A year ago I introduced ENLIGHT to you as it was first released. ENLIGHT provides an all-in-one software solution to configuring sensors connected to Micron Optics instruments, converting wavelengths to engineering units for hundreds or thousands of sensors, displaying data in charts, graphs or images, setting alarm limits and sending alerts, and saving data. Now I’m back with an update on the features of our next release which is coming soon.

In the past year we have worked to bring the software from an early Beta state to an optimized, faster running tool that’s ready for broad deployment. In response to customer feedback, our major focus has been on data management. For example, systems sampling hundreds of sensors at 1 kHz produce large amounts of data in a short time. New ENLIGHT features will allow files to be managed by size (e.g., once a file reaches 10MB, create a new data file), or by time (e.g., create a new file every day or hour). All files are stored in an automatically created directory structure organized by year, month, and day. Users will be able to choose what data to save, i.e., full spectrum traces, peak locations, FBG wavelengths or the calculated sensor values in engineering units.

Users will also be able to choose when data is saved. Data saving can be either continuous or triggered by an event such as a sensor moving into a warning or alarm condition. Users will select which sensors trigger data saving and then what data shall be saved. Data buffered prior to the event can also be included in the event file.

There will be more flexibility in manipulating data as well. Separate averaging controls will be available for spectra, peaks, FBGs, and sensor values. Another new feature will allow ENLIGHT to calculate the derivative of a sensor value so that the rate of change of a sensor value is known which is useful in fire detection applications.

Error handling will become more robust. Instrument diagnostic tools built into ENLIGHT will allow it to automatically recover to its normal operating state following a power interruption. Additionally, multiple copies of ENLIGHT will be able to run simultaneously on a single processor, thus managing more than one interrogator from a central PC.

For applications where custom user interfaces are required, users will be able to send commands to ENLIGHT via Ethernet to stream processed sensor data, zero sensor values, or retrieve saved data. In such cases, ENLIGHT acts as a signal conditioner simplifying integration of optical data with data streams from other systems.

The bottom line is that optical sensors are continuing to become easier to use. Better software, better instruments and better sensor packages are making this possible. Soon we’ll have more news on new sensor developments at Micron Optics and elsewhere.

A free download of ENLIGHT is available at http://micronoptics.com/sensing_software.php