Anatomy of a Data Acquisition Experiment
System Setup
The first step in any data acquisition experiment is to install
the hardware and software. Hardware installation consists of plugging
a board into your computer or installing modules into an external
chassis. Software installation consists of loading hardware drivers
and application software onto your computer. After the hardware and
software are installed, you can attach your sensors.
Back to Top
Calibration
After the hardware and software are installed and the sensors
are connected, the data acquisition hardware should be calibrated.
Calibration consists of providing a known input to the system and
recording the output. For many data acquisition devices, calibration
can be easily accomplished with software provided by the vendor.
Back to Top
Trials
After the hardware is set up and calibrated, you can begin to
acquire data. You might think that if you completely understand the
characteristics of the signal you are measuring, then you should be
able to configure your data acquisition system and acquire the data.
In the real world however, your sensor might be picking up unacceptable
noise levels and require shielding, or you might need to run the device
at a higher rate, or perhaps you need to add an antialias filter to
remove unwanted frequency components.
These real-world effects act as obstacles between you and a
precise, accurate measurement. To overcome these obstacles, you need
to experiment with different hardware and software configurations.
In other words, you need to perform multiple data acquisition trials.
Back to Top
 | Product Overview | | Data Acquisition System |  |
Includes the most popular MATLAB recorded presentations with Q&A sessions led by MATLAB experts.
Get the Interactive Kit
Store 
