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Data Acquisition Meets GameBoy®
"In this era of on-demand data, multifunctional communications devices and 7x24 gaming, it’s nice to see that data acquisition instrumentation has joined the 21st century," says Matt Vagedes, General Manager of Daytronic Corp. "The inviting, colorful and intuitive user interface that even five-year old children have mastered has now made it into the maintenance and troubleshooting arena. Plus, these new tools need not be pigeon-holed for specific applications—today, one unit can basically do it all!"
Using well-established analog technology, data acquisition (DAQ) instruments receive and condition "raw" measurement signals from thermocouples, load cells and other common industrial sensors. Results are then scaled and digitized for display, analysis and reporting. While some DAQ devices include real-time display and control features such as scope and alarming, many simply download data to a PC for post-process trending and analysis. Key differentiators in DAQ technology are number and type of data channels (differential versus single-ended), internal signal processing (calculations, peak capture, etc.), sampling rate, signal type (digital, analog), resolution, accuracy, hardware configuration, and overall applicability.
In the past, DAQ instruments tended to be tailored for use by expert engineers in highly focused or niche process applications. Today, however, with advances in computerized technology, enhanced user interfaces, and the increased responsibilities thrust upon engineering/maintenance departments, DAQ has become accessible to a much broader range of users. It has become truly a ubiquitous and valuable diagnostic tool in almost every area of industry and research.
Today’s DAQ instruments respond to a myriad of new challenges. In terms of basic operability, there’s the need for simple setups, intuitive graphical user interfaces, non-proprietary data storage and automated high-speed operations. Functionality has been broadly expanded to include, for example, internal cross-channel math and the time- or event-based logging of complete data records. And from the performance standpoint, these devices have improved signal-to-noise conditions for low-level measurements, while producing industry standard signal levels for high-level AC voltage and current readings.
No longer "super-specialized" in their application range, today’s versatile DAQ instruments are used for troubleshooting, maintenance, process tuning, fault recording, trending, and much more. Scanning at multiple speeds, they can perform watts calculations for energy surveys as well as high-speed collection for laboratory R&D applications. They’re portable and easy to use, so that a field service technician can collect valuable data on a removable memory card for subsequent analysis. And since they’re both multilingual and self-explanatory, they can be used and shared across organizations. Sort of like Game Boy!
A brief overview of several key factors to consider when evaluating data acquisition instruments follows:
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User Interface |
Ask any maintenance engineer or technician what they’d like to have in their field instruments and the answer will likely be, "light weight, easy to set up and operate, colorful visuals on-screen that provide useful information, and data that’s easy to download and transfer." Just like PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and video games, today’s advanced DAQ instruments employ LCD color touch screens and straightforward operating systems. Simple user selections and clear, intuitive pathing make the setup process easy to use and learn—literally taking seconds. Setups and test protocols can be stored, edited and catalogued for future use. Real-time and calculated values are instantaneously rendered on-screen, including spreadsheets, trends, graphs, scope and DFT information. Results are provided in a color-coded display (red, yellow, green), compared against user-determined limit setpoints with the ability to drill down for further analysis. Finally, data is captured on a standard compact flash ("CF") memory card for follow-up PC processing, just like in a digital camera. In short, the newest DAQ instruments provide users with a positive experience from the minute they turn the unit on, just like they have come to expect from today’s electronic devices.
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Speed and Accuracy |
Key selection criteria for a portable DAQ instrument are the number and type of channels (both analog and digital), the rate at which analog signals are acquired and digitized (sampling frequency) and the accuracy and precision (resolution) of measurements. Scan rates vary, impacting price and performance. Slower instruments scan at speeds of <1 Hz up to 500 Hz, with medium-speed DAQ instruments in the 2,000-12,000 Hz range and fast ones up to 100,000 Hz. The number and configuration of channels is a key variant in DAQ instruments—12-20 is a common number of channels, yet some instruments can daisy chain to over 1000. The industry standard for A/D resolution is 16 bits.
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Range of Application |
While the need for highly specialized DAQ instruments remains in many areas, such devices no longer dominate the field. Indeed, today’s general-purpose DAQ instruments must be able to handle virtually any parameter found in the plant and laboratory environment. Input channels should be interchangeable (and mix and match), including millivolt thermocouple outputs; preconditioned, amplified 0-10 VDC industrial signals (for torque, speed, load, flow, displacement, temperature and pressure); 4-20 milliamp process signals; low or high voltage; and higher-level current measurements. Such versatility can meet the requirements of a wide range of manufacturing, laboratory, test chamber, plant operations and quality control applications. Common uses for these instruments include maintenance troubleshooting, motor testing, performance benchmarking of rotating machinery, vibration analysis, temp/humidity/power/energy studies, quadrature measurements to monitor speed and position, and control-loop timing.
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Analysis and Reporting |
Options for analyzing and reporting data should include report generation, trend plotting and status monitoring, as both on-screen visuals and a download for PC analysis. Vast amounts of high-resolution data can now be easily transferred to a computer at high speeds via direct port or memory card for input into Excel or other conventional software programs.
As with any device, DAQ instruments range widely in price, depending on functionality and performance. Engineers and maintenance professionals should review their past, present and future requirements before evaluating today’s DAQ products to ensure that they select the most versatile product for the job, keeping in mind the type and number of potential users.
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