The GInsPhotonFirst plugin can read measurement data from PhotonFirst's fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogators, enabling the integration of fiber-optic sensors with electrical sensors into a single data acquisition system.
Introduction
PhotonFirst uses advanced technology by sending light into an optical fiber and capturing it with sensors that reflect the light like a mirror. The reflected light is then analyzed, and the difference between the emitted and reflected light is translated into measurement values such as temperature, strain, pressure, or shape. This process is facilitated by the photonics integrated circuit (PIC).
PhotonFirst has a range of FBG interrogation systems. The plugin currently supports two interrogators:
- The GTR FBG Interrogator GTR device is a single channel FBG interrogator that features 1pm precision and highspeed sampling. The platform is a miniature, out-of-the-box system platform supporting optical chipsets for a wide range of applications and environments.
- The SGTR Multichannel FBG Interrogator demonstrates great versatility, providing fast channel multiplexing, high resolution sensing and high sampling speeds per channel. With its unique set of features, its reduced size, weight, and power specifications, the SGTR provides an excellent FBG interrogator solution.
Minimum system requirements
The minimum system requirements for this plugin are:
- Q.station 101 / Q.station X
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Q.station firmware V2.17.3
Plugin installation
- Download the correct plugin version that matches the controller firmware version from the Gantner public download area.
- For installation instructions please refer to the page: installing a plugin.
General workflow for configuring the plugin
In general, the plugin writes the data received from the interrogator to an additional stream on the Q.station. A web interface is available for plugin configuration.
- On the controller create an Additional datastream.
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The following variables from the interrogator can be included in the data stream. If the variable names follow the below naming convention, the mapping of the interrogator variables is done automatically when clicking Save in the plugin web interface.
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SensVal-XY: Sensor data, where X = channel no. [1-8] and Y is sensor no. [1-8].
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SensCnt-X: Number of sensors detected in a channel, where X = channel no. [1-8].
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SensState-X: State of sensors in a channel, where X = channel no. [1-8].
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MsgTime: Timestamp of message.
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MsgCnt: Counter of message.
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MsgSwState: Position of optical switch [0-7].
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To access the web interface, open a web browser and enter http://[ipaddress]:8090/GInsPhotonFirstPlugin, where [ipaddress] represents the IP address of the controller.
Configuring a connection
Commands
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Save: Saves all settings.
- Set default: Resets the complete plugin to its default settings, deleting all settings.
General
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Dev Path: The USB port where the interrogator is connected.
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Sampling Frequency: The sampling rate of the Interrogator.
Ensure that the source cycle frequency of the additional stream, the interrogator frequency, and the plugin settings are all configured to the same sampling rate.
Stream Config
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Stream: The additional stream on the Q.station controller where the data will be written.
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MsgCounter and MsgTimestamp: The mapping of the message counter and timestamp to variables in the additional stream.
Channel [1-8]
- Conversion type
- CoG [Center of Gravity]: The CoG output value as output by the SGTR1002 device.
- Wavelength [nm]: The CoG value converted to CoG wavelength value.
- Microstrain [µε]: The CoG wavelength value converted to microstrain.
- Temperature [°C]: The CoG wavelength value converted to temperature.
- Sensor [1-8]: Select the controller variables to which the sensor data should be mapped. If the default naming convention is used, the mapping will be done automatically.