Deimos DAQ Is a High-Precision, Open-Hardware Digital Acquisition Module Heading to Crowd Supply

Massachusetts-based Deimos Controls is preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign for an open-hardware Ethernet-connected data acquisition module designed for projects where precision and accuracy are paramount: the Deimos DAQ.

"Deimos DAQ is a ready-to-use Ethernet data acquisition (DAQ) module with integrated precision voltage reference, precision clock, precision analog frontends, and PWM [Pulse-Width Modulation] outputs. No configuration or extra modules are required," Deimos Controls' James Logan claims, "just plug in power and LAN, and it’s ready to measure. Compared to other DAQ devices, you can expect Deimos to deliver exceptional data accuracy and timing in an attainable package. Everyone from researchers performing experiments at universities to hobbyists performing high-level science in their garages will love the power Deimos gives them."

The module itself is built around an STMicroelectronic STM32H7, on a board bristling with inputs and outputs: there's a pair of K-type thermocouple inputs with an expected 70K-1600 Kelvin temperature range, 0.5K accuracy at room temperature and a 0.03K resolution plus cold-junction compensation, matched-material connectors for three three-wire resistances, four 4–20mA with an "actual full range" of around 0-33mA at a 0.8µA resolution, and six raw voltage inputs split into two with 0.2× gain, two with 1× gain, one with a 25.7× gain, and one with a 660× gain, plus two frequency inputs , one counter input, and one encoder input. IF that's not enough, there are four 16-bit PWM outputs and two 12-bit digital to analog converter (DAC) outputs.

Logan positions the device as being for where precision is required but commercial devices considered unaffordable — suggesting use-cases including thermal-fluid and cryogenic systems, strain measurement in structural testing, and ground-based testing of hydraulics, propellers and motors. The campaign page includes two schematics demonstrating how to include the Deimos DAQ in a project: one showing a single unit measuring and controlling a motor control test assembly, the other using two units for simultaneous remote monitoring and actuation for turbine engine testing.

Design files and source code for the project have been published on GitHub under the user's choice of permissive Apache License 2 or MIT license; the crowdfunding campaign is up on Crowd Supply for pre-registration, for those who would like to be notified when funding opens.