Data Translation has announced its Voltpoint series of voltage-measurement instruments for lithium-ion cell-by-cell determination. Each Voltpoint is a stand-alone box offering 48 24-bit-resolution inputs over a sampling range of ±100V, each with its own sigma-delta ADC for direct connection to a PC through USB or Ethernet. The LXI (LAN-extensions-for-instrumentation)-compatible instruments can make high-voltage, high-precision battery-stack and cell-balance measurements in commercial and military hybrid-vehicle applications. They accept direct voltage inputs of any value in the range of ±100V from a single cell or from a series of stacked cells. In addition, the instruments can make motor-shunt measurements. Each of the 48 input channels offers 1000V channel-to-channel galvanic isolation. Maximum error is 3 mV for any input range.

Channels operate simultaneously at throughput rates as high as 10 Hz per channel. The instruments feature 16 optoisolated digital-I/O lines—eight input lines and eight output lines—for monitoring and driving relays. Voltpoint instruments feature eight isolated digital-input lines that operate from 3 to 28V dc, with a maximum switching time of 2 msec. The instruments can directly drive relays using eight isolated digital-output lines. The outputs incorporate solid-state relays that operate at ±30V and 400 mA peak ac or dc with a maximum switching time of 2 msec. The digital-I/O lines feature channel-to-channel isolation as great as 250V between digital-I/O lines. Using every other line doubles the isolation but halves the number of usable I/O lines. The instruments support software triggering to initiate measurements.

The instrument comes with the software necessary to enable measurements as soon as you take it out of the box. The vendor offers software supporting the Voltpoint, including IVI-COM (interchangeable-virtual-instrument-communication) drivers, .NET class libraries, and software-development kits. Voltpoint is available in the DT9873 version for USB, which costs $7995, and the DT8873 version for Ethernet LXI, which costs $8495. Data Translation has begun shipping both versions.