SmartScope

Building on the success of the SmartScan interrogator, SmartScope was developed to offer increased accuracy combined with high resolution peak detection measurements of FBG sensors. SmartScope uses the same tuneable laser core optics as SmartScan and uses an internal optical reference for improved stability and accuracy. Its highly unpolarised light avoids measurement errors commonly induced by birefringence. This removes the need for expensive and relatively unreliable additional equipment to provide active polarisation scrambling.

SmartScope is aimed at applications demanding greater reliability over a wider temperature range, such as oil well instrumentation or civil structure monitoring.

Why Choose a Smart Fibres Interrogator?

Features:

High resolution FBG interrogator
Solid state light source
Insensitive to polarisation effects
No moving parts
Compact and lightweight
Broad operating temperature
Low power consumption
Ideal for permanent measurements:
- Pressure and temperature
- Strain in civil structures

Downloads:

Datasheet (420.33K)Outline Drawing (84.36K)ATEX Supplement (663.68K)

FAQ. What is the warranty period for Smart Fibres' interrogators?

All of our fibre optic interrogators come with a standard one year warranty. This warranty can be increased on a year by year basis. Extended warranty is available at the time of initial purchase on request.

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. 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 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. 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. How many optical splitter/combiners can be used in a single channel?

Our instruments have a dynamic range of 27 dB optical power. The table below gives a rough estimate of each device’s loss.

When using low reflectivity FBGs such as drawtower gratings the optical power budget is reduced from 27 dB to 11 dB.

Device	Optical loss
1 x 2 coupler	6db
1 x 4 coupler	12db
1 x 8 coupler	18db
FC/APC Uniter	1db

FAQ. Is it possible to log SmartScope data via the USB connection?

No. The USB is not active on SmartScope.

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.