Engineering,marvel,Data,Acquis computer Engineering marvel of Data Acquisition Systems
----------------------------------------------------------Permission is granted for the below article to forward,reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as longas no changes a Gone are those times when the companies and the organisations didn't need a hi-tech system to handle them. Owing to the considerable increase in the business sector and thus, an enormous increase in the complexity of the organisational struc
In short data acquisition systemsare also referred to as DAS or DAQ which generally includes acquisition ofsignals and waveforms and then interpretation of signals to obtain desiredinformation. These different properties which are analyzed through dataacquisition are facts such as temperature, pressure, density, viscosity etc. Data acquisition systems have a huge use inscientific and medical research purposes such as magnetic resonance imaging,microelectrode recording, and Eco cardiology, remote monitoring, laser Dopplerflow etc. They serve as an important part ofgathering any vital information using data analysis software and equipments. Some of the common forms of dataacquisition at larger scale are seismic data acquisition, wireless dataacquisition, pc data acquisition and SCADA (supervisory Control and DataAcquisition) which is the most widely used system referring to a computersystem monitoring industrial, infrastructure or facility based processes likemanufacturing, production, power generation, water treatment distribution andenergy consumption. Lets get familiar with some more technicalterms in data acquisition: · Analog-to-digital converter(ADC) An electronic device that converts analog signals to anequivalent digital form. The analog-to-digital converter is the heart of mostdata acquisition systems. · Digital-to-AnalogConverter (D/A)An electronic component found in many data acquisition devices that produce ananalog output signal. · DigitalInput/Output (DIO)Refers to a type of data acquisition signal. Digital I/O is discrete signalswhich are either one of two states. These states may be on/off, high/low, 1/0,etc. Digital I/O is also referred to as binary I/O. · DifferentialInputRefers to the way a signal is wired to a data acquisition device. Differentialinputs have a unique high and unique low connection for each channel. Dataacquisition devices have either single-ended or differential inputs, manydevices support both configurations. · GeneralPurpose Interface Bus (GPIB)Synonymous with HPIB (for Hewlett-Packard), the standard bus used forcontrolling electronic instruments with a computer. Also called IEEE 488 inreference to defining ANSI/IEEEstandards. · ResolutionThe smallest signal increment that can be detected by a data acquisitionsystem. Resolution can be expressed in bits, in proportions, or in percent offull scale. For example, a system has 12-bit resolution, one part in 4,096resolutions, and 0.0244 percent of full scale. · RS232Its a standard for serial communications found in many data acquisitionsystems. RS232 is the most common serial communication, however, it is somewhatlimited in that it only supports communication to one device connected to thebus at a time and it only supports transmission distances up to 50 feet. · RS485Its a standard for serial communications found in many data acquisitionsystems. RS485 is not as popular as RS232, however, it is more flexible in thatit supports communication to more than one device on the bus at a time andsupports transmission distances of approximately 5,000 feet. Sample Rate The speed at which a data acquisition system collects data. The speed is normally expressed in samples per second. For multi-channel data acquisition devices the sample rate is typically given as the speed of the analog-to-digital converter (A/D). To obtain individual channel sample rate, you need to divide the speed of the A/D by the number of channels being sampled. Single-ended Input (SE): Refers to the way a signal is wired to a data acquisition device. In single-ended wiring, each analog input has a unique high connection but all channels share a common ground connection. Data acquisition devices have either single-ended or differential inputs. Many support both configurations. With the progress in technology data acquisition has becomemore advanced and reliable have come all the way from using simple devices tohighly sophisticated computer systems and has proved to be the greatestengineering marvel in achieving data precision.
Engineering,marvel,Data,Acquis