Data acquisition systems

In order that the data acquisition system can obtain information about the spatial location and orientation of the probe, a four-channel incremental encoder interface board is installed. Three channels are used to define position in three-dimensional space, while the fourth monitors the skew of the probe (skew is defined as rotation about an axis normal to the probe face). Although six measurements are required to completely define the location and orientation, it is assumed that the probe remains in contact with the inspection surface. 

The complete advanced 3D inspection system contains three main components the Advanced Inspection Robot - AIR-1, the new generation P-scan ultrasonic data acquisition system - PS-4 and the 3D ultrasonic simulation system - UltraSIM. 

P-Scan System 4 Ultrasonic Data Acquisition System... 

We should also note that most of todays data acquisition systems are capable of producing enormous amounts of data which the traditional approach does not exploit for anything but verification of different ways to extract and combine features. To search in the. space of all such combinations is however a tremendous task. 

As we have mentioned, the particular characterization task considered in this work is to determine attenuation in composite materials. At our hand we have a data acquisition system that can provide us with data from both PE and TT testing. The approach is to treat the attenuation problem as a multivariable regression problem where our target values, y , are the measured attenuation values (at different locations n) and where our input data are the (preprocessed) PE data vectors, u . The problem is to find a function iy = /(ii ), such that i), za jy, based on measured data, the so called training data. 

The apparatus consists of a tip-position controller, an electrochemical cell with tip, substrate, counter and reference electrodes, a bipotentiostat and a data-acquisition system. The microelectrode tip is held on a piezoelectric pusher, which is mounted on an inchwomi-translator-driven x-y-z tliree-axis stage. This assembly enables the positioning of the tip electrode above the substrate by movement of the inchwomi translator or by application of a high voltage to the pusher via an amplifier. The substrate is attached to the bottom of the electrochemical cell, which is mounted on a vibration-free table [, and ]. A number... 

Preprocessor. A device in a data-acquisition system that performs a significant amount of data reduction by extracting specific information from raw signal representations in advance of the main processing operation. A preprocessor can constitute the whole of a data-acquisition interface, in which case it must also perform the data-acquisition task (conversion of spectrometer signal to computer representation), or it can specialize solely in data treatment. 

C. D. Cowfer, ed.. Use of Computers in NDE Engineering and Data Acquisition Systems, NDE Vol. 2, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, 1986. 

Continuous Emissions Monitoring. A key aspect of the new CAAA is the requirement that plants prove their continued compHance to new emissions limits by installing continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMs). The CAAA imposes new requirements for monitoring NO, SO2, and CO2 levels in a plant s exhaust gas stream. Affected plants typically must gather data from stack monitoring systems, gas analyzers, and the plant s data acquisition system and provide the data in a format approved by the EPA and state regulators. CEM systems must be in place by November 1993 for boilers affected by Phase I of the CAAA, and byjanuary 1995 for plants impacted by Phase II. 

The averaging time of the rapid-response record [Fig. 4-1 (a)] is an inherent characteristic of the instrument and the data acquisition system. It can become almost an instantaneous record of concentration at the receptor. However, in most cases this is not desirable, because such an instantaneous record cannot be put to any practical air pollution control use. What such a record reveals is something of the turbulent structure of the atmosphere, and thus it has some utility in meteorological research. In communications... 

With such aTOF-imaging SSIMS instrument, the useful mass range is extended beyond 10000 amu the mass resolution, m/Am, is -10000 with simultaneous detection of all masses and within each image, all masses can be detected. The number of data generated in a short time is enormous, and very sophisticated data acquisition systems are required to handle and process the data. 

Data acquisition system for continuous emission monitoring of ambient air or slack emissions. Also provides reports. 

The SIMULAR, developed by Hazard Evaluation Laboratory Ltd., is a chemical reactor control and data acquisition system. It can also perform calorimetry measurements and be employed to investigate chemical reaction and unit operations such as mixing, blending, crystallization, and distillation. Ligure 12-24 shows a schematic detail of the SIMULAR, and Ligure 12-25 illustrates the SIMULAR reaction calorimeter with computer controlled solids addition. 

Availability of facilities and expertise Are test facilities, instrumentation, and data-acquisition systems available. Are simulation tools, hardware, and specialized staff for numerical simulation available. The decision depends on the answers to these questions. 

Instruments based on the contact principle can further be divided into two classes mechanical thermometers and electrical thermometers. Mechanical thermometers are based on the thermal expansion of a gas, a liquid, or a solid material. They are simple, robust, and do not normally require power to operate. Electrical resistance thermometers utilize the connection between the electrical resistance and the sensor temperature. Thermocouples are based on the phenomenon, where a temperature-dependent voltage is created in a circuit of two different metals. Semiconductor thermometers have a diode or transistor probe, or a more advanced integrated circuit, where the voltage of the semiconductor junctions is temperature dependent. All electrical meters are easy to incorporate with modern data acquisition systems. A summary of contact thermometer properties is shown in Table 12.3. 

The DBMS setup and experimental procedures used in this study were the same as described in more detail elsewhere [Jusys et al., 2001]. Briefly, the DBMS setup consisted of two differentially pumped chambers, a Balzers QMS 112 quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS), a Pine Instruments potentiostat, and a computerized data acquisition system. 

Because an LSMBS is almost certain to involve more than one laboratory in the analytical phase, results obtained by multiple laboratories must be internally and externally consistent. For this reason, the use of a single method in all analyses, if possible, is advantageous. The method must conform to quality criteria and must be rugged, i.e., must be satisfactory for all analytes in all commodities, with instruments and data acquisition systems from various manufacturers. 

The OPMBS used a custom-written spreadsheet application, i.e., a workbook, in conjunction with laboratory automation systems to standardize data recording, calculations, and presentation of results. Devising this approach required careful differentiation between (a) the workbook used to calculate and report the results and (b) the data acquisition systems used in each laboratory. The laboratory systems were used to collect the raw chromatographic data, but the calculation modules in the laboratory systems were not used. Instead, all calculations were done in the workbook. Use of the laboratory systems to collate and output the final results was considered but was rejected for two reasons. First, different laboratories used different systems, and some laboratories used more than one system. The output characteristics of the various systems differed considerably and would have required extensive modification... 

The electrochemical cell for the polarographic measurements had a four-electrode configuration equipped with a microsyringe, and was connected to a computer-assisted data-acquisition system [7]. On the other hand, the cyclic voltammetric measurements that are also assisted by a computer data-acquisition system were carried out using a gel electrode that contains the aqueous phase [8]. The cell structure was as follows ... 

Matrix acidizing treatments are more often performed, nowadays, with sensors and data acquisition systems continuously recording the surface pressure and rate histories. According to a recently proposed methodology (15), these records can be used to compute downhole rate and pressure evolutions. The bottomhole pressure history is then compared to the theoretical response of an equivalent reservoir wherein a non-reactive fluid would have been injected according to an identical rate schedule. Following this method, the difference between both theoretical and actual pressure responses originates from the evolution of the skin of the true reservoir under the influence of the acid attack. Equation 1 is then used to derive the skin decrease from this pressure difference. 

Since powerful X-ray sources and sophisticated beam shaping have generally become available, point-collimated setups for the study of X-ray scattering have lost their former handicap of low intensity. Today they benefit from their simple and versatile geometry. This section is devoted to an overview of modern apparatus -beginning with the source of X-radiation and ending with the detector and the data acquisition system. 

Advanced users bring their own remote-controlled equipment, install it in the beamline and couple it to the data acquisition system of the beamline for automatic recording of environmental parameters. 

Automatic Monitoring. The success of the experiment is strongly related to the ability of the data acquisition system to automatically record the relevant parameters during the experiment. Monitoring basic parameters by paper and pencil is only the last resort. 

Human Journaling. One of the team members should observe the running experiment and the data acquisition system and write down the observations of the team in a journal file on a laptop computer. 

Figure 4.15. Digital display and wire connections related to the 8 monitor channels which can be managed by the environmental data acquisition system of beamline BW4, HASYLAB, Hamburg... 

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