DIN-rail-mountable data-acquisition unit acts as Web server

Ipsil calls its $399 SensorBlock data-acquisition unit the first DIN-rail-mounted Web server (Picture). The four-channel device in a 4.51×3.90×0.89-in. package provides screw-terminal inputs, which you connect to the output of signal conditioners that provide 4- to 20-mA or 0 to 5V outputs. The unit combines the company's chip-level Web server with a 10-bit-resolution, 250-sample/sec data-acquisition system on a chip. The data-acquisition chip incorporates an IC-temperature sensor, so if you need to monitor the unit's own temperature, you need not use a sensor input or a sensor. A separate $249, four-channel expansion unit in an identical package can add four more 4- to 20-mA or 0 to 5V inputs.

As with other data-acquisition devices that incorporate Web servers, the device communicates with 10BaseT Ethernet TCP/IP networks via an RJ-45 connector. To view the measured quantities requires only a computer with a network connection and a Web browser. The unit incorporates 512 kbytes of nonvolatile memory so that you can customize the Web pages it serves. A configuration utility lets you set the Internet Protocol address of the unit, which operates over a temperature range of 0 to 70°C and requires 5 or 24V-dc power.

Ipsil Inc, 1-617-876-5454, www.ipsil.com.