This week’s EYE ON NPI (video) is on the right traq, ready to attaq, and gets no flaq: it’s the Digilent USB-2001-TC Single Channel Thermocouple Measurement Device, otherwise known as a single-channel DAQ!
These rhymes may get me some flaq, but we can’t help it, our lips smaq when we see a good DAQ. And this one is deliciously small and single-purpose. We wish we had one of these a few weeks ago when we wanted to check our reflow oven to calibrate the temperature curve!
While we are featuring this particular DAQ board that is good for high temperature measurements via a thermocouple, there’s a whole family of boards from Digilent/NI. All manufactured and supported by MCC – the OEM for this series. The others are a mix of Ethernet, Raspberry Pi or USB controlled ADCs & DACs with 12 to 24 bit resolution, and up to 500 kS/s.
The USB DAQ board does not come with a thermocouple itself. You’ll need to get a standard K, J, etc. type and also have it with a mini thermocouple plug which is available on Digi-Key if you are getting bare thermocouple wires. The thermocouple wire can come on huge spools if desired: spot weld one end that will be attached to the hot thing being measured, and then screw the other ends into the mini plug.
Inside is Silabs C8051F343, Analog Devices ADUM5401 isolator, and an AD7785 20-bit ADC.
Data can be captured using the DAQami software available for download on Windows, although it seems like you can also interface through the hardware using an API or Python.
Of course, since its a Digilent / National Instruments product, it’s also fully supported within LabVIEW.
While normally we’re happy to talk about individual interface chips for DAC/ADC/Thermocouple interfacing, and there’s tons of Adafruit guides on how to DIY this kind of data acquisition, it’s pretty nice to have a ready-to-go USB device that streams data without having to open up an IDE or write any code at all. Particularly for automations where the data has to go into a computer anyways, it can save a lot of time to now cobble together your own setup.
The Digilent USB-2001-TC Single Channel Thermocouple Measurement Device and other Digilent/MCC DAQs are stocked by Digi-Key! They sold out while writing this EYE ON NPI, but they’ll have more soon, so sign up to be notified by email when they come back in stock.
