Go Spectro
Turn Your Smartphone into a Spectrometer
The GoyaLab GoSpectro is a device that turns any smartphone or tablet into an ultracompact and powerful handheld spectrometer. This tool enables spectral analysis of light sources, optical filters and various coloured objects by measuring emission, absorption, reflection and transmission spectra with unmatched compactness and ease of use. It is the ideal companion for light characterization in the field or in the lab.
GoSpectro is sensitive over the entire visible range (400 nm – 750 nm) with a spectral resolution of less than 10 nm (camera dependent) and a reproducibility of 1 nm. This revolutionary device allows the spectral characterization of light sources as well as measured spectra in emission, transmission or reflection, with unparalleled compactness.
GoSpectro takes advantage of the camera in the smartphone or tablet, and is easily calibrated by the user in a few seconds with any compact fluorescent light bulb or fluorescent tube. An optical fibre adaptor is available for the GoSpectro to increase usability in certain applications.
The main screen (shown above) of the mobile app (iOS and Android) provides access to functions for autoscaling the spectrum on the vertical axis, correcting the baseline, saving the spectrum, subtracting a reference spectrum and finding the highest intensity peak.
In this post, we demonstrate how the GoSpectro can be used as a measurement tool for lighting and filters identification applications.
Example: GoSpectro as a Measurement Tool for Lighting
The advent of LEDs has been a game-changer for the lighting industry. Indeed, LEDs have already deeply penetrated the automotive and indoor lighting sector and are spreading across various outdoor lighting applications for highways, roadways, bridges and tunnels. This paradigm shift calls for new tools for the characterization of such light sources.
GoSpectro has been tested on various lamps (LED, halogen, compact fluorescent, etc.) and on optical filters. The measured spectra can be used to determine the Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) of light sources and the transmission curve of optical filters.
In this example, GoSpectro was used to measure the emission spectrum of different types of light sources. These emission spectra are very specific and we can use them to clearly identify the type of lamp under investigation, even at a far distance. This is particularly useful for the maintenance of street and roadway lighting.
We carried out the tests on halogen lamp and a “cool” LED to try and determine their Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT). Using the intensity calibration function available on the GoSpectro application we acquired spectra. Then, from the measured spectra we calculated the CCT:
The calculated CCTs are in good agreement with the theoretical values and the spectra show the typical features expected from a halogen lamp (black body) and from an LED light source.
Why use fibre optic probes for temperature measurement🌡️
When you find that conventional temperature sensors based on resistors or capacitors, or simple wire-based sensors such as thermocouples, just won’t operate properly in a challenging environment, look instead to the multiple benefits provided by fibre optic temperature probes.
Fully dielectric construction of the sensor and its attached fibre optic cable gives immunity to the effects of EMI/RFI, allowing use in high voltage environments, magnetic resonance imaging systems and high magnetic fields. The material construction further allows use in radiation, high vacuum and explosive areas, and the physical dimensions typical of fibre optics allows the probe to be treated essentially as an electrical cable, routed along complex pathways and along conduits, but without any of the disadvantages of inaccuracies due to the influence of electromagnetic fields.
One main growth area for fibre optic temperature probes has been in the automotive segment, involving test and development of electric vehicles (EV) including the motors, charging stations and batteries. Faster and accurate temperature measurement is necessary at each stage of EV product development, at both individual component level for identifying performance limits and temperature behavior of individual components, and for fully assembled vehicles to ensure the overall performance and safety.
High voltage connections and operations within the vehicle bring challenges in terms of safety, limited access and electromagnetic noise issues during testing and measurements. Fibre optic based temperature probes are becoming more popular in testing electric and hybrid vehicles due to their immunity to electromagnetic fields, ruggedness, small size, fast response, high accuracy and intrinsic safety of operation.
Our partner Rugged Monitoring has extensive involvement in this application area. [https://www.ruggedmonitoring.com/solutions-details/fiber-optic-temperature-sensors-in-electric-vehicle-temperature-testing/5c9c5fb493c0cc0001d3d7b5 ]. If your temperature instrumentation in EV development and testing is revealing the limitations of conventional sensor technology, ask us how fibre optic temperature probes will solve these issues and provide methods of temperature measurement that can’t be made in any other way.
Elliot Scientific Christmas Closure
Here some important dates so you can keep on top of your orders before Christmas.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners and customers for their continued support and wish you all a great Christmas break and a happy New Year for 2023.
Elliot Scientific closed on Monday 19th September 2022.
Elliot Scientific are deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (II). As a mark of respect we will be closed on Monday 19th September and no emails or telephone calls will be answered that day.
We wish his Majesty King Charles (III) the very best for his new role as the nations sovereign and extend our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family
Instruments for Energy Storage
Energy storage and energy conversion devices are both used to fill the need for portable as well as renewable power. The evolving needs require the improvement in capability to provide pulse-power, long run-time and cycle life. New materials and advancements of engineering play a key role in meeting the market demand.
Li-ion batteries are today’s leading technology in this space. Cyclic voltammetry is used in the development of the material and identification of its potential window (charge cut-off voltage and discharge cut-off voltage), and is also the primary technique in identification of new electrolytes. The BNC connections of both the Solartron Analytical EnergyLab and Princeton Applied Research potentiostats provide an interface common for the glovebox feedthroughs often needed for this type of research.
As the goal of a rechargeable battery is to provide high cycle-life, high efficiency, and high energy density, prospective new materials are combined into a complete cell and tested in a charge – discharge experiment to determine the capacity vs cycle number, cycle-life and Coulombic efficiency. Battery holders for PARSTAT and VersaSTAT potentiostats allow for direct connection of common battery formats to the instrument. Direct connection through a battery holder avoids the added stray capacitance and inductance to impedance measurements, and creates a cleaner signal and a cleaner lab.
The use of auxiliary voltage measurements allows monitoring of both the anode and cathode of a battery. Standard potentiostat design concentrates on the signal and response at the Working Electrode, and the Counter Electrode reactions are not characterized. Other applications use an inert Counter Electrode, but in battery technology this is an active electrode. Being able to characterize this terminal allows users to identify failure mechanisms and properly focus research initiatives. This is available on the PARSTAT 3000A and EnergyLab products for single cell evaluation and PARSTAT MC for multichannel, simultaneous tests for improved throughput.
The typically flat-voltage profile, seen as a key advantage of Li-technology, drives the need for advanced techniques to determine State of Charge. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is the emerging method for making these determinations in-situ. EIS is also used to determine how the battery is functioning with respect to its anticipated lifetime (State of Health). The full range of products from Princeton Applied Research and Solartron Analytical provide these measurement capabilities either as standard or as options. EIS also provides a mechanism via equivalent circuit analysis or simple visual reference to identify the Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) of a battery. This is a key figure of merit as it represents a loss of the system. The EnergyLab EIS methods, including its innovative FRA-technology and oversampling, allows for characterization of devices of micro-ohm impedance.
For extreme applications that require greater than 5 V or 2 A of current, batteries can be configured in stacks. Since stacks are purposefully designed for operation at high voltages (up to 100 V) or high currents (up to 100 A), external boosters are required. External boosters are available in a wide range of measurement capacities, bandwidth and accuracy to meet a given testing profile. The PMC-2000A and PARSTAT3000A provide the voltage range to test a stack of batteries as well as the standard, additional electrometer to measure the characteristics (including impedance) of a single battery within the stack. The EnergyLab provides multiple electrometers to study even more cells within the stack.
Whatever your requirements in state-of-the-art energy storage and energy conversion applications, AMETEK’s Princeton Applied Research and Solartron Analytical advanced instrumentation provides the tools for market leading impedance analysis, with the widest voltage and current ranges available for anode/cathode and stack testing.
Have we got news for you…
It’s almost here – our new website will soon be giving you better access to product information, application notes, and videos. Plus easier website navigation, larger photos and two blogs! Yes, two.
In addition to our regular blog covering new products and events, we are also introducing a technology blog that features how our products and those we distribute are used in applications around the globe.
We hope you will enjoy reading it. So make a note in your calendar app, diary, wall planner or whatever… Tuesday, September 24th is go to the all new www.elliotscientific.com day.
New academic year, new website next week
With the academic year underway here in the UK, and ‘Freshers’ enjoying the delights of their new surroundings, we thought you might like to know that preparations for the launch of our revised and expanded website are well in hand.
Early next week, the new look www.elliotscientific.com will be up and running. Here’s a preview shot to give you an idea of what’s coming…
LASER World of PHOTONICS opens today
The biennial photonics-fest that is colloquially named LASER Munich opens this morning.
Exhibitors will be demonstrating their wares that include optics, lasers, instrumentation and all things related, to over 30,000 visitors across the four days of the show.
Elliot Scientific is at LASER World of PHOTONICS, on stand 340 of our friends Mountain Photonics in Hall B2.
Our Mountain Photonics’ friends at Munich in 2017
You can chat to us about our opto-mechanics, optical tweezers and more.
We look forward to seeing you.
New logos and colours unveiled
To coincide with our new philosophy of linking customers with solutions and applications with technologies, we are introducing a vibrant, fresh company colour scheme and logo set.
Please welcome…
Elliot Scientific aims to offer synergy in product lines that will deliver significant benefits to our customers. So, by having us as a supplier for a range of needs, we can provide complete solutions for your requirements.
Elliot Scientific’s 2018 newsletters published in one volume
Elliot Scientific’s renowned monthly newsletters have been compiled into a single edition for the year 2018.
The 32-page volume can be:
Read online via Issuu
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Photonex Europe Live! opens in Coventry tomorrow – Stand B10 for Elliot Scientific
Elliot Scientific returns to stand B10 at Photonex in Coventry tomorrow and Thursday, offering the chance to experience the quality of our internationally renowned Elliot|Martock range first hand.
Exported the world over, our XYZ flexure stages are used for alignment and fiber launch in research and production environments, while our portfolio of miniature translation and rotary stages are often incorporated into OEM products for the optical and semiconductor industries.
For the first time at Photonex we will have items from the Siskiyou catalogue, including their sought after IXF mirror mounts so you can discover how they deliver their exceptional pointing stability in thermally demanding situations.
Also new for 2018 are high speed lasers from IPG Photonics. Operating in the pico and femtosecond regimes, these green and IR lasers are ideal for scientific and medical research.
Finally, life scientists love our Prizmatix ultra high power LED light sources, so we thought you might like to see them too.
August 2018 newsletter now online…
The Elliot Scientific August newsletter is now available. In this issue an IPG laser, Lake Shore temperature sensors and Siskiyou IXF components are used in a breakthrough Los Alamos & University of New Mexico all optical cryocooler; microscopists can benefit from Elliot Scientific Optical Tweezers, the Mad City Labs RM21 platform, and microspectroscopy from CRAIC Technologies; plus ICEC27-ICMC 2018 in Oxford and more…
To view it in a browser, click here.
To read it magazine-style online, click here.
To download it as a PDF, click here.
If you would like us to keep you up to date through our monthly email newsletters, then subscribe using this link.
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