CAS DataLoggers has just announced a low-cost PC-based data acquisition solution for use with our Accsense VersaLog series data loggers—the new SiteView Software Development Kit. This new software lets users develop their own custom monitoring and alarm applications with VersaLog products. This new solution is ideal for engineers, scientists, and anyone interested in developing application programs to perform DAQ operations with VersaLog dataloggers. Read more on our Product Announcement page.
Real Time DAQ Using our PC-based Data Loggers
CHESTERLAND OH—March 5, 2013
CAS DataLoggers and Brainchild have just introduced the new Distributed I/O Modules as inexpensive, portable solutions recording real-time readings. With a simple setup and standalone operation, these modules communicate with a datalogger, PLC or HMI via Modbus RTU protocol. Featuring options for multiple thermocouple and RTD inputs, as well as current/voltage and digital signals, these data loggers are already seeing use in a wide variety of applications including lab setups, process measurement, and small businesses. Read more on our Product Announcements page.
CAS DataLoggers together with Delphin introduces the Expert Key 100L and 200L Data Loggers, ideal for multi-channel temperature measurement in the lab but also suited to high-speed data acquisition. Industry R&D and product testing programs need a flexible yet portable device for automation, product quality documentation, and acquiring, monitoring and analyzing measurement data. Expert Key data loggers are a cost-effective solution for analog data acquisition, jumpstarting projects while fitting easily into departmental budgets. Read more on our Product Announcements page.
Version 1.2.2 Now Available for Novus FieldLoggers
CHESTERLAND OH—May 3, 2012
CAS DataLoggers together with Novus Automation are proud to announce the latest software upgrade for the bestselling Novus FieldLoggers. Version 1.2.2. adds improved functionality while also addressing known issues. These versatile DAQ and SCADA systems are versatile, powerful and yet cost- effective data loggers handling analog, digital and other types of variables at high resolution and speed. This high performance and high connectivity piece of equipment is surprisingly easy to configure and operate, making it ideal for a wide variety of industrial and manufacturing applications. Read more on our product announcement page.
dataTaker DT80 Intelligent Universal Input Data Logger
CHESTERLAND OH—December 12, 2011
A large manufacturer of OEM automotive components needed to conduct an ambitious field test to evaluate the reliability of its latest device. This test involved data collection from multiple vehicles at various locations across the US to study the effects of various environmental conditions on the component. The test needed to run for up to 3 years to capture enough data for accurate statistical evaluation and lifetime predictions, requiring more than 20 measurements including temperature, voltage, speed, run time, and other operating conditions. Engineers began searching for an intelligent datalogging solution with the versatility to accommodate all these different types of signal inputs. Soon 3 other key concerns were identified: first, overall power consumption was very important–the logger only needed to collect data while the vehicle was running, but it had to be continuously powered so that it could quickly respond to the startup and be able to send the data at specific times. Therefore, the power consumption needed to be very low to eliminate the possibility of discharging the vehicle battery if it was parked for a long time period. Secondly, since the vehicles were dispersed throughout remote locations across the country, manual data retrieval was impractical, so the manufacturer wanted to implement a periodic automated data upload via a cellular connection. Finally, the data logging system needed to be as unobtrusive as possible, since these test vehicles were currently being driven by end users.
After extensive evaluation recording multimeters and data loggers with several different types of equipment including hardened PLCs, the customer installed 15 dataTaker DT80 Intelligent Universal Input Data Loggers for the test project. These intelligent low-power devices featured 18-bit resolution and a ±30 V input measurement range, utilizing a Dual Channel concept allowing up to 10 isolated or 15 common referenced analog inputs to be used in many combinations. Offering 5 to 15 universal analog sensor inputs and 12 digital channels, the stand-alone loggers performed real-time data acquisition inside the vehicles. Each DT80 datalogger featured a built-in display and removable screw terminals for secure connections. High-speed counter inputs, phase encoder inputs and a programmable serial sensor channel enabled the DT80s to easily connect to most sensors and data measurement sources. Temperature, voltage, current, 4-20mA loops, resistance, bridges, strain gauges, frequency, digital, serial and calculated measurements could all be scaled, logged and returned in engineering units or within statistical reporting. Users could also group sampling, logging, alarm and control tasks within schedules to suit their requirements.
To power the data loggers, a connection from the battery was run to the main power input of the logger while a separate wire was run from the ignition to one of the digital inputs and the WK input of the data logger. The wire from the ignition was only energized when the key was on. Then, utilizing the ability to have multiple schedules within the data loggers and the capability of starting and stopping schedules under program control, a simple schedule triggered by the key turning on or off was created, and in turn this schedule controlled the main data collection schedules within the loggers. Using the power mode parameter in conjunction with the sleep delay parameter, the loggers were set to go to sleep whenever they were inactive to reduce power consumption to a minimum.
To simplify data retrieval, the dataloggers were paired with an Airlink Raven XE CDMA cellular modem featuring an Ethernet interface that could be connected directly to the Ethernet port of the data loggers. Power for the modem was sent through the internal Relay channel of the DT80s, allowing the modem to be powered only during the data upload. A timed schedule was created to trigger the data upload at a specific time each day. Since multiple data loggers were used in the project, the upload times were staggered so that the loggers wouldn’t try to send their data to the server at the same time. Once activated, the upload schedule would close the relay to power up the modem, wait for the modem to register, then establish its connection to the cellular network, send the data via the DT80s’ built in FTP server using the copy data (COPYD) command, and then power down the modem when done. All of the data was easily segregated by assigning each data logger a specific directory on the FTP host computer. A key feature of the COPYD command was the Start option which maintained an internal pointer to the beginning of any new data which hadn’t yet been successfully unloaded. This allowed the intelligent dataloggers to automatically handle situations where the modem wasn’t able to make a connection to the cell network because of poor coverage or when the upload couldn’t complete successfully for some reason. Data transfer via the loggers’ flexible communications arrays included Ethernet, RS-232 communication with PC, SDI-12 and Modbus sensor support, and a USB memory slot. Operators could also archive data on alarm event, copy to USB memory or transfer via FTP. All these options greatly simplified data management.
The DT80 dataloggers’ small size was another important part of the project. The manufacturer was able to conveniently package the DT80 and cell modem in a fiberglass NEMA-rated enclosure that was approximately 1 ft3. This enclosure was easily mounted in each car’s trunk, creating minimal impact for the vehicle owner and reducing the possibility of tampering. A remote cellular antenna was mounted close by on the underside of the rear shelf below the back window for good signal reception.
The component manufacturer realized several key benefits from installing the dataTaker DT80 in its extensive component test program. The DT80 intelligent datalogger had the flexibility to measure all the physical values required by the demanding tests. These devices also featured the low power consumption, simplified data retrieval (enabled with connection to the modem), and the small size that were all essential for this application. Users found it easy to work with the included dEX software for trouble-free logger configuration, and the DT80’s many communications options offered convenient data transfer locally via USB or online through FTP.
About 18 months into the test program, the reliability of the data loggers has been very good. Most of the loggers uploaded data every night, and although some may have missed a day or 2 because of poor cellular coverage in their location, they recovered and uploaded any missing data once they got back to a better location. The quality of the measured data met or exceeded all of the customer’s expectations. In fact, the one hardware failure that occurred was attributed to the data logger being submerged as a result of a collision!
Check out the DT80 Intelligent Universal Input Data Logger product page here.
For further information on the DT80 Intelligent Universal Input Data Logger, other dataloggers in the highly successful dataTaker product range, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit the website at www.DataLoggerInc.com.
Contact Information:
CAS DataLoggers, Inc.
12628 Chillicothe Road
Chesterland, Ohio 44026
(440) 729-2570
(800) 956-4437
sales@dataloggerinc.com
http://www.dataloggerinc.com
Using the KineticSystems DAQ518 Portable High-Speed Data Logger
CHESTERLAND OH—November 14, 2011
CAS DataLoggers recently provided the datalogging solution for a large manufacturer of plastic water tanks. The customer manufactured heavy plastic tanks, as thick as an industrial Pelican case, designed to install in toilets. Normally a water system such as a toilet contained about 40-80 lbs of pressure, so the manufacturer usually tested their toilets to two or three times that for safety reasons. However, a common plumbing problem could develop in the form of a ‘water hammer,’ a sudden spike in water pressure occurring when a valve suddenly closed at an end of a pipeline system, such as when a home’s occupants turned off a water flow from a dishwasher, a laundry machine, or a toilet. With the valve closed, the water suddenly had to stop or change direction. Since the mass of water was still moving forward with high velocity, in the worst-case scenario, a water hammer could spike the pressure in the toilet’s tank to as much as 250lbs–enough to burst the heavy plastic tank! To design even stronger containment structures and help prevent any potentially harmful occurrences, the company needed to measure the amount of force that could be generated during a tank explosion. These tanks were normally pressurized to 40-70 PSI, but under certain fault conditions the pressure could exceed 200 PSI, causing the tank to violently rupture. The company’s demanding quality assurance tests on the tanks required a powerful yet portable datalogging solution offering a large number of analog inputs, wireless Ethernet connection to a PC or laptop, and user-friendly configuration and display software.
The customer installed a KineticSystems DAQ518 Portable High Speed Data Logger in their testing area and connected it to load cells installed in several toilet tanks under test to record the force generated by sudden tank ruptures. The DAQ518 was a complete 18-channel multiplexed signal conditioning system featuring 16 differential input analog channels with fixed gain and filters, 2 frequency inputs, and an external trigger input. This compact system provided 2 channels of direct strain gauge input with programmable excitation voltage, internal signal amplification and filtering, and the ability to record at up to 50 kHz with an aggregate sampling rate of up to 32k samples/second. Using the data supplied by the load cell manufacturer, personnel quickly configured the DAQ518 to excite the load cells, amplify the resulting signal, and scale the data to force. Charts and numeric displays built into the software simplified the configuration of the test set-up by providing immediate feedback as changes were made.
For the safety tests, the manufacturer built a test fixture with one free wall to contain the tank. This free wall needed to be instrumented in such a way as to measure the peak force generated during the event. Two compression “load button” load cells from Interface Technology were selected because their small size and low height allowed them to be easily affixed between the free wall and the fixed structure of the test fixture. The load cells selected had a range of 0-500 lbs with a 150% overload rating. Internally, the load cells used a 4-wire bridge circuit that required a voltage or current excitation and provided a nominal output of 2 mV/V of excitation at the rated load. The tanks were then subjected to intense water hammer events and the force of the resultant ruptures was recorded.
Another important feature of the DAQ518 datalogger was its ability to break large data sets into multiple, smaller files for easier manipulation and analysis. Over the course of these tests, the heavy-duty tanks could take anywhere from several hours to several days to fail under stress. Consequently, data was sampled at 1 kHz to capture the peak force generated during the failure; this could potentially generate more than 300 million points, making it impractical to try to analyze this much data in a single file. By breaking the data into multiple smaller files, it was much faster and easier for engineers to zoom into the area of interest.
The DAQ518 datalogger comprised a rugged, portable stand-alone data logging system with up to 64 channels, removable Flash memory and Ethernet communications for industrial and in-vehicle applications. Auto-configuration on power-up was supported for stand-alone applications. The ultra-compact and fully enclosed chassis weighed only 2.5lbs (1.13kg), making it an ideal portable solution. The logger featured 2 analog input channels with bridge signal conditioning, programmable gain and filter, along with 16 analog input channels with fixed gain and filter. The datalogger also featured an external trigger input and 2 additional frequency measurement channels, 16-bit analog-to-digital converter resolution, and a maximum aggregate sampling rate of 50 kHz. Local CompactFlash data storage was also standard. 10BaseT Ethernet connectivity to a PC or laptop enabled wireless communication with the data logger for setup, data display and processing.
VersaDAQ software was included free with the data logger and managed and controlled the datalogger’s operations including setup, data acquisition, and data recording. VersaDAQ ran on a PC or laptop and connected to the datalogger’s chassis via the 10Base T Ethernet connection. The software’s user-friendly interface allowed quick setup for data collection and storage, and also configured channels, sample rate, record mode and calibration.
The plastic tank manufacturer benefitted in several key ways following installation of the DAQ518 Portable High Speed Datalogger in their quality assurance testing, foremost of which was the ability to accurately record the force of the controlled explosions, directly resulting in a safer and more reliable product. The datalogger offered testers both portability and wireless Ethernet connection, making logging convenient and hassle-free. Additionally, the included software was easy to learn and easily controlled the logger’s many setup, configuration and recording functions.
Check out the DAQ518 Portable High Speed Datalogger product page here.
For further information on the KineticSystems DAQ518 18-Channel Portable High Speed Datalogger, other KineticSystems portable data acquisition and datalogging systems, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit the website at www.DataLoggerInc.com.
Contact Information:
CAS DataLoggers, Inc.
12628 Chillicothe Road
Chesterland, Ohio 44026
(440) 729-2570
(800) 956-4437
sales@dataloggerinc.com
http://www.dataloggerinc.com
Delphin Expert Key 200
CHESTERLAND OH—October 3rd, 2011
CAS DataLoggers has teamed up with Delphin Technology to introduce the new Delphin Expert Key 200 Portable Data Acquisition System, the latest high-speed, plug-and-play solution for data acquisition of measurement and process data, experiments and product testing, and automation of machinery and test stands. This compact device’s wide areas of application range from fault troubleshooting, reliability testing, process and laboratory automation, and research and development. Two Expert Key 200 models are available: the Expert Key L pop-up tabletop device for industrial applications, and the Expert Key C model for laboratory uses and installations in control cabinets. Together these high-accuracy units are an ideal solution for projects requiring a compact yet powerful device.
The new Delphin Expert Key 200 Data Acquisition System has been specifically designed for laboratory and experimental applications including automation of measurement processes, process visualization, and experiment, trial and test stand automation. This latest generation of data acquisition system comprises a complete hardware and software package in a lightweight, portable unit with benchtop enclosure, suitable for both tabletop and wall-mounted usage (200L model) and in a panel mount enclosure (200C model).
A true plug and play device, the Delphin Expert Key200 lets users start collecting data as soon as the device is connected to a PC via USB or Ethernet, making configuration and setup quick and simple. The Expert Key 200 offers 28 universal analog inputs which can be connected to mV, volt, 20 mA signals, thermocouples, and RTD sensors, enabling any physical value to be acquired including temperature, pressure, and flow-rate. A universal digital input is available for acquiring status, frequencies or impulses, and a counter input is also included. All inputs and analog/digital outputs are universal and galvanically-isolated to protect against earth loops. Sensors and actuators are connected via plugs located on the side. The Expert Key 200 also features plug-in screw terminals for secure connections and a maximum sample rate of 100 kHz. Measurement data is saved as scaled and linearized to the device (e.g. PSI, ft/sec, GPM). Scaling is pre-configured for all current thermocouple and RTD sensor types, even for large applications, and signal conditioning is also included. Experiments can be controlled or events triggered via analog, digital or by a PWM output.
Free ProfiSignal Go professional PC software is included for the online and offline monitoring and analysis of measurement data. This user-friendly software enables set-up and online or offline monitoring as well as measurement and data analysis. ProfiSignal Go also interfaces with other third-party applications including LabView and Diadem, and data can be exchanged with other systems using an OPC server or Modbus TCP. An OCX interface is also provided to interface with custom programs. The Expert Key gains added value through a comprehensive complete package including ProfiSignal Go and a multitude of software interfaces and drivers for the problem-free integration of external systems, saving the expense of having to acquire additional software.
The Expert Key 200L is designed for table-top and wall-mounted usage, with mounting brackets included in the delivery along with a power supply adapter. A pop-up detachable lid enables a clear overview of connections. Sensors and actuators are connected via plugs located on the sides. The L model has universal capability and is particularly suited to laboratory, servicing and testing environments. The Expert Key 200C model has the same design as the L model apart from the metal housing design, which enables the devices to be installed in cabinets or 19” rack systems. The Expert Key can also be supplied without housings to enable OEM solutions.
Providing a wide input array for a broad range of applications, the Delphin Expert Key 200 Data Acquisition System is a cost-effective solution for analog data acquisition and laboratory applications, jumpstarting projects while fitting easily into project budgets.
Check out the Delphin Expert Key 200 product page at http://www.dataloggerinc.com/products/Expert_Key_200_Data_Acquisition_System/153/, and view the CAS inventory of portable data loggers at http://www.dataloggerinc.com/products/Expert_Key_200_Data_Acquisition_System/153/?cid=24.
For further information on the Delphin Expert Key 200 Data Acquisition System, other devices in the Delphin data acquisition line, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit the website at www.DataLoggerInc.com.
Contact Information:
CAS DataLoggers, Inc.
12628 Chillicothe Road
Chesterland, Ohio 44026
(440) 729-2570
(800) 956-4437
sales@dataloggerinc.com
http://www.dataloggerinc.com