SD50 Status Display - Measurement Mode

This is a quick How-To video that will cover the basics of configuring the measurement mode for the SD50 status display from Banner Engineering.

Begin by connecting the SD50 to your Windows PC using the Pro Converter Cable Kit, and by following the diagram in the manual.

If you're having trouble connecting, check out our troubleshooting guide for the Banner Pro Editor software.

Once you have connected to the software, click the measurement icon.

Measurement mode takes a pulse width modulated or pulse frequency modulated signal into the white wire or pin 2, and updates the status of the display based on custom thresholds.

The first setting you will want to modify is the signal type that you will be sending to the display, which can be set via the PWM/PFM menu.

For this example, we are using a Q4X laser measurement sensor with a pulse frequency modulated output, so we will set the signal type to PFM. 

Next, set the frequency range via the PFM low and high fields.

The filter and hysteresis menus can be used at the signal coming into the display is subject to signal noise or chattering, to help reduce the effects on the display's output.

The next settings that are important to address are the output scale value fields.

This is where you can set specific numerical values to the PFM high and low values to match your application.

The Q4X in this example has a range of 25 to 100mm, so we will set these values to be 25 and 100.

Measurement mode also includes the option to provide a bar graph on the display.

The display bar graph checkbox is selected by default, and it can be unchecked if you only want to display text.

You can also change the orientation of the bar graph by selecting the number in the bar graph orientation menu that corresponds with the specific side of the display shown in the figure to the right.

For example, if the orientation is set to side 3, the bar graph will fill from that side of the display.

Additional bar graph settings include showing the bar graph only, and displaying a slim bar graph.

Below these settings are the data label and value label fields.

Here you can assign text that can provide context to your measurement.

You may also choose the number of decimal places that you wish to show, with three decimal places being the maximum.

You can configure up to four different states, and you can set each state to trigger at a specific threshold using the percent menus.

Each state can be configured to show one of seven animations with 14 color options, as well as a unique line of text.

It's important to note that any text entered in the display text fields will supersede the data label field.

Leave the field blank if you wish to keep the data label displayed.

When you are finished selecting an animation and text for each state, click Write Device Settings to send the configuration to the SD50.

Additional formatting options are available in the Advanced Settings menu, including text color, text brightness, scroll direction, connector orientation, and more.

Click Write to send these settings to the SD50. 

That covers the basics of the SD50 measurement mode. For more information, reach out to Banner Engineering.

In this video, I'm going to go over how to use the SD50 Status Display in Measure mode using Pro Editor.

From the home page of Pro Editor, choose the Measure tile. Then you can see all the different facets we can change.

First, I'm going to make sure that my PFM/PWM I'm setting is set to PFM and that my PFM Low and High are set to 100 and 600Hz.

This is because we're connecting to a Q4X, which has those limits.

My Filter Level I'm going to leave at None, and my Hysteresis Level I'm going to leave at Medium.

My Output Scale Value is what's actually going to show on the display when the frequencies are changing.

So when the frequency is at 100Hz, I want it to display 50, And when it's at 600Hz I want it to display 1000.

My Bar Graph Orientation I'm going to change to 3, which if you hover over that it says it's filling the graph from 3 to 1, which is referring to this image over here, filling from the 3 on the left to the 1 on the right.

I'm going to leave my Display Bar Graph checked, so we do get an indication as the frequency changes.

I’m going to uncheck Bar Graph Only so we can still see data labels and display texts.

And I am going to uncheck Display Slim Bar Graph So the bar graph takes up the full width of the SD50.

My Data Label I'm going to change to Distance Equals, and my Value Label I am going to change to mm with decimal places 0.

When there is nothing in the Display Text, the display will then show my Data Label, my Output Scale value, and my Value Label.

And I have that Output Scale Value set to have 0 decimal places.

Now for my Display Texts, I want those value labels to come through on my middle two thresholds, so I'm going to leave those blank in the Display Text.

Then when I'm at the low threshold I want to say Too Close on the display.

And at my high threshold I want to say Too Far.

My Animations and Colors change the colors of the RGB LEDs on the sides of the display.

So at my end thresholds - my Too Close and Too Far - I'm going to have them be Flashing Red to say you are in the wrong zone.

And then I'm going to have the center ones be 50/50 Flash; Green and Yellow to say you are in the good zone.

I'm going to leave my percentages at 25, 50, 75, and 100%.

If you hover over these percentages, it gives you what frequency range that is.

Now I'm going to click the Write button to write to the device.

If at any point you want to use these same settings, you can click the Demo Settings button and it'll load the same configuration I used in this video.

Now I'm going to disconnect the SD50 from Pro Editor and connect it to my control device and Q4X sensor.

Now I have the SD50 connected to a Q4X sensor.

So you can see with the target where it currently is, we are in the middle zone where we get the green and yellow flashing LEDs and a Distance value.

As we move the target away, we hit our Too Far threshold.

Then you can see the bar graph change, the distance change, and now we get our Too Close animation and display.

In the center again showing that Distance =, and then the value and value label.

This has been a configuration demonstration for the SD50 Status Display.

Check out our other SD50 demo videos for additional control modes.