After far too long, the uPDM4 is back in stock and featuring some brand new updates.
While this powerful little device has been unavailable due to component supply problems, we took the opportunity to give it a few updates.
Hardware Updates
- All input pins now all feature analogue voltage measurement with 0-20V range (previously only available on input 5).
- All input pins now feature configurable 4K7 pullups to 5V.
- Output pins have build in flywheel diodes to better handle PWM control of inductive loads with reduced requirement for external diodes.
- Improved electrical protection of CAN bus circuitry.
- More efficient internal power supplies. Unloaded current draw is down to 21mA.
Bootloader Updates
The bootloader is responsible for programming new firmware onto a device in-field. Usually, end users don't need to know about the specifics of a devices bootloader but in this case the result is a better user experience so it's noteworthy.
The previous uPDM4 CAN bootloader was locked to a bitrate of 500 Kbit/s, and used a fixed ID. This meant that you needed to ensure only a single uPDM4 was present on a CAN bus while performing an update. If the bus usually operated at any other speed, the uPDM4 needed to be isolated so it could run at 500Kbit/s during the update. This was impractical.
All uPDM4's with serial numbers above 2000 now ship with updated boot code. The bootloader will now operate at whatever bitrate the device was programmed to run at, and the ID's used are based on the device serial number. This means that the uPDM4 can be updated in-field, without disconnecting other devices or worrying about bitrate clashes.
Firmware Updates
- Programming communications is now independent of the user defined CAN base address. This makes programming multiple uPDM4's on the same CAN bus easier.
- All standard transmit frames can now be disabled.
- Improved user defined CAN streams with increased user parameter count.
- Improved master shutdown and reset functionality.
- Added optional direct enable source input to each output pin to make configuration of simple logic easier.
- Added math expression engine. Allows the generation of channels with custom math expressions. Expressions include all basic math operations, "if" logic, filters, & bitwise operations.
Full product details and ordering here: