A novel multidisciplinary course: measurement and automated data acquisition

A system of computer programs and hardware was developed by the Instrumentation Branch of the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) to provide data acquisition and control features for research projects at the site. The Automatic Data Acquisition and Control System (ADACS) has the capability of servicing up to eight individual projects simultaneously, providing data acquisition, data feedback, and process control where needed. Several novel software features - including a data table driven program, extensive feedback in real time, free format English commands, and high reliability - were incorporated to provide these functions.

Performance evaluation of PV powered solar tunnel dryer integrated with a mobile alert system for shrimp drying

Digital phased array antennas (DPAAs) have been widely used in modern radar systems. The flexible production and testing of large-scale DPAAs are becoming a hot research topic. The dedicated calibration elements are passive because they do not have transmitter and receiver modules. These elements cannot be used to test DPAAs. In this paper, we design a multichannel automatic test and data acquisition system for DPAAs. Our motivation is to use the system to verify the correctness and stability of an entire DPAA. The system can achieve snapshot data acquisition of 1152 optical fibers, and it can also process echo data in real time by digital beam forming (DBF) and record the processing results. At present, the system has been put into production for testing of large-scale DPAAs, and it can test the DPAA flexibly and steadily.

In this report we describe the new two-phase flow facility that has been constructed at Brown University. Included is the design philosophy that led us to select a blow-down, Freon tunnel as the means of studying the flow of a pure substance undergoing liquid-vapor phase changes. Each component is discussed from the initial design considerations, through sizing calculations, to actual system specifications. Special emphasis is placed on the instrumentation and automatic data acquisition and processing system. Finally a sampling of results obtained so far is presented. Section 1 gives the reasons for the construction of the facility and lists some of the uses and objectives of its operation. The reader can gain a good overview of the facility from Section 2 without a great deal of detail. In Section 3 we present the rationale for the particular design choices that were made and give details about the selection and sizing of all major components except the instrumentation. The latter subject is treated in Section 4 where we discuss the temperature and pressure probes, mass flow rate measurement, and other instrumentation. Section 5 is devoted to the test section proper where all the two-phase flow measurements and observations take place. The electronic data acquisition and facility control system is the subject of Section 6. Results on two-phase friction factors and flow pattern observations in a horizontal pipe are given in Section 7 along with the ranges of flow that have been covered so far. In capsule summary, the two-phase flow test facility is operational and has demonstrated a wide range of flow conditions from purely liquid to purely vapor through a variety of two-phase situations. Only horizontal flows have been studied so far, but the test section has been designed to operate in inclined positions up to fully vertical. The instrumentation performs very well as does the fully automatic control system. We believe the test facility is capable of yielding highly reliable and accurate data on two-phase flows which will be of great value in practice and in validating the various theories that have been put forth to describe this phenomenon.

Solar One has been instrumented with sensors for weather data system temperatures and pressures, house electrical loads, and photovoltaic system data. An automatic data acquisition and handling system has been designed and installed to gather and then transmit data to a central computer. Programs to summarize these data and tabulate them in convenient forms have been prepared. Initial data have been obtained and analyzed to check the sensor system and to give preliminary performance characteristics of the solar system. (WDM)

: As government and commercial entities continue moving towards a condition based maintenance approach for logistics, the need for automated data acquisition becomes vital to success. For the duration of this document data acquisition is defined as the means by which raw facts are gathered for transmission, evaluation, and analysis. Condition based maintenance is an advanced maintenance management mode, which helps avoid disrepair or excessive repair due to periodic maintenance, reduces maintenance cost, and also improves equipment reliability and availability. The analysis of critical system data minimizes the vulnerabilities of monitored systems, maximizes system availability, and concurrently produces a proactive logistics enterprise. This chapter discusses the design and implementation details of an adaptable automated data acquisition system (DAS) comprising several automated data acquisition nodes. Ideally, a versatile DAS design should have the capabilities to acquire and transmit data on key system test points in electronic or mechanical systems as well as provide the capacity for onboard data storage.

Finding the optimal parameters in laser processing applications can be time-consuming given the large parameter space and various sources of error. This problem is exacerbated by day-to-day variation in laser beam characteristics and a large variety of materials that need to be processed. The ideal laser processing system should be “smart,” meaning that it can sense changes in the environment, make proper adjustment, and predict parameters for new materials. As a step toward this goal, we propose a method to efficiently extract the areas of a large number of laser-induced damages in situ using an automated data acquisition system that can control laser parameters, motorized stage movement, image capturing/processing, and feature extraction. The damage areas are extracted and compared with direct measurements. Damage areas are fed into an artificial neural network (ANN) for prediction. Various ANN structures and training functions are tested to create the optimal ANN for prediction. ANN predictions were found to be capable enough to accurately model and optimize the laser processing parameters that were investigated. With the capability of collecting a large amount of usable data in a short period of time, this acquisition system can be used to train sophisticated ANNs for complicated tasks such as quality control and failure prediction.

Researchers of the future will depend upon computer technology to address questions that previously could not be answered using traditional methods of data acquisition. Recent advances in computer design and software availability have eliminated many of the limitations previously associated with computer use in the laboratory setting. Although computerisation facilitates the acquisition of laboratory data, identification of errors introduced into the measurement is often more difficult. The laboratory computer is only one component of an automated data acquisition system. A system designed to collect physiological data comprises several primary components, including: (a) sensing element; (b) signal amplification/conditioning circuits; (c) analogue display; (d) computer interface; (e) laboratory computer; and (f) acquisition software. The acquisition and conditioning of analogue signals is accomplished using traditional laboratory procedures familiar to the researcher. Converting this analogue signal into a digital format used by the computer, however, represents new techniques. Fundamentals of computerised data acquisition are discussed. An understanding of how an automated data acquisition system is configured and the techniques used to transform the values will assist the user in identifying sources of error introduced into the measurement. Additionally, familiarization with the methods of computerisation will provide insight into future applications of computer technology in the human performance laboratory.

Recently, Uchida et al. [2016, Science] revealed the periodic changes in the interplate locking in the northeast Japan subduction zone based on the activity of small repeating earthquakes and terrestrial crustal deformation data. They found that slow slip on the plate interface has occurred repeatedly at intervals of from 2 to 6 years, depending on the location. In the northern part of the Japan Trench, a tsunami earthquake occurred with rupturing the shallow plate boundary in 1896, but it is not well understood whether the coseismic slip fully released the interseismic slip deficit, and whether periodic slow slip events occur near the trench or not. In order to investigate the interplate locking state in this region, we have just started a research project titled “Head and tail of massive earthquakes: Mechanism arresting growth of interplate earthquakes” (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19H05596), under which GNSS-Acoustic observation to detect the seafloor crustal deformation will be performed more frequently than ever before. To accomplish frequent observations, we have been developing automatic GNSS-A data acquisition system using an unmanned surface vehicle, the Wave Glider. As a first observation, we have performed GNSS-A observation at a seafloor station off Aomori Prefecture in this July. The Wave Glider (SV3-240) was equipped with 2 GNSS antennas, acoustic transducer, MEMS gyro, and their control and logging units. The data acquisition from these sensors and the autonomous activation of the seafloor transponders were successfully executed only with turning the power supply to the payload on/off from land via a satellite communication. The Wave Glider rarely strayed off the configured course, and the solar panels generated enough power to perform the observations although the weather was mostly cloudy during the operation. Now, we are processing the obtained data, and the results will be presented at the meeting.

In making physical oceanographic observations it is important to have capabilities of vertical disposition and long time-series measurements at selected locations. For the purpose of achieving this requirement MCI has initiated development of a system called the Automatic Profiling Ocean Data Acquisition System (APODAS), which operates from a discus-buoy. The system consists of an oceanographic sensor package which descends and ascends utilizing a winch system, electronics for system control and data acquisition, a UHF telemetry system, DC power system, hull and mooring system. This project, under the sponsorship of Japan Mechanical Social Systems Foundation, was undertaken in L97P and culminated in completed sea trials during 1979.

In October 1964, Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LMSC) started to experiment with an on‐line reference retrieval system which uses a coordinate search strategy. Installation of the retrieval system was greatly facilitated by the existence of the LMSC on‐line Automatic Data Acquisition (ADA) system which provided the vehicle for this application.Experience with the current hardware‐limited design has led to a more flexible “conversational” approach which is currently being implemented. The current system and the second‐generation design using a “dialogue” are briefly described.

Although performing tunnel excavation using tunnel boring machines (TBMs) is rapid, it is susceptible to the unexpected geological changes located in front of the tunnel face. Seismic detection methods are useful to detect local geological conditions in front of the tunnel face. However, manual detection is time consuming and may interfere in realizing rapid excavation by TBMs. Therefore, this study proposes an automated seismic detection system that is mounted on a TBM for rapidly imaging anomalous zones in front of the tunnel face. The system consists of an automated data acquisition system and a data processing system. The automated data acquisition system allows reducing the data acquisition time. To reduce the data processing time, the data processing system images the anomalous zones based on a modified Coppens' method. The proposed system has been mounted on TBMs and verified based on field tests.

Failure analysis of a 3.5 inch, 50 ampere hour nickel—hydrogen cell

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Once the decision is made to test vehicles on a chassis dynamometer, the selection of the chassis dynamometer system is the next order of business. Since dynamometer equipment is available in several sizes, shapes and types and can be put together in several configurations, it is sometimes difficult to select the one dynamometer that best fits the requirements of the test program. This paper describes a decision making process for selecting a dynamometer system. The areas of cost, types of tests, available room and accuracy of requirements are discussed. The discussion includes the various types of absorbers and motoring devices, the effect of roll size and the effect of speed increasers. Various types of manual and automatic controls and data acquisition systems are also included in the discussion.</div>

Present state of the art sizing measurements of defects by ultrasonic techniques has been inadequate, especially in support of a quantitative fracture mechanical analysis of the strength of a material. Present capabilities of defect sizing in some cases do not allow an accept/reject decision to be made. Currently, ultrasonic imaging systems including phased array, synthetic aperture, and wavefront reconstruction systems are being developed to quantitatively measure defect sizes. Also, in the medical field phased array systems have been developed for imaging purposes. Ibis work describes an annular phased array system which is being developed for general NDE applications on metal and ceramic materials. The main usefulness of phased array techniques is the ability of electronically changing the focus of the acoustic beam radiating from a phased array transducer or reflecting from a defect in a solid material.