(Kistler: Farmington Hills, MI) -- Kistler has introduced the Corrsys-Datron Microstar II, the next-generation of its flexible microwave sensor. The Microstar II is designed to offer highly accurate and repeatable measurements of vehicle dynamics parameters such as driving performance, longitudinal determinations, and fuel consumption. It can also measure off-road vehicle speed and distance measurements on Jeeps, quads, and ATVs, as well as industrial utility, military transport, and agricultural vehicles.

The Corrsys-Datron Microstar II design incorporates Doppler radar-effect technology within a planar antenna system, which projects two radar beams at 45° angles to measure relative movement between the sensor and test surface. The noncontact system consists of the sensor head antenna and a new Corrsys-Datron sensor electronics unit with 2.0B CANbus, RS-232 serial port, and a full-speed USB 2.0 port.

Upon striking the test surface, beams are reflected back to the sensor antenna. The resultant double frequency, which is equal to the difference of sent and received frequencies, is directly proportional to speed. The gained signal is then converted to desired dimension via a high-performance, onboard RISC digital signal processor and sent to corresponding analog (-10 to 10 V) or digital (1 to 1,000 pulse/m) TTL outputs, with automatic compensation for both mounting and pitch-angle errors.

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