Plug and Play, Your Way

With more than 8KB of vacant memory, A+ and B+ sensors present instrument manufacturers with the opportunity to streamline production, improve performance and enhance end user experience.

Working closely with customers and drawing on the experience of our employees who have worked in the instrument world, it’s apparent that there are multitude of ways in which IST can be used to assist instrument manufacturers, distributors and end users, these include;

Pre-calibrated Sensors

The complexities and costs associated with calibration of instruments can be obstructive, both during production and in the field. The transport and handling of calibration gases carries risk and can be expensive and calibration requirements require training and can delay operations.

The ability to pre-calibrate sensors, be that a certified calibration by Alphasense, an instrument manufacturer or an approved maintenance organisation, allows users to plug in a pre-calibrated sensor and go straight to work rather than spending time and resource on calibration.

Traceability / Route to Market

From a corporate responsibility and business management perspective, IST gives instrument OEM’s the ability to add a digital signature to sensors which can be used to trace their route through supply chain. Manufacturers may also wish to use IST to employ a service lock or to code sensors to instruments or docking stations, preventing rogue distributors, the use of 3^rd party/uncertified sensors or those sensors procured through unauthorised outlets. In logging instrument operating conditions on the sensor, its possible to identify usage and more closely scrutinise faults and warranty claims.

Maintenance

With end of warranty date and shelf-life expiry date preloaded and the ability to add other maintenance related data, the host device can build an awareness of its own warranty and service status, rejecting sensors it deems out of date or specification. In saving bump and calibration performance data onto the sensor, the device can build up a picture of the condition of each individual sensor. An instrument with enhanced sensor data can drive predictive rather than reactive maintenance, minimising instrument downtime, preventing unnecessary sensor replacements/calibrations and reducing lost working hours.

Performance

The availability of factory test data on the sensor assists manufacturers in more accurately integrating sensors into instruments. With sensor performance limits captured within the sensor memory, the host device can be aware when operating conditions are outside of the sensors range, giving greater insight into alarm activity and enhancing safe operation of devices.

Compliance

The ability to save bump and/or calibration dates on individual sensors ensures that only sensors requiring calibration are tested, saving time and money. With the ability to save performance and calibration data to sensors, an instrument can build up a picture of sensor performance over time, driving predictive rather than periodic bump and calibration.

The use of plug and play sensors can be used to increase fleet compliance and the presence of sensor specific data regarding warranty and service can prevent unnecessary sensor replacements.

Interchangeability

Where sensors for multiple target gases are used in the same device, the host instrument is able to identify the target gas of the installed sensor by accessing its memory, without the need for user intervention. The sensor can also be programmed with alarm set points which the instrument can use to automatically update to the target gas of the sensor.