Mars CPU04, User Manual

5

Titan CPU Channel Mul  plexer - Opera  on

Electrosta  c Discharge

Electrosta  c Discharge (ESD) occurs when a sta  c charge builds up on either 
yourself or the Titan hardware, and then you touch the Titan hardware. 
The sta  c spark can be so small that you don’t feel it, however, it can fl aw a 
semiconductor.  These fl aws may generate an immediate failure, or, in most 
cases, cause a slight reduc  on in performance which will con  nue to degrade, 
eventually leading to failure of the hardware. When you feel a sta  c shock, you 
are experiencing a minimum of 3,000 volts of electricity.

Even though the input connectors have protec  on to prevent ESD damage, 
it is good prac  ce to always ground yourself and the Titan hardware while 
connec  ng and removing sensors. 

Always use approved ESD handling procedures to prevent ESD damage.

Grounding Titans

In general, grounding the Titan hardware to the test vehicle or test structure 
will usually reduce noise pickup. 

All of the analog inputs of the Titan hardware have a return path to ground. 
However, it is very important that each sensor have only one return path to 
avoid ground loops. When tes  ng a vehicle, o  en the vehicle chassis and Titan 
can have very large ground imbalances of one or two volts. In such situa  ons, 
ground the sensors to Titan and use diff eren  al inputs across the sensor. A 
totally fl oa  ng input (like a 9-Volt ba  ery) must have one side grounded at the 
point where used, either grounded to Titan or connected to the vehicle chassis 
ground via a resistor (e.g. 10K ohm).

If there is a possibility that a fl oa  ng sensor may be occasionally grounded, 
install a 10K ohm resistor from the minus input to Titan ground. When the 
sensor is fl oa  ng, the 10K ohm resistance will reference it to Titan ground, 
and when it is grounded, the resistor will allow the direct minus input wire to 
reference the remote chassis ground.

Specifi c Warnings

Always connect the Titan Power Adapter to the Titan CPU 

before

 applying 

power.  Never hot plug a Titan CPU under any circumstances as hot plugging 
may damage the device!

General Guidelines and Warnings