MATLAB®-Based Data Acquisition and Analysis
Wyle's MATLAB®-based data acquisition systems provide a complete set of customized tools for analog input as well as analog output capabilities depending on engineering application requirements.
These data acquisition systems utilize a variety of PC-compatible hardware from various
manufacturers. By way of PC controls, the system lets a user configure external hardware devices, read data for immediate analysis, store data for post processing, and send out data for arbitrary function generation (analog output).
Wyle can customize a user’s data acquisition system, access the built-in features of hardware devices, and incorporate the analysis and visualization features of MATLAB. Key capabilities include:
- Controls and communicates with a variety of industry-standard data acquisition devices
- Provides customized graphical user interface (GUI) designs for special features and functions that meet engineering application requirements
- Allows acquisition of live, measured data directly into MATLAB for immediate analysis
- Provides a single integrated environment for device configuration, data acquisition, data/signal analysis, and visualization
- Performs one-shot or continuous data acquisition
- Configures and accesses analog input and analog output
- Directly interfaces to device-specific features such as single-channel and multi-channel acquisitions
- Controls acquisitions with hardware and software
- Provides a consistent software interface for easy substitution of hardware boards and vendors
- Converts acquired data automatically from each data channel into values that represent specific engineering units (G, m/sec2, volts, or Newtons)
- Allows saving the acquisition and channel settings and utilizes later time for quick and efficient acquisition configuration
- Provides the status of a user’s acquisition and available data acquisition resources such as installed hardware, hardware drivers, adaptors, channel status, hardware information, and data acquisition engine information
- Converts stores acquired data into various popular data formats such as ASCII (TXT), MS Excel (XLS), MATLAB (MAT), and others
Wyle’s data acquisition systems utilize PC-compatible, off-the-shelf hardware from multiple vendors for efficient system upgrade, add-on and replacement. Hardware from the following OEMs is utilized:
Acqiris
ADLINK
Advantech
CONTEC
Data Translation
Q.tec
IOTech
Keithley Instruments
Measurement Computing
National Instruments
United Electronic Industries
VXI Technologies
MATLAB is a computing language and interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numerical computation. Most academia and research institutes use MATLAB for data analysis and visualization. For Wyle’s data acquisition and analysis systems, MATLAB can be combined with Signal Processing Toolbox, Data Acquisition Toolbox, and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis tool. In any case, MATLAB includes the following features:
- Developing Algorithms and Applications: MATLAB provides a high-level language and development tool that allows quick development of algorithms and applications.
- Analyzing and Accessing Data: MATLAB supports the entire data analysis process, from acquiring data from external devices and databases, through preprocessing, visualization, and numerical analysis, to producing presentation-quality output.
- Signal Processing, Analysis, and Algorithm Development: The Signal Processing Toolbox is a collection of industry-standard algorithms for analog and digital signal processing. It provides graphical user interfaces for interactive design and analysis and command-line functions for advanced algorithm development.
- Spectral Analysis Tools: The Signal Processing Toolbox provides capabilities for frequency-domain analysis and spectral estimation, including tools for measuring power spectral density, mean-square spectrum, and average power. Several of these are based on FFT. Users can compute the discrete Fourier, discrete cosine, Hilbert, and other transforms useful in analysis, coding, and filtering. The spectral analysis methods include Welch's, Burg's, modified covariance, Yule-Walker, multi-taper method, and the MUSIC method.
- Acquire and Send Data from Plug-In Data Acquisition Boards: The Data Acquisition Toolbox provides a set of tools for controlling and communicating with a variety of PC-compatible data acquisition hardware. The toolbox allows users to configure external hardware devices, read data into MATLAB for analysis, and send data.
The following is an example of a customized data acquisition system for 14 hardware devices (250-channels) installed in a single chassis and connected with a remote PC using MXI-4 communication interface (the functions were designed to meet a customer’s specific applications).
The illustration shows the data acquisition main window:
