Evaluation kit accelerates MEMs transducer testing

The company says that it promises to disrupt the portable vacuum gauge market by enabling low-cost, easily replaceable sensor probes that can be switched without requiring the vacuum gauge itself to be recalibrated, since all the calibration data is stored within the probe itself.

The evaluation kit allows OEMs to quickly test drive Posifa's MEMS vacuum sensing technology for digital vacuum gauge and related applications.

It consists of a PVC4000 transducer packaged in a brass housing with a 1/4 SAE male flare fitting, or a stainless steel housing with a KF16 fitting that allows it to be installed into any vacuum environment for quick evaluation.

The PVC4000 transducer in the kit is calibrated and provides a digital output in microns.

PC-based diagnostic software gives users access to different sensor readings and configuration data stored in the transducer.

"With the PVC4000EVK, vacuum gauge OEMs can find out in an hour's time what our digital Pirani vacuum sensor technology can do to help them offer customers more flexible and versatile end products that build brand loyalty," said Peng Tu, president and CEO at Posifa Technologies.

The PVC4000EVK's sensor element is based on Posifa's second-generation MEMS thermal conduction chip, which operates under the principle that the thermal conductivity of gas is proportional to its vacuum pressure.

Microcontroller-based measuring electronics amplify and digitize the senor's signal, providing a digital output via an I²C interface.

The MEMS Pirani vacuum transducer included in the evaluation kit is calibrated for the vacuum range between 1 micron and 760,000 microns.

Through the transducer's digital I²C interface, the user can access the sensor's raw output as well as the calibrated vacuum reading.

The evaluation kit includes a custom wire harness that connects the sensor and the I²C to a USB adapter board, allowing the user to read sensor data from a PC in minutes.

The PVC4000EVK evaluation kit is available now from Digi-Key and other leading distributors. A demonstration video showing the complete PVC4000EVK set-up is available on Posifa Technologies' YouTube channel.