A computer data acquisition system can collect vital measurement data to control, monitor or characterize it. The specific considerations of an application determine the speed, channels count, accuracy and resolution of the system. The fundamental components include transducers and sensors, field wiring, actuators, signal conditioning, system hardware, system software, and a PC.
The transducers is a device that detects physical occurrences, such radiant energy, motion, and different kinds of energy, such as mechanical or thermal energy, and change parameters, such as strain, flow, pressure and temperature into electrical parameters like resistance, current, and voltage. Sensors are devices with an input function and are used to detect a physical occurrence that transforms due to specific phenomena, such as force or heat. Actuators are devices with an output function and they are used for monitoring and comparing values of external devices. Field wiring entails the physical links that connect to the hardware from the sensors or transducers. Signal conditioning is a device that can isolate, shape, attenuate, or amplify a signal from the transducer before the signal is sent to the system hardware for measurement purposes. The hardware interfaces between the PC and a signal. The system software is a written program the controls the entire system. It contains system routine modules, modules for system diagnosis, modules for system calibration and maintenance, data analysis modules, system drivers and runtime modules (Emilio, 2013).
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The PC is the data acquisition platform as it is the device that reads the analog signals from sensors and transforms them into a digital form. The data acquired may be displayed, printed or stored.
An example of an industrial data acquisition system is the MAQ 20 Industrial Data Acquisition and Control System. The system contains a multi-channel, rail mounted and programmable signal conditioning output and input modules and modules for communications. The system field wiring has safeguards against accidental incorrect signal connection and overload (Dataforth, n.d.). The system can be used for measuring and testing, automating process and factory, monitoring the environment, and can be applied in the gas and oil sector, the energy and power sector and the aerospace and military sector.
References
Dataforth. (n.d.). Industrial Data Acquisition & Control System. Retrieved September 10, 2018, from https://www.dataforth.com/maq20.aspx
Emilio, M. D. (2013). Data Acquisition Systems From Fundamentals to Applied Design . New York, NY: Springer New York.
