Product Information
Hardware
The following is a summary of the key hardware features.
128 x 64 pixel backlit LCD graphics display
8 Pushbuttons with interchangeable legends
3 front panel status LEDs
CAN HS/LS LIN/K Line vehicle communications
4 Inputs (Opto) & 4 Outputs (Relay)
4 Analogue inputs / outputs
Opto Isolated USB
RS232C & 5v output @ 250mA
Power supply 8-30v@ 100mA Typical
Supply voltage monitoring
Weight 500g (575g inc. battery module)
Size 215mm x 130mm x 50mm
Processor Core
The Rigel VCi3 has a modern, powerful microcontroller at its heart and is based
around a Renesas H8S 16 bit microprocessor using the core design of a Micro
Robotics VM1 controller.
16-bit Renesas
H8S processor running at 16MHz
512K RAM,
battery backed
512K flash
containing both Venom-SC and the user application
Real Time Clock
Calendar; alarm signal available
Watchdog /
Supervisor IC
Venom-SC
Operating system and language
USB
The USB interface is used for programming the Rigel VCi3 and
for use as a PC interface when the Rigel VCi3 is used as a vehicle
communications gateway.
The Rigel VCi3 has an opto-isolated USB and hence the USB subsystem is powered from the host PC.
The USB subsystem has the ability to provide isolated power to the main control circuitry; this feature is controllable via the development environment. Even when selected the Rigel VCi3 draws less than 100mA from the USB port and is therefore fully compatible will notebooks and other low power sources.
Graphics
LCD
The Rigel VCi3 is provided with a 2.7” diagonal, 128 x 64 pixel graphics
LCD. For ease of viewing in all lighting conditions the display is provided with
LED back lighting and this is controllable from within the user application and
can be anywhere between 0% to 100%. At 100% the LED back light draws
approximately 25mA.
The contrast of the display can be adjusted and this depends upon the mode of operation and screen contents to obtain the best output. The user has full control over the number of windows created on the LCD and can display, text, logos, bar graphs, etc. The display can be operated in either positive or negative mode (i.e. Blue text on white background, or white text on blue background).
Power Supply
The base Rigel VCi3 is powered from either USB or from the equipment that is
connected to and, in the case of the vehicle communication signals, uses this
supply as a reference for signal levels.
The incoming supply is converted to 5V for use within the Rigel VCi3 by a high efficiency DC/DC converter. The incoming supply requirements are 8 – 30V DC at a maximum of 800mA at 8V.
The Rigel VCi3
uses a relatively small current to operate, typically (at 12V);
40mA - not driving any discrete
I/O
70mA - typical CAN or LIN application with LCD and driving a couple of
LEDs
150mA - as above but driving isolated I/O and all LEDs
Digital I/O
The Rigel VCi3 has four opto-isolated digital inputs, these are specified as
below.
Inputs (organised as a group of 4, a single common serves all 4 inputs)
Input voltage range 8V to 30V to assert active
logical state
Positive or negative input voltage with respect to
the common
>50V isolation
The Rigel VCi3 has four isolated relay outputs, these are
specified as below.
Outputs
(organised as a group of 4, a single common serves all 4 outputs)
Relay contacts rated at 1A
non-inductive at 30V DC
Contact resistance 30mOhm
Expected life 2 x 107
operations
Analogue I/O
The Rigel VCi3 has four user uni-polar
analogue I/O ports. Inputs are 10bit and outputs are 8bit resolution
2 off Inputs scaled to accept 0 - 20v
2 off Input / Outputs scaled to
accept of deliver 0 - 5v
Vehicle
Communications
The Rigel VCi3 also provides the connections for vehicle communications.
CAN – CAN2.0B compliant CAN interface
with jumper selectable termination options
LIN – LIN1.3 compliant LIN interface
with jumper selectable termination options
K Line compliant interface
K/LIN supply reference input
Note:- LIN and K Line use the same hardware and therefore only one can be used at any one time.
The CAN network can be un-terminated or either 124R or 62R centre tapped terminated.
RS232
The Rigel VCi3 has a user RS232C connection within the interface connector. This is ideal for interfacing with peripherals such as a hand held barcode reader.
The interface is at 9,600 baud RS232C TX & RX only, there are no handshake lines.
Also provided on the interface connector is a 5V supply for powering a barcode reader or similar peripheral. This output is protected by a self resetting fuse and is limited to 250mA.
Software
If you appreciate elegance and simplicity of design then you'll enjoy using Venom-SC, the powerful language built into the Rigel VCi3. Venom-SC developed by Micro-Robotics is a full-featured, high level programming language designed for writing embedded control applications.
The language is essentially built into the embedded controller at the heart of the Rigel VCi3. This means you can program it using any PC with a USB port and the supplied development tools (using the Sorion supplied examples and device drivers).
Also it can interface to a control system via USB using the Sorion Binary Protocol.