Valeport miniIPS User manual

miniIPS Operating Manual
Operating Manual
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This document was prepared by the staff of Valeport Limited, the Company, and is the property of the
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copied, reprinted or reproduced in any material form, either wholly or in part, and the contents of this
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whatsoever without the prior written consent of the Company.
Valeport Limited
St Peters Quay
Totnes
Devon, TQ9 5EW
United Kingdom
As part of our policy of continuous development, we reserve the right to alter, without prior notice, all
specifications, designs, prices and conditions of supply for all our equipment.
0760824b
August 2019
[phone]
[e-mail] | [e-mail]
www.valeport.co.uk
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Table of Contents
© 2019 Valeport Ltd Page 2
Table of Contents
..................................................................................................................................... 31. EU Declaration of Conformity - CE Marking
..................................................................................................................................... 42. Introduction
..................................................................................................................................... 53. Sensors
..................................................................................................................................... 64. Physical Characteristics
.................................................................................................................................... 64.1. Materials
.................................................................................................................................... 64.2. Dimensions
..................................................................................................................................... 75. Communications
.................................................................................................................................... 75.1. Welcome Message
.................................................................................................................................... 75.2. Data Requests and Output Formats
.................................................................................................................................... 7
5.2.1 Start / Stop
.................................................................................................................................... 8
5.2.2 Communications Setup
.................................................................................................................................... 8
5.2.3 Sampling Pattern
.................................................................................................................................... 10
5.2.4 Pressure Tare
.................................................................................................................................... 11
5.2.5 Data Output Formats
.................................................................................................................................... 13
5.2.6 Information #Codes
.................................................................................................................................... 13
5.2.7 Calibration
..................................................................................................................................... 146. Electrical
.................................................................................................................................... 146.1. Wiring Information
..................................................................................................................................... 157. Software
..................................................................................................................................... 168. Care & Maintenance
..................................................................................................................................... 179. Ordering and Part Numbers

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
EU Declarationof Conformity - CE Marking
Page 3
1. EU Declaration of Conformity - CE Marking
Any changes or modifications to the product or accessories supplied, that are not authorised by Valeport
Ltd, could void the CE compliance of the product and negate your authority to operate it. This product has
demonstrated CE compliance under conditions that include the use of shielded cables. It is important that
you use shielded cables compliant with the product’s conformance, to protect from potential damage and
reduce the possibility of interference to other electronic devices

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
0760824b - miniIPS Operating Manual
Page 4
2. Introduction
The Valeport miniIPS “Intelligent Pressure Sensor” is designed to measure water pressure and provide a real time
output of that data. Suitable for use in a variety of subsea applications (ROV’s, construction, monitoring,
positioning), one of the key development drivers was to provide a cost effective alternative to the use of resonant
quartz pressure sensors. Using the very latest technology in temperature compensated piezo-resistive transducers,
the miniIPS offers several advantages over resonant quartz sensors, with similar performance.
·No external diaphragms, oil reservoir or oil-filled tubes
·Easy to clean – no salt build up
·Titanium construction
·Pressure ranges from 10 to 600Bar (approx 100m to 6000m water)
·Long term calibration stability
·May be recalibrated by customers using standard Class A deadweight tester (requires optional adapter)
·RS232 or addressable RS485 data output
·Choice of calibrated data formats
·Choice of sampling modes

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
Sensors
Page 5
3. Sensors
Pressure
The miniIPS is fitted with the following sensors:
·A high accuracy (0.01%), temperature compensated piezo-resistive pressure transducer
Type:
Strain Gauge
Range:
5, 10, 30, 50, 100, 300 or 600 Bar (factory fit option)
Resolution:
0.001% of full range
Accuracy:
±0.01% or full range
Response Time:
1 milliseconds

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
0760824b - miniIPS Operating Manual
Page 6
4. Physical Characteristics
4.1. Materials
Housing & Bulkhead:
Titanium
Sensor Cap:
Acetal
Transducer Diaphragm
Stainless Steel
Connector:
Standard is SubConn type MCBH6F (titanium)
Alternatives may be supplied on request
Weight:
<1kg (in air)
4.2. Dimensions
Please refer to factory for detailed dimensions if required.

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
Communications
Page 7
5. Communications
5.1. Welcome Message
When power is applied to the miniIPS, it will normally output a welcome message as follows, detailing the software
version:
You are connected to a Valeport Mini IPS Sensor
0760700B 14/09/2019 07:00
Copyright 2019
#209;OFF (or ON)
This command will disable (or enable) the welcome message when power
is applied.
5.2. Data Requests and Output Formats
Control of the miniIPS is achieved through the use of “# codes”, as described below.
All commands must be “sent” by pressing the Enter key, with the exception of the single ‘#’ character required
to enter set up mode
You must use the main Enter key on the keyboard, not the smaller number pad Enter key. The large key
actually sends two instructions – “Carriage Return” (or <CR>) and “Line Feed” (or <LF>). The miniIPS requires
both these instructions to terminate a command. The smaller Enter key on a keyboard only sends the <CR>
instruction
5.2.1. Start / Stop
When power is applied to the miniIPS, it will immediately begin to operate according to the settings already
programmed. The most basic level of Stop / Start control is, therefore, by switching power on and off.
#
When the instrument is running, the miniIPS may be put into set up mode at any time by
typing the ‘#’ character. The device will respond with a command prompt ‘>’ and wait the
next instruction.
Note: that there is a “watchdog” function here – if the unit is interrupted with the ‘#’
character, and no further command is received for a period of 5 minutes, the sensor will
automatically begin sampling data using the existing settings
#028
Starts sampling from set up mode, or takes a single reading if unit is in “Single” sampling
mode.

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
0760824b - miniIPS Operating Manual
Page 8
5.2.2. Communications Setup
Command
Notes
#059;{baud rate}
Sets the sensor baud rate as required.
Available baud rates are 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200.
Example:
#059;9600
#001;nn
Sets the sensor address to any number from 01 to 99
#002
Responds with current sensor address
#005;ON (or OFF)
Turns the miniIPS address mode on (or OFF). In address mode, the sensor will only
respond to commands prefixed by its address, or the global address “00”.
Example:
03:#028
Sensor address “03” begin sampling
Example:
00:#028
All sensor addresses begin sampling
5.2.3. Sampling Pattern
The miniIPS will operate in 3 different modes:
CONT
Continuous mode, where data is output at a fixed frequency from 1 to 16Hz
SINGLE
Single mode is effectively “Sample on Demand” – when instructed, the sensor will
measure and report a single reading
BURST
Burst mode is useful for longer term deployments, where data is measured for a number of
samples, and the sensor then “sleeps” for a defined period of time. The measured data
may be averaged or output as it is.
In each case, the sampling mode is set using the command #003. Note also that the command #004 will return
the current sampling pattern.

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
Communications
Page 9
The command string to set the sampling parameters is as follows:
#003;mode;rate;period;interval;average;length where:
Mode:
Enter CONT, SINGLE or BURST as required
rate:
Enter 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 as the required sampling rate in Hz. Note that this value must be
included in the string for SINGLE mode, even though it is not used.
period:
This value defines the Burst sampling mode, but must be entered for the other modes
even though it is not used. Enter the number of samples that should be taken in the Burst,
from 1 to 65535
interval:
This value defines the Burst sampling mode, but must be entered for the other modes
even though it is not used. Enter the number of seconds between the start of each
measurement burst, from 1 to 65535
average:
This parameter defines the Burst sampling mode, but must be entered for the other modes
even though it is not used. Enter FIXED, MOVING or NONE as required. Fixed averaging
means that a single average number of all the readings in the burst will be output.
Moving average is a sliding window of defined duration, averaging several data points
within the burst, and updating with each single reading. None means that no averaging
should be done, with each data point in the burst being output as it is measured.
length:
Defines the number of samples in the “sliding window” of the Moving Average. Enter a
value from 1 to 120. Note that this value is part of the definition of Burst mode, but must
also be entered for the other modes, even though it is not used.
Examples:
1: Continuous data output at 4Hz
#003;CONT;4;1;1;NONE;1
Note: that the characters shown in italics must be included, even though they are not part of the definition of
Continuous mode. It does not matter what values are used here, provided they fit within the general constraints
defined above (1 to 65535 etc).
2: Data on demand
#003;SINGLE;1;1;1;NONE;1
Note: that the characters shown in italics must be included, even though they are not part of the definition of this
mode. It does not matter what values are used, as long as they fit within the general constraints for each term
defined above (1 to 65535 etc).
3: Burst Mode, 80 readings over 5 secs, once per minute. Output average value only
#003;BURST;16;80;60;FIXED;1
Note: that the last value (shown in italics) must be included, even though it is not part of the definition of Fixed
Averaging. It does not matter what values is used here, provided it fits within the general constraints defined above
(1 to 120 etc.).

© 2019 Valeport Ltd
0760824b - miniIPS Operating Manual
Page 10
5.2.4. Pressure Tare
The pressure sensor fitted to the miniIPS measures absolute pressure, i.e. it includes atmospheric pressure. The
pressure tare function allows the atmospheric pressure (as measured by the sensor before deployment) to be
removed from the readings, so the output is simply pressure of water. Note also that by taking a tare reading at
any fixed point in the water column, readings will then be output relative to that point.
The pressure tare should be taken with the sensor in the same orientation as it
will be deployed (horizontal, pointing up or pointing down) to negate any
effects of the weight of the sensing element itself. Whilst this effect is small, it
is an unnecessary contribution to the error budget.
The location of the sensor (i.e. the point relative to which all measurements
are made) is indicated by a groove and cross in the acetal sensor cap.
#009
Unit takes a single reading to use as the Tare value. Output at that
pressure should now be approximately zero.
#009;0
Tare value is removed (i.e. set to zero)
#009;nnnn
Sets specific tare in dBar or Bar (max resolution of 0.000001) depending
on units selected by #020 command.
Example:
#009;10.325 sets tare to 10.325dBar
#010
Unit responds with current Tare value