For industrial environments, USB bus offers noise immunity for harsh environments by using multi-drop, half-duplex twisted pair and can achieve a high ESD protection & wide temperature support. A major drawback, the unreliability of USB cable connection, can also be mitigated by using screw mechanism in the USB ports and connectors on a USB cable. With these improved features and high data transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps for USB 2.0, the USB has found its way into application USB data acquisition devices that are already ideal for a variety of applications that range from simple data logging to embedded original equipment manufacturer (OEM) systems.

In 2005, Advantech, a leading supplier of data acquisition products, launched their line of USB I/O products. Advantech offers a wide range of USB I/O devices with various functions including analog I/O, digital I/O, relay, counter and GPIB. By adding industrial-grade features, including lockable cables, multiple mounting methods and advanced detection functions, Advantech’s USB data acquisition devices are a great fit for any industrial need. For testing and lab use, Advantech also provides a series of low-cost multifunction USB DAQ modules – USB-4702/USB-4704, the most inexpensive data acquisition module ever released from Advantech.