ACS A1560 SONIC Series User manual

A1560 SONIC - OEM ULTRASONIC PULSER/RECEIVER FRONT-END UNIT
User manual
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ACOUSTIC
CONTROL
SYSTEMS
USER MANUAL
Acoustic Control Systems – ACS Group
Saarbrücken, Germany 2019
A1560 SONIC
OEM ULTRASONIC PULSER/
RECEIVER FRONT-END UNIT
APPLICABLE FOR A1560 SONIC-LF, A1560 SONIC-HF, A1560 SONIC-AIR

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ACS-Solutions GmbH
Science Park 2
66123 Saarbrucken, Germany
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
-mail: [e-mail]
Website: www.acs-international.com
Issue date: 27.06.2019
Service Address:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................5
2 DEVICE CAPABILITIES................................................................................................................................................7
3 SPECIFICATIONS...........................................................................................................................................................9
4 DELIVERY KIT OF THE A1560 ..................................................................................................................................15
5 THE INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION..........................................................................................................................16
5.1 POWER BUTTON WITH BUILT-IN STATE INDICATOR ..............................................................................................18
5.2 CONNECTOR FOR A SINGLE-CRYSTAL TRANSDUCER OR THE RECEIVING ELEMENT
OF A DOUBLE-CRYSTAL TRANSDUCER............................................................................................................................18
5.3 CONNECTOR FOR THE TRANSMITTING ELEMENT
OF A DOUBLE-CRYSTAL TRANSDUCER............................................................................................................................19
5.4 ENCODER OR PATH SENSOR CONNECTOR.................................................................................................................19
5.5 CONTROL CONNECTOR.................................................................................................................................................................20
5.6 INSTRUMENT FIRMWARE UPGRADE BUTTON...........................................................................................................20
5.7 SERVICE DEBUG CONNECTOR................................................................................................................................................20
5.8 INSTRUMENT FIRMWARE UPGRADE USB CONNECTOR...................................................................................20
5.9 WI-FI ANTENNA CONNECTOR..................................................................................................................................................20
5.10 ETHERNET NETWORK CONNECTOR ................................................................................................................................22
5.11 CONNECTOR FOR THE NEXT A1560 UNIT IN A SYNCHRONIZED UNIT CHAIN .................................22

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5.12 CONNECTOR FOR THE PREVIOUS A1560 UNIT IN A SYNCHRONIZED UNIT CHAIN...................23
5.13 EXTERNAL TRIGGERING DEVICE CONNECTOR ........................................................................................................23
5.14 POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR...............................................................................................................................................23
5.15 BUILT-IN BATTERY.............................................................................................................................................................................24
6 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION..................................................................................................................................... 26
6.1 ULTRASONIC TRANSMITTER........................................................................................................................................................26
6.2 RECEIVED SIGNAL CONDITIONING......................................................................................................................................27
6.3 DIGITAL DATA ACQUISITION.......................................................................................................................................................27
6.4 TIME OR POSITION RELATED PULSE GENERATION AND DIGITAL DATA ACQUISITION..........28
6.5 SIGNAL AVERAGING..........................................................................................................................................................................31
7 TROUBLESHOOTING ..................................................................................................................................................32
8 OPENSOURCE CODE................................................................................................................................................ 33

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5.12 CONNECTOR FOR THE PREVIOUS A1560 UNIT IN A SYNCHRONIZED UNIT CHAIN...................23
5.13 EXTERNAL TRIGGERING DEVICE CONNECTOR ........................................................................................................23
5.14 POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR...............................................................................................................................................23
5.15 BUILT-IN BATTERY.............................................................................................................................................................................24
6 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION..................................................................................................................................... 26
6.1 ULTRASONIC TRANSMITTER........................................................................................................................................................26
6.2 RECEIVED SIGNAL CONDITIONING......................................................................................................................................27
6.3 DIGITAL DATA ACQUISITION.......................................................................................................................................................27
6.4 TIME OR POSITION RELATED PULSE GENERATION AND DIGITAL DATA ACQUISITION..........28
6.5 SIGNAL AVERAGING..........................................................................................................................................................................31
7 TROUBLESHOOTING ..................................................................................................................................................32
8 OPENSOURCE CODE................................................................................................................................................ 33
INTRODUCTION
1
The A1560 SONIC (hereinaer “A1560”) is a product line of ultrasonic flaw detectors designed for stand-alone and integra-
ted use in laboratory and industrial measurement and testing applications, facilitating ultrasonic data acquisition for different
materials. The instrument possesses an integrated battery and wireless data communication for long-term, stand-alone ope-
ration with a high on-off time ratio. The A1560 can be operated in manual single-shot mode as well as in automatic mode with
internal or external triggering to allow up to 2500 ultrasonic data acquisitions per second.
The main purpose of the A1560 is system integration and customization for a wide range of measurement and inspection
tasks. The user is provided with a soware development kit (SDK) for writing their own soware applications. The included
Mathilda A1560 GUI is a simple soware application that allows the user to become familiar with the instrument settings and
demonstrates the programming routines.
The A1560 series is available in the following configurations:
TABLE 1. AVAILABLE PRODUCTS
Instrument version Frequency Range Transducers
A1560 SONIC-LF 10 kHz – 500 kHz To be operated with DPC and regular low-frequency
piezo-transducers.
A1560 SONIC-HF 400 kHz – 15 MHz Piezo-electric transducers with contact and immersion
coupling.
A1560 SONIC-AIR 10 kHz – 750 kHz Air-coupled piezo-electric transducers. Modifications for
different transducers are available.

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SAFETY SYMBOLS USED IN THIS MANUAL:
Symbol Description
Indicates a potential threat. Failure to avoid it can result in death or serious injury.
Indicates a potential threat. Failure to avoid it may result in minor injury.
Indicates a potentially harmful situation. If it is not avoided, the device or something in its
vicinity may be damaged.
This document covers the A1560’s specifications and usage. It is highly recommended to familiarize yourself with the
following A1560 documents:
• A1560 Getting Started
• A1560 Programming Manual
• A1560 Advanced Configuration
Read this manual carefully before using the device to ensure safe and proper use.

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DEVICE
CAPABILITIES
The A1560 has the following main features and capabilities:
o Transducer interface
• Different transducers can be connected to A1560 via industry-standard connectors.
• Single-crystal and double-crystal transducers can be used.
o Pulse generation
• Adjustable pulse period (frequency).
• Adjustable pulse duration.
• Adjustable pulse voltage.
o Input signal conditioning:
• Four switchable high-pass FIR filters.
• Adjustable attenuation.
• Adjustable gain.
o Digital data acquisition
• Adjustable acquired data vector length.
• Adjustable sampling rate.
o Digital signal processing
• Averaging of several acquired data vectors into a single vector for higher SNR.
• Adjustable averaging factor.
• Adjustable duration of a pause between acquisitions to be averaged, with an optional randomization.
• Internal time gain compensation with a user-defined curve.
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o Flexible data acquisition control with several modes:
• Manual single-pulse acquisition sequence.
• Automatic periodic acquisition controlled by internal timer.
• Automatic, variable-dependent acquisition controlled by external triggering device.
• Automatic, position-dependent acquisition controlled by an external encoder or an external distance sensor.
• Synchronous acquisition by several A1560 units linked in a chain.
o Communication interfaces:
• 100BASE-TX Ethernet interface.
• Wi-Fi interface with Access Point and Host modes (Access Point by default).
• Both interfaces have DHCP server capability enabled by default.
o Power supply options:
• AC power via an included power supply;
• Autonomous power from an internal battery.
o Device firmware upgrade via USB
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SPECIFICATIONS
The main characteristics of the above-mentioned three-instruments A1560 are specified in Tables 2-4.
TRANSMITTER
Transmitter output voltage 20, 100, 200 V
Excitation sequence Meander, 0.5 - 5.0 periods
Pulse repetition rate 1 – 1.000 Hz
RECEIVER
Length of the data acquisition vector 1024 - 131072 samples
Sampling rate 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 MHz
High-pass filter (FIR) frequencies 10, 20, 40 ,100 kHz
Low-pass filter (FIR) frequency 350 kHz
Receiving bandwidth 10 – 350 kHz
Amplifier dynamic range 0 - 80 dB
Attenuator dynamic range -20 - 0 dB
Gain setup range from 0 to 100 dB, step 1 dB
DAC function programmable points count 128k
Dynamic range of DAC function 40 dB
Averaging factor 1 - 256
TABLE 2: SPECIFICATIONS OF A1560 SONIC-LF
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POWER SUPPLY
Embedded power source Built-in battery
Operation time of the battery 5 hours
Battery charging time 2.5 hours
External power supply DC 15 V, 4A \ AC 110-250 V
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT
Dimensions of the electronic block 260 х 156 х 43 mm
Weight of the electronic block 800 g
Operating temperature range –20 - +45 ºC
DATA INTERFACES
Wireless Ethernet 54 Mbit IEE802.11n
Ethernet 100 Mbit 100BASE-TX
External trigger input TTL
TABLE 2: SPECIFICATIONS OF A1560 SONIC-LF
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TRANSMITTER
Transmitter output voltage 20, 100, 200 V
Excitation sequence Meander, 0.5 - 5.0 periods
Pulse repetition rate 1 – 2.500 Hz
RECEIVER
Length of the data acquisition vector 1024 - 131072 samples
Sampling rate 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 MHz
High-pass filter (FIR) frequencies 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3.2 MHz
Low-pass filter (FIR) frequency 15 MHz
Receiving bandwidth 0.4 – 15 MHz
Amplifier dynamic range 0 - 80 dB
Attenuator dynamic range -20 - 0 dB
Gain setup range from 0 to 100 dB, step 1 dB
DAC function programmable points count 128k
Dynamic range of DAC function 40 dB
Averaging factor 1 - 256
TABLE 3: SPECIFICATION OF A1560 SONIC-HF
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POWER SUPPLY
Embedded power source Built-in battery
Operation time of the battery 5 hours
Battery charging time 2.5 hours
External power supply DC 15 V, 4A \ AC 110-250 V
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT
Dimensions of the electronic block 260 х 156 х 43 mm
Weight of the electronic block 800 g
Operating temperature range –20 - +45 ºC
DATA INTERFACES
Wireless Ethernet 54 Mbit IEE802.11n
Ethernet 100 Mbit 100BASE-TX
External trigger input TTL
TABLE 3: SPECIFICATION OF A1560 SONIC-HF
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TRANSMITTER
Transmitter output voltage for adjustable transmitter frequency 20, 100, 200 V
Transmitter output voltage for fixed transmitter frequency
(special versions) 800 V
Excitation sequence Meander, 0.5 - 5.0 periods
Pulse repetition rate 1 – 1.000 Hz
RECEIVER
Length of the data acquisition vector 1024 - 131072 samples
Sampling rate 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 MHz
High-pass filter (FIR) frequencies 10, 20, 40 ,100 kHz
Low-pass filter (FIR) frequency 750 kHz
Receiving bandwidth 10 – 750 kHz
Amplifier dynamic range 0 - 80 dB
Attenuator dynamic range -20 - 0 dB
Gain setup range from 0 to 100 dB, step 1 dB
DAC function programmable points count 128k
Dynamic range of DAC function 40 dB
Averaging factor 1 - 256
TABLE 4: SPECIFICATION OF A1560 SONIC-AIR
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POWER SUPPLY
Embedded power source Built-in battery
Operation time of the battery 5 hours
Battery charging time 2.5 hours
External power supply DC 15 V, 4A \ AC 110-250 V
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT
Dimensions of the electronic block 260 х 156 х 43 mm
Weight of the electronic block 800 g
Operating temperature range –20 - +45 ºC
DATA INTERFACES
Wireless Ethernet 54 Mbit IEE802.11n
Ethernet 100 Mbit 100BASE-TX
External trigger input TTL
TABLE 4: SPECIFICATION OF A1560 SONIC-AIR
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DELIVERY KIT
OF THE A1560
The delivery kit for the A1560 contains:
• A1560 unit
• Power supply unit
• Ethernet cable
• Wi-Fi antenna
• User manual
• Transportation and storage case
The A1560’s soware development kit (SDK) and the Mathilda evaluation application are available at
http://www.acs-international.com

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FIGURE 1. A1560 FRONT PANEL
1. Power button with built-in state indicator, POWER
2. Input connector for receiving transducer or receiving element of double-crystal transducer, input-output connector of
single-crystal transducer, IN
3. Output connector of transmitting transducer or transmitting element of double-crystal transducer, OUT
4. Encoder connector, ENCODER
5. Control connector (reserved), CONTROL
1 2 3 4 5
The A1560 unit contains the following connectors and controls:
5
THE INSTRUMENT
DESCRIPTION

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FIGURE 2. A1560 REAR PANEL
6. Device firmware upgrade button, DFU
7. Service debug connector, DEBUG
8. Firmware upgrade USB connector, USB
9. Wi-Fi antenna connector
10. Ethernet network connector, ETHERNET
11. Connector for the next A1560 unit in synchronized unit chain, SYNC OUT
12. Connector for the previous A1560 unit in synchronized unit chain, SYNC IN
13. Connector for an external triggering device, CTP
14. Connector for power supply, PWR
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

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5To power the instrument on, press the POWER button (Fig.1 Pos.1) for a half-second. The state indicator inside the button
lights up immediately.
To power the instrument off, press the POWER button for a half-second again. Due to the deinitialization process, it takes
about three seconds before the state indicator goes off.
In normal mode, the indicator has the following indication modes:
5.1 POWER BUTTON WITH BUILT-IN STATE INDICATOR
5.2 CONNECTOR FOR A SINGLE-CRYSTAL TRANSDUCER
OR THE RECEIVING ELEMENT OF A DOUBLE-CRYSTAL
TRANSDUCER
TABLE 5 POWER LED INDICATION IN NORMAL MODE
LED Indication Device state
Constantly On A1560 is on.
Constantly Off A1560 is off.
Blinking A1560 is on, battery is discharged.
In device firmware upgrade (DFU) mode, the meaning of the indication is different. Please refer to the A1560 Advanced
Configuration document for further information.
The receiving element of a double-crystal transducer or a single-crystal transducer equipped with a LEMO 00 series plug
can be connected to the IN socket (Fig.1 Pos.2) of the A1560. Connect the transducer cable to the A1560 by inserting the plug
of the cable into the socket. If you need to disconnect the cable, carefully grasp the plug by the knurled metal outer shell and
pull it straight backwards.

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5.3 CONNECTOR FOR THE TRANSMITTING ELEMENT OF A
DOUBLE-CRYSTAL TRANSDUCER
5.4 ENCODER OR PATH SENSOR CONNECTOR
The transmitting transducer or transmitting element of a double-crystal transducer equipped with a LEMO 00 series plug
can be connected to the OUT socket (Fig.1 Pos.3) of the A1560. Connect the transducer cable to the A1560 by inserting the plug
of the cable into the socket. If you need to disconnect the cable, carefully grasp the plug by the knurled metal outer shell and
pull it straight backwards.
Do not touch the IN and OUT connectors or plug/unplug transducers when the A1560 is switched on.
Neglecting this may result in personal injury or damage to the instrument and transducers. When the A1560 is switched on, up
to 800V pulse voltage may be present at the central pin of the IN and OUT connectors.
We recommend using transducers approved by ACS.
It is not recommended to attach long (>30mm) conversion adapters, such as the LEMO ABF, ASF, ASG,
APF series, directly to the IN and OUT sockets of the A1560, since the strain they impose may damage the sockets.
When enabled in the A1560 configuration, a scanning path sensor or an encoder attached to the ENCODER (Fig.1 Pos.4)
socket can initiate a pulse-acquisition sequence on position/angle change. To connect the plug of an encoder cable to the A1560,
first make sure the plug has its red positioning mark pointing upward and matching with the positioning mark on the socket,
then gently insert the plug of the cable into the socket. If you need to disconnect the cable, carefully grasp the plug by the
knurled metal outer shell and pull it straight backwards.
Use only encoders/sensors supplied by ACS. Please refer to an ACS representative for information
about available devices.

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5.5 CONTROL CONNECTOR
5.6 INSTRUMENT FIRMWARE UPGRADE BUTTON
5.8 INSTRUMENT FIRMWARE UPGRADE USB CONNECTOR
5.9 WI-FI ANTENNA CONNECTOR
CONTROL connector (Fig.1 Pos.5) is used in user-specific device variants that are out of the scope of the products descri-
bed in this manual.
Please do not connect any devices to the CONTROL connector until advised by an ACS representative.
The A1560 can be switched to device firmware upgrade (DFU) mode with the DFU (Fig.2 Pos.6) key. Please refer to the
A1560 Advanced Configuration document for further information.
5.7 SERVICE DEBUG CONNECTOR
The DEBUG connector (Fig.2 Pos.7) is used by service personnel for A1560 setup and diagnostics.
Please do not connect any devices to the DEBUG connector until advised by an ACS representative.
In device firmware upgrade (DFU) mode, the USB connector (Fig.2 Pos.8) is used to upgrade and set up the A1560’s firm-
ware. Please refer to the A1560 Advanced Configuration document for further information.
The A1560 can communicate with an external device, such as a PC, wirelessly via a Wi-Fi network. In order to establish a
Wi-Fi connection to the A1560 in its default factory configuration: