrogator features 2pm repeatability, 10pm accuracy, and 25dB dynamic range with automatic gain and threshold control adjustments for measurements across its 160nm scan range.

High sensors capacity and adaptive to more types of sensors: Monitors up to 176 sensors per instrument. Compatible with most FBG sensors in the market: The W4P advanced internal high-speed hardware and firmware enable reliable tracking of FBGs with bandwidths from 250pm to 3.0nm (as those used in temperature, strain, pressure, etc).

Systems and network ready: Fast internal processor, secondary internal processor (Raspberry PI) for customer developed applications software, WiFi, and 1TB internal storage.

Top reliability, highest quality, and lowest cost: The W4P Interrogator is based on a solid state laser technology platform that has been deployed in volume in various field applications. The interrogator has no movable parts and no tunable filters, which enables top reliability over its operating temperature range of 0 to 50C. Optimized to address applications demanding the lowest cost while maintaining the quality and reliability of a high quality instrument.

Note 1: FBGs from 0.25nm to 3nm BW@3dB (FWHM) supported. Best performance results obtained using BW = 500pm FBGs. It is recommended for optical systems designers to leave at least 1nm of safety margin on both sides of the expected wavelength range of each FBG sensor in the network.

Note 2: Optical losses in the sensors network can be caused by cumulative losses from many FBG based sensors that are daisy-chained on the same fiber string, from long fiber distances (hundreds of meters or kilometers) between the instrument and the sensors, or from in-line splices, connectors, and optical splitters/combiners.

Note 3: All W4P interrogators are equipped with the secondary Raspberry PI (RPI) processor and offer the capability of running in standard mode using the factory provided PicoSense software, or running using software developed by the customer which the customer downloaded into the internal RPI processor of the interrogator. Customers choosing to develop their own applications software, GUI, or custom communications for the RPI within the W4P receive our W Series Developer’s Commands Library.

Applications include Civil Engineering, Geotechnical, Industrial, Energy, Security, Transportation, and Research Centers

Femto Sensing International undertakes a rigorous development process before products release. The company is also firmly committed to continuous improvements after release to ensure performance and reliability to the highest standards. Specifications are subject to update without notice. Femto Sensing International, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Technica Optical Components, LLC. Address: 3657 Peachtree Rd, Suite 10A, Atlanta, GA, 30319, USA / +1 404 326 3469 / sales@femtosensing.com / www.femtosensing.com