Adept adds Tag4M Wi-Fi sensor tag to product range

Adept Scientific has added the Tag4M Wi-Fi sensor tag from Cores Electronic to its data acquisition product range.

The Tag4M utilises RFID and internet technology to introduce the 'instrumentation cloud'.

The company said that we are entering a new era of measurement technology where not only is wireless hardware freed from cabling constraints but the software is no longer relegated to a specific PC.

Instead, measurement front-ends connect to the internet and a web page becomes the instrument that users can access from any internet-enabled device, including smart phones.

Because it leverages RFID technology, this credit-card sized measurement board - also called a 'Wi-Fi tag' - collects analogue data and performs digital I/O and communicates directly with any commercially available Wi-Fi access point (AP) or wireless router.

In addition, low power consumption means that, depending on the frequency of wake-up periods, a tag can operate on one 3V CR-123A lithium battery for several years.

In operation, when a Tag4M initially boots-up or wakes-up after having been in sleep mode, it searches for and automatically associates with an off-the-shelf 802.11b/g AP.

Each Tag4M unit has its own permanent Mac address and it shares a common SSID (default network name) with the AP so it can transfer data and accept commands from any predetermined web page.

Users can also connect the AP to a LAN to operate a Tag4M in local mode.

Tag4M's Wi-Fi radio chip and ceramic antenna specification has a range of 50m indoors and 100m outdoors.

Upon association with an AP, the tag sends digitised sensor data over the internet for any web-based applications to use.

None of the existing measurement methods are set up to do this because at present there is little use for raw sensor data being available on the internet.

But with web-enabled applications starting to emerge, the 'instrumentation cloud' scheme presents an important opportunity, according to Adept.

Besides the Wi-Fi link, the tag integrates a temperature sensor and provides five voltage/current input channels and four digital I/O lines.

When transmitting, it requires roughly 200mA; in sleep mode consumption drops to <10uA.

This means that if the sleep period between readings/transmissions is one second, battery life is 52 hours; with a sleep period of 500 seconds, lifetime extends to two years.

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