SmartScan SBI

SmartScan SBI is a complete FBG interrogator offering dynamic measurement of numerous connected FBG sensors from a single board Eurocard format. It has been developed from Smart Fibres’ highly popular SmartScan instrument. This single board instrument is based on an agile, tuneable laser source that enables high resolution interrogation at multi kHz frequencies. It offers connection via a PC 104 interface to a separate processing module required to run software routines to set-up the SBI, read the high-speed FBG wavelength data across the PC 104 bus, and package the received data for processing or onward communication. A suitable PC 104 processing module is available from Smart Fibres, as are drivers for the software routines should a client choose to run them on their own hardware.

Each SmartScan SBI contains an agile electrically tuneable laser, four photo-detector channels, and custom Smart Fibres high-speed gate array electronics for driving the laser and processing the photo-detected signals. The SBI is scalable, and modular systems with multiple SBIs can be assembled to offer 40 nm or 80 nm high-speed interrogation of 4, 8, 12 or 16 fibres. Smart Fibres’ Modular SmartScan is an example of a developed product exploiting this capability.

Why Choose a Smart Fibres Interrogator?

Features:
  • Complete Single Board FBG Interrogator
  • Multi-kHz scanning
  • Extraordinary SmartScan resolution
  • Scalable modular architecture
  • Rugged solid state design with no moving parts
  • Available as an OEM module for customer integration
Downloads:
Datasheet (433.86K)User Manual (2.41M)Outline Drawing (286.32K)ATEX Supplement (663.68K)

Related Products

SBI Processing Module

SBI Processing Module

Modular SmartScan

Modular SmartScan

Related FAQs

FAQ. Can the acquisition system make a measurement at a fast scan rate and then average these values over a longer time period?

Yes, SmartSoft software has the functionality for the user to set both the scan rate and averaging rate. This will reduce the number of data points being logged to file.

FAQ. Can I increase the SmartScan scan rate higher than 2.5 kHz?

Yes, the scan rate is user definable in the SmartSoft software. Table below gives an indication of the scan rates available:

Scan Rate
(All channels simultaneously)		Scan Bandwidth

2.5 kHz

40 nm

5 kHz

20 nm

10 kHz

10 nm

20kHz

5nm

FAQ. Can SmartScan synchronise to a National Time Protocol (NTP) server?

SmartScan can synchronise to a NTP time signal via its Ethernet port. 

In this scenario SmartScan would need to be connected on a Local Area Network (LAN) and would also need to be able to access an NTP server, either on the same LAN or over the Internet.

All the data from SmartScan is time stamped, so if an NTP signal is received the timestamps would be synchronised to that signal. See “Plug-in for NTP synchronisation” in the SmartSoft user manual.

FAQ. Is data averaging done on the instrument itself?

No on-board averaging is done. Averaging is done in SmartSoft on the PC connected to the instrument.

FAQ. Can I synchronise SmartScan data with data from other types of measurement system?

All data from SmartScan is transmitted with a Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) time stamp. The SmartScan’s UTC time is synchronised with the host PC’s clock every time SmartSoft connects to the interrogator. Therefore SmartScan data can be synchronised with time stamped data from other measurement systems.

FAQ. Can you recommend a PC specification for use with Smart Fibres' interrogators?

Generally speaking the faster the processor speed and the newer the processor technology the more likely it is to cope with the speed of data. Nearly all new off-the-shelf laptops and desktops would be fast enough, and these typically have an i3 with a processor speed of 2 GHz or better. Older desktops with Intel Duo ~3 GHz processors are also fast enough.

FAQ. What software is supplied with an FBG interrogator?

All of our interrogators are supplied with our standard SmartSoft suite of LabVIEW based applications.

For further information about SmartSoft please visit our SmartSoft Software Product Page via the below link.

For options about customising the software, please refer to our further FAQ below.

FAQ. Why do you recommend using an FBG with a >0.5 nm FWHM for SmartScan instruments?

The algorithm embedded in the SmartScan needs several laser tuning points to overlap the reflection shape of the FBG. In order to achieve a non-linearity error compatible with the SmartScan Specifications, we recommend to use FBG with an FWHM between 0.5 and 1 nm.

Narrower FBGs can be used, at the expense of reduced linearity.

Please Email Technical Support or call +44 1344 484111 if you need more help on this point.

FAQ. Is it possible to check or change the IP address of the instrument via a RS232 connection?

Yes. Please contact us at Email Technical Support or call +44 1344 484111 for the connection procedure and assistance.

FAQ. How do I calculate which wavelength to use for my FBGs to maximise the number of sensors on a particular channel?

Smart Fibres has created a wavelength budget calculation tool for FBG wavelength selection.

Please Email Us or call +44 1344 484111 with details of your application and we can help you create a wavelength budget.

FAQ. Can a SmartScan FBG interrogator be operated as a standalone datalogger?

Yes, any SmartScan interrogator can initially be configured with a PC and then disconnected to log the measurement data to a USB solid state storage device or, in the case of SmartScan Aero Mini, it's onboard flash memory.

FAQ. What communications protocol options are available for Smart Fibres interrogators?

For data transmission we can offer Ethernet, CANopen, Modbus/TCP, Modbus/RTU and Profibus DP but not all are available on all our interrogator models.

Please note that some communications protocols will limit the acquisition rates of the instrument, e.g., CANopen is up to 250Hz.

FAQ. Can we connect to the RS232 port for live measurement data?

No, the RS232 port is only used for diagnostics connection.