User's Manual

Draft FLEXSIUserManual 6
Introduction

TheFLEXSI(Senso rInterface)isahighlyadaptablewirelesssensorinterfaceforusewiththeFLEX
satellitebasedassettracker.TheFLEXSIiscapableofsupportingvariouscombinationsofanalog,
digital,andintelligentSens orModules.ExamplesofSensorModulesinclude:tanklevelsensors,
pressuretransducers,temperaturesensors,door
intrusionsensors,eventcounters,etc.Inatypical
usagescenariobatterylifecanbeexpectedtomulti‐year.
ThebehavioroftheFLEXSIisalsohighlyconfigurableenablingtheusertomonitorstatusinnearreal‐
time,toreceivenotificationofanexceptionevent,ortoperformcomplexanalysisin
thefieldfor
specificreportingrequirements.Numere xwillworkcloselywiththeendusertoidentify theproper
SensorModuleandtodevelopthefirmwarerequiredtosupporttherequiredmodeofoperation.
UptofourFLEXSIscanbepairedwithoneFLEX.
Hardware
Enclosure
TheFLEXSIiscontainedwithinanultrasonicallyweldedenvironmentallysealedenclosure.Connections
tosensormodulesaremadebyjoiningtheFLEXSI10pincircularconnectortoasuitablecompanion
connectorontheSensorModulecable.UptofourFLEXSIscanbepairedtoeachSatelliteFLEX.
Sensor
Modules
TheSensorModuleisacriticalcompone ntofthesolution.Thecustomershallidentifyameasurement
tobetakenandworkinconjunctionwithNumerextosourceasuitablethird‐partysensor.Thestandard
FLEXSIcanprovideamax imum50milliampsofat3.3VtopowerSensorModules.
Thesensorsare
connectedtotheFLEXSIthrougha10‐pincircularconnector.
Batteries
TheFLEXSIrequirestwo3.6vlithium‐thionylchlorideAAbatteries.Thesebatteriesareinstalledinthe
FLEXSIinasealedcompartmentthatisuseraccessible.Theusershallchangethebatteriesinanon
‐
hazardousenvironmenttoreducetheriskofignitingaflammableorexplosiveatmosphere.
Batterylevelmonitoringisconductedandreportedthroughsensormessages.Batteryliferesolutionis
reportedtowithin1%.Duetothenatureofthebatterychemistry,batteryliferemainingcannotbe
directlyinferredfromvoltagereadings.Therefore
thevalueiscalculatedbasedoncompone nt
measurementsandaggregatedusagetotals. Althoughtheaccuracyshouldbeacceptable,theuser
shouldreplacethebatterieswhenthelevelfallsbelow20%toensureuninterruptedoperation.
Firmware
FirmwareisacriticalcomponentoftheFLEXSI.Customfirmwarewillberequiredforeachapplication
asdefinedbythecustomer.Thoroughsystemtestingshallbeconductedtoensurethefunctionality
deliveredistheexactfunctionalityspecified.