Isolator Bricklet¶

Features¶

• Galvanically isolates the power and data lines
• Can be used between any Brick and any Bricklet with a 7 pole connector

Description¶

The Isolator Bricklet can galvanically isolate the power and data lines between any Brick and any Bricklet with a 7 pole connector.

Any Bricklet that does analog/digital input/output may benefit from galvanic isolation, for example:

• Analog Out 3.0
• CAN 2.0
• DMX
• Industrial Analog Out 2.0
• Industrial Counter
• Industrial Dual 0-20mA 2.0
• Industrial Dual Analog In 2.0
• Industrial Dual Relay
• IO-16 2.0
• IO-4 2.0
• Load Cell 2.0
• One Wire
• PTC 2.0
• RS232 2.0
• RS485
• Thermocouple 2.0
• Voltage/Current 2.0

The Isolator Bricklet has two 7 pole Bricklet connectors. It is connected to a Brick with a 7p-7p Bricklet cable on one side and to a Bricklet with a 7p-7p Bricklet cable on the other side.

Technical Specifications¶

* See datasheet of MAX14850 for details of data isolation and of CRE1S0505S3C for details of power isolation.

Resources¶

• MAX14850 datasheet (Download)
• CRE1S0505S3C datasheet (Download)
• Schematic (Download)
• Outline and drilling plan (Download)
• Source code and design files (Download)
• 3D model (View online | Download: STEP, FreeCAD)

Example¶

Below you can see an Isolator Bricklet that is connected to a Master Brick on one side and to a Voltage/Current Bricklet 2.0 on the other side.

The Voltage/Current Bricklet 2.0 is now galvanically isolated from the Master Brick and thus from the USB port or other Bricks/Bricklets that may be connected to the Master Brick.

You can now use this Voltage/Current Bricklet 2.0 to measure the voltage and current without having to pay attention to the ground potential. As an example, you could connect it to any cell of a multi cell battery. Even if the battery is powering the Master Brick!

Test your Isolator Bricklet¶

To test a Isolator Bricklet you need to have Brick Daemon and Brick Viewer installed. Brick Daemon acts as a proxy between the USB interface of the Bricks and the API bindings. Brick Viewer connects to Brick Daemon. It helps to figure out basic information about the connected Bricks and Bricklets and allows to test them.

Connect the Isolator Bricklet to a Brick with a Bricklet Cable and the Bricklet that you want to isolate to the Isolator Bricklet.

If you connect the Brick to the PC over USB, you should see a new tab named "Isolator Bricklet" in the Brick Viewer after a moment. Select this tab. If everything went as expected you can now see the Isolator Bricklet as well as the isolated Bricklet in Brick Viewer.

After this test you can go on with writing your own application. See the Programming Interface section for the API of the Isolator Bricklet and examples in different programming languages.

Case¶

A laser-cut case for the Isolator Bricklet is available.

The assembly is easiest if you follow the following steps:

• Screw spacers to the Bricklet,
• screw bottom plate to bottom spacers,
• build up side plates,
• plug side plates into bottom plate and
• screw top plate to top spacers.

Below you can see an exploded assembly drawing of the Isolator Bricklet case:

Hint: There is a protective film on both sides of the plates, you have to remove it before assembly.

Programming Interface¶

See Programming Interface for a detailed description.