VISHAY SEMICONDUCTORS
www.vishay.com
Optical Sensors
Application Note
SensorXplorer
TM
Installation Guide
By Samy Ahmed
OVERVIEW
The SensorXplorer
TM
is a demonstration kit designed to help evaluate Vishay’s digital sensors featured on Vishay’s sensor
boards. These boards, along with their respective software modules, can be used to demonstrate and test each sensor’s
functionalities, allowing the user to quickly understand how various settings affect the sensor’s results. The SensorXplorer
board includes a USB to I
2
C interface chip, a 3.3 V regulator, several indication LEDs, as well as multiple GPIOs to control the
functionality of each board and allow data to be read and displayed on a PC. To get an overview of available sensor boards, as
well as to download the software modules and board design files, please visit:
www.vishay.com/optoelectronics/SensorXplorer.
Here you will also find a link next to each board showing its availability at each of our distributors.
The following document covers what you get in the box and how to use the kit to explore our sensor products.
KIT CONTENTS
The SensorXplorer includes the following:
• A micro USB cable to connect the SensorXplorer board to a Windows PC
• A SensorXplorer board that acts as a USB-I
2
C interface between the software on the PC and the Vishay sensor boards
APPLICATION NOTE
Revision: 31-Jul-2018
Document Number: 84922
1
For technical questions, contact:
sensorstechsupport@vishay.com
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THIS DOCUMENT
ARE SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS, SET FORTH AT
www.vishay.com/doc?91000
Application Note
www.vishay.com
Vishay Semiconductors
SensorXplorer
TM
Installation Guide
HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
The SensorXplorer can be connected to a PC via the micro USB cable provided. As the USB-I
2
C interface chip is a standard
HID device, the board should enumerate and driver installation should be automatic, as described in “Installing the Driver and
SensorXplorer Installer”. Once connected, the power LED will indicate that the board is powered and that 3.3 V are being
provided by the on-board voltage regulator. Vishay sensor boards can then be connected to the standardized sensor board
connector, as shown in “Sensor Board Connector (J1)”. The add-on connector allows future control boards to be connected to
the SensorXplorer; however, these are currently not supported. When a sensor board is connected and its respective software
is started, the “Initialized” LED will light up to indicate that the SensorXplorer is ready to communicate with the board. The
“User” LED is only used for specific applications. A further description of its use can be found in the respective sensor’s
application note.
An overview of the board and its components can be found in the image below:
Add-on connector
(optional)
User LED
(blue)
Micro USB
connector
Sensor
board
connector
Initialized LED
(green)
Power LED
(red)
Test pins
APPLICATION NOTE
•
Micro USB connector
to connect the SensorXplorer to a windows PC
•
Add-on connector
to support future add-on boards
•
User LED
used in application-specific instances. The LED will usually be off. If used, its description can be found in the
sensor’s application note
•
Sensor board connector
(2 x 8 pins) for Vishay sensor boards. Pinning descriptions can be found below
•
Initialized LED
(D2) to indicate that the SensorXplorer has been initialized by the respective software module
•
Test pins
(11 pins) to allow external equipment (e.g. an oscilloscope) to be connected
Revision: 31-Jul-2018
Document Number: 84922
2
For technical questions, contact:
sensorstechsupport@vishay.com
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THIS DOCUMENT
ARE SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS, SET FORTH AT
www.vishay.com/doc?91000
Application Note
www.vishay.com
Vishay Semiconductors
SensorXplorer
TM
Installation Guide
MCP3421A0
(not placed)
3.3 V
regulator
FT260
USB to I
2
C interface
•
FT260
full-speed HID USB to I
2
C interface chip (www.ftdichip.com/support/documents/datacheets/ICs/DS_FT260.pdf)
•
3.3 V regulator
to supply sensor boards (LP2985_3V3)
•
MCP3421A0
(not placed) can be placed in order to provide analog input
Test Pins (J2)
The featured test pins give access to the I
2
C, UART, and GPIO interfaces, as well as power and ground pins featured on the
board. These pins aim to help hardware debugging while testing. As indicated by the silk screen, the pinning is as follows:
Pin 1 (+5 V)
Pin 2 (GND)
Pin 3
Pin 4 (SCL)
Pin 5 (SDA)
Pin 6 (RxD)
Pin 7 (TxD)
Pin 8 (DIO0)
Pin 9 (ADI)
Pin 10 (DIO2)
Pin 11 (DIO7)
Pin 12 (3V3)
5 V from USB port
GND - ground
Not connected
I
2
C clock line
I
2
C data line
UART receiving line
UART transmitting line
GPIO to control “Initialized” LED
Sensor board interrupt input / ADC input (if placed)
GPIO connected to PA2 on sensor board connector
GPIO connected to PA0 on sensor board connector
3.3 V supplied by on-board low dropout voltage regulator
APPLICATION NOTE
Revision: 31-Jul-2018
Document Number: 84922
3
For technical questions, contact:
sensorstechsupport@vishay.com
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THIS DOCUMENT
ARE SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS, SET FORTH AT
www.vishay.com/doc?91000
Application Note
www.vishay.com
Vishay Semiconductors
SensorXplorer
TM
Installation Guide
The test pins can be either used to debug signals, e.g. to connect an oscilloscope to verify data that is being sent to the sensor
or to monitor the power pins, or for prototyping on a breadboard by soldering pin headers into the test pins.
APPLICATION NOTE
Revision: 31-Jul-2018
Document Number: 84922
4
For technical questions, contact:
sensorstechsupport@vishay.com
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THIS DOCUMENT
ARE SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS, SET FORTH AT
www.vishay.com/doc?91000
Application Note
www.vishay.com
Vishay Semiconductors
SensorXplorer
TM
Installation Guide
Analog to Digital Converter (optional)
MCP3421A0
(not placed)
As the USB to I
2
C chip (FT260) has no analog inputs, the PCB layout includes solder pads (U3) for a MCP3421 analog to digital
converter. The SensorXplorer does not come populated with an MCP3421 device. Any Vishay sensor board that requires an
analog input will have the required A/D converter populated directly on the board. If the A/D converter on the SensorXplorer is
to be added manually, please be sure to choose the slave address version MCP3421A0 as documented in the schematic,
resulting in a 7-bit slave address of 0x68, to avoid slave address conflicts with Vishay sensor boards. For a product overview
of the MCP3421, please visit the following page:
www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/en520011.
Sensor Board Connector (J1)
The sensor board connector is standardized for all Vishay sensor boards. Thus the SensorXplorer is compatible with all of
Vishay’s sensor boards. Vishay sensor boards should be connected as follows:
The pinning of the connector is mirrored on the SensorXplorer board, so there is an option of connecting the board the other
way around; however, this is not recommended, as the connector has pins on the SensorXplorer board side of the connector,
as indicated above. If the sensor board is connected the other way around, care must be taken not to push the sensor board
all the way through, as this will lead to a short circuit.
APPLICATION NOTE
Revision: 31-Jul-2018
Document Number: 84922
5
For technical questions, contact:
sensorstechsupport@vishay.com
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THIS DOCUMENT
ARE SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS, SET FORTH AT
www.vishay.com/doc?91000
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