The new 5074A data acquisition device from Kistler allows up to four piezoelectric sensors per device to be connected to the digital industrial network. The charge amplifier is available with the EtherCAT, Ethernet/IP and ProfiNet communication protocols. According to the manufacturer, this has the advantage that all parameters can be set up and viewed via the controller. This gives users control over the data records and no additional software needs to be installed. What's more, each channel can be controlled individually. Thanks to direct access to the status of the device and measuring channels, a high level of reliability of the measuring process is guaranteed at all times. As the 5074A already digitizes the sensor's raw analogue signal in the amplifier, the interference variables caused by inductive or capacitive coupling that occur in classic analogue systems can be avoided. There is also no need to wire the analog and control signals. The amplifier allows measurements with up to 10,000 bus cycles per second and is therefore suitable for time-critical controls. With the option of generating several measuring points per cycle through oversampling, the device also proves to be the ideal solution for recording processes in high resolution with up to 50,000 measured values per channel and per second.