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[on:]

Hey guys, I have a micro board, and need to use the usb communications to a computer.  However I want the micro to be completely electrically isolated from the pc.  So I want to decouple using a fiberoptic transceiver.  Have any of you ever done this?  Also I need a very small form factor.  Just need something to point me in the right direction.  Thanks.

[Reply #1 on:]

I haven't done exactly that but have designed fiber optic modems.
I used HFBR1414Z as the transmitter and a HFBR2412Z as the receiver.
http://www.avagotech.com/pages/en/fiber_optics/general_purpose_industrial_control_data_link_820nm/hfbr-2412z/
You obviously need 2 each of the above for RX &TX.
You can start by looking at the data sheets pages 11, 13 and 19

[Reply #2 on:]

Hey guys, I have a micro board, and need to use the usb communications to a computer.  However I want the micro to be completely electrically isolated from the pc.  So I want to decouple using a fiberoptic transceiver.  Have any of you ever done this?  Also I need a very small form factor.  Just need something to point me in the right direction.  Thanks.

There is another way to isolate that by using a isolating USB device. Many different makers of these things.
http://keterex.com/kxusb150.php

This one has the advantage of being able to pass 400 ma of 5 volt power to the remote device which fiber optic cannot provide.

Lefty

[Reply #3 on:]

It occurs to me another way to optically isolate the Arduino from the PC would be to use a bluetooth or wifi radio device.

One way to use fiber is to use it as a network device.  Recently, I was curious and did a google search, and saw you could get low end ethernet->fiber converters for about $50 each.  Couple that with an ethernet shield should get you the connection.
 
The post BlinkIt in the exhibition gallery shows another way to communicate: http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,140698.msg1057787.html, and presumably you could use it via a fiber optic cable if you could put a light sensor on the PC.

[Reply #4 on:]

Hey, thanks for the ideas about wireless.  I am doing this design work for someone else though, and the specs are usb to the pc.  I have seen a very small (<1") fiber optic transceiver in another setup.  two components were connected by a single fiber.  I will try to find the part number on the existing system I saw.  This is new territory for me...