ELE8313

DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS

AU Jibia
 Introduction
 Data acquisition is the process by which physical phenomena
from the real world are transformed into electrical signals
that are measured and converted into a digital format for
processing, analysing, and storage by a computer.
 A typical data acquisition system consists of individual
sensors with necessary signal conditioning, multiplexing, data
conversion, data processing, data handling and associated
transmission, storage and display systems.

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 Introduction
 The basic elements of a data acquisition system, as shown in
the functional diagram are as follows:
 Sensors and transducers
 Field wiring
 Signal conditioning
 Data acquisition hardware
 PC (operating system)
 Data acquisition software
 A data acquisition system can thus be thought of as a
collection of software and hardware that connects us to the
physical world.

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 Introduction

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 Introduction

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 Introduction
 A typical data acquisition system comprises a computer
system with DAQ hardware, wherein the DAQ hardware is
typically plugged into one of the I/O slots of the computer
system.

National instruments PCI-

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 Objectives of a DAS
 It must acquire the necessary data at the correct speed and at
the correct time.
 Use of all data efficiently to inform the operator about the
state of the plant.
 It must monitor the complete plant operation to maintain
online optimum and safe operations.

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 Objectives of a DAS
 It must be able to collect, summarize and store data for
diagnosis of operation and record purpose.
 It must be capable of computing unit performance indices
using online real-time data.
 It must be flexible and capable of being expanded for future
requirements.

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 DAQ Hardware
 A Data Acquisition System ( DAQ) is a combination of
computer hardware and software that gathers stores or
processes data in order to control or monitor some sort of
physical process.
 The DAQ hardware is configured and controlled by DAQ
software executing on the computer system.

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 DAQ Hardware
 data acquisition hardware is characterised by the following
subsystems
 Analog input subsystem
 Analog output subsystem
 Digital input/output subsystem
 Counter/timer

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 Signal Conditioning
 Most sensors and transducers generate signals that must be
modified before a measurement or DAQ device can reliably and
accurately acquire the signal.
 This front-end processing is referred to as signal conditioning.
 The main tasks performed by signal conditioning circuitry are:
 Filtering
 Amplification
 Linearisation
 Isolation
 Bias removal
 Excitation

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 Signal Conditioning
 Filtering
 In noisy environments, it is very difficult to acquire low magnitude
signals received from sensors such as signals from thermocouples
and strain gauges (in the order of mV).
 Signal conditioning equipment often contain low-pass filters
designed to eliminate high-frequency noise that can lead to
inaccurate data. This is done before the signal is amplified to feed
to the DAQ system.

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 Signal Conditioning
 Amplification
 In signal conditioning, amplification serves two main purposes:
 Increases resolution of the input signal:
 Increases Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR): Amplifying a signal before
sending it through a cable to the receiving end enables high SNR
to the noises introduced in the path having noise interference.

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 Signal Conditioning
 Linearization
 It is the modification of a system so that its outputs are
approximately linear functions of its inputs, in order to facilitate
analysis of the system. e.g. Light intensity transducers

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 Signal Conditioning
 Isolation
 Isolation in signal conditioning refers to the transmission signal
from the source to measuring device without physical connection.
 Isolation protects expensive computer equipment from damage
and computer operators from injury. In addition, where common-
mode voltage levels are high or there is a need for extremely low
common-mode leakage current, as for medical applications,
isolation allows measurements to be accurately and safely
obtained.
 The most common methods of circuit isolation include
 opto-isolation for analogue signals
 magnetic or capacitive isolation for digital signals how do they work?

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 Signal Conditioning
 Bias Removal
 A bias may exist in either due to the nature of the transducer or as
a consequence of other signal conditioning operations.
 Mathematically

 where C is the bias in the output signal

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 Signal Conditioning

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 Signal Conditioning
 Excitation
 A signal conditioner may create excitation for passive sensors
such as strain gauges and resistance temperature detectors,
which require external excitation voltages or currents.
 The excitation can be ac or dc.

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 Signal Conditioning: Excitation
 DC excitation

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 Signal Conditioning: Excitation
 AC excitation

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 Many data acquisition hardware devices contain analogue to digital
converters (ADCs) that convert (digitize) real-world sensor
signals into numbers which computers can read.
 Four primary types are used for industrial and laboratory
applications:
 Successive approximation
 Flash/Parallel
 Integrating
 Ramp/Counting
 Industrial and lab data acquisition tasks typically require 12
to 16 bits—12 are the most common.
 As a rule, increasing resolution results in higher costs and
slower conversion speed.

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 Comparison of different A/D converters

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 Successive Approximation
 The most common A/D converter design used for general
industrial and laboratory applications.
 Provides an effective compromise among resolution, speed,
and cost.
 Converts a continuous analog waveform into a discrete
digital representation via a binary search through all possible
quantisation levels before finally converging upon a digital
output for each conversion.

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 Successive Approximation

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 Flash/Parallel

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 ADC Performance
 Resolution: a measure of the number of levels used to
represent the analog input range and determines the
converter’s sensitivity to a change in analog input.
 Voltage Stability: Absolute accuracy of the A/D conversion
is a function of the reference voltage stability (the known
voltage to which the unknown voltage is compared) as well as
the comparator performance.
 Speed: system speed depends on the conversion time,
acquisition time, transfer time, and the number of channels
being served by the system.

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 Analog Input Subsystem
 ADC Performance
 Acquisition time is the time needed by the front-end
analog circuitry to acquire a signal. Also called aperture
time, it is the time for which the converter must see the
analog voltage in order to complete a conversion.
 Conversion time is the time needed to produce a digital
value corresponding to the analog value.
 Transfer time is the time needed to send the digital value
to the host computer’s memory.
 Throughput, then, equals the number of channels being
served divided by the time required to do all three functions.

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 Analog Output Subsystem
 An analog output subsystem mainly consist of a Digital-to-
Analog (D/A) converter, which is functionally opposite to an
A/D converter.
 Standard analog output ranges are often same as analog input
standards: ±5 V dc, ±10 V dc, 0–10 V dc, and 4–20 mA dc,
etc.

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 Analog Output Subsystem
 Key Specifications of an Analog Output Subsystem
 Settling Time: Period required for a D/A converter to
respond to a full-scale set point change.
 Linearity: This refers to the device’s ability to accurately
divide the reference voltage into evenly sized increments.
 Range: The reference voltage sets the limit on the output
voltage achievable.

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 Analog Output Subsystem
 Types of DACs
 Binary weighted DAC
Review
 R-2R ladder DAC
 Oversampling DACs or Interpolating DACs
 Thermometer Coded DAC
 Hybrid DAC

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 Analog Output Subsystem
 DAC Performance
 Resolution: This is the number of possible output levels the
DAC is designed to reproduce. This is usually stated as the
number of bits it uses.
 Maximum Sampling Frequency: This is a measurement of
the maximum speed at which the DACs circuitry can operate
and still produce the correct output.
 Monotonicity: the ability of DAC’s analog output to increase
with an increase in digital code or the converse.

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 Analog Output Subsystem
 DAC Performance
 THD+N: This is a measurement of the distortion and noise
introduced to the signal by the DAC. It is expressed as a
percentage of the total power of unwanted harmonic
distortion and noise that accompany the desired signal.
 Dynamic Range: This is a measurement of the difference
between the largest and smallest signals the DAC can
reproduce expressed in decibels.

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 Data Loggers
 A data logger (also data recorder) is an electronic device
that records data over time or in relation to location either with a
built in or via external instruments and sensors
 Data loggers are available in various shapes and sizes.
 The range includes simple economical single channel fixed
function loggers to more powerful programmable devices
capable of handling hundreds of inputs.

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 Data Loggers

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 Choosing a Data Logger
 Input Signal
 Number of Inputs
 Size
 Speed/Memory
 Real Time Operation

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 Applications
 Unattended weather station recording (such as wind speed /
direction, temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation).
 Unattended hydrographic recording (such as water level, water
depth, water flow, water pH, water conductivity).
 Unattended soil moisture level recording.
 Unattended gas pressure recording.
 Offshore buoys for recording a variety of environmental
conditions.
 Road traffic counting.
 Environmental monitoring.
 Vehicle Testing
 Monitoring of relay status in railway signalling.
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 Data logging versus data
acquisition
Data logging Data acquisition
Data logger is a data acquisition system Data acquisition system is not necessarily a
data logger.

Typically have slower sample rates. Typically have fast sample rates.
Data loggers are implicitly stand-alone Data acquisition system must remain tethered
devices to a computer to acquire data.

Data loggers used magnetic tape , punched Data acquisition used Static RAM, flash
paper tape ,directly viewable recorders Such memory, EEPROM.
as strip chart recorders

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 Further Reading
 Electronic Instrumentation, 2nd Edition by HS Kalsi
 A Course in Electronics and Electrical Measurements and
Instrumentation, 13th Edition by JB Gupta
 Microelectronic circuits and devices, 2nd Edition by M.N.
Horenstein.
 Electrical and Electronics Measurements and
Instrumentation by Purkait et al, McGraw Hill India, 2013

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