The ability to count and measure things is key to the human race’s success. Without the capability to perform accurate measurements, the world as we know it would simply not exist. For example, there would be no electric lighting or heating because there would be no electricity. Similarly, there would be no radios and televisions, and no movies called Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. There would be no movies at all… or planes… or trains… or automobiles.
Batteries are proliferating, along with the need for battery testing. A new isolated high voltage measurement instrument proves to deliver accurate and highly repeatable voltage measurements, especially for this application.
The road to a green-energy future is a long and winding one. Much progress has been made in using renewable resources such as wind, but many twists and turns lie ahead. Natural gas will continue to have a role to play, and small modular reactors (SMRs) offer energy-source flexibility and overcome the disadvantages of conventional nuclear plants. As the energy industry plots optimal paths forward, it must take advantage of innovations ranging from sophisticated CAD tools and digital twins to accurate, reliable data-acquisition systems.
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If you are building a data acquisition system with instruments from one or more vendors, you probably expect you will need to install one or more drivers. Such drivers are operating-system-specific, so you must choose the appropriate 32- or 64-bit versions for your Linux or Windows platform, which most data-acquisition instrument makers support. What they don’t tend to support, however, are drivers for mobile operating systems, so if you want to initiate a measurement sequence to examine some acquired data using your smartphone, you’re out of luck.
Sky-high energy prices will motivate consumers to seek out the most efficient appliances. You can attract these consumers’ attention by earning, for example, Energy Star certification in the United States. Whether or not you pursue such certifications, the United States, the European Union, and other jurisdictions require that you include a label on your white-goods product indicating its efficiency relative to competitive products. To substantiate your product's rating, you will need extensive data sets—representing voltage, current, temperature, humidity, and other parameters.
Operating expenditures can be substantial over the operating lifetime of a high-channel-count data acquisition (DAQ) system. Consider all the aspects that can contribute to operating costs, ranging from setup and wiring to expenses you can incur if a lengthy test needs to be redone because of a faulty sensor or a network crash. When choosing a DAQ system, carefully evaluate how you can significantly reduce such operating costs with a very slight increase in up-front capital expenditures—in short, nudge up CAPEX to slash OPEX.
You need better sensors. Why? Because a single bad sensor could cause your functional tests to fail, wasting millions of dollars if you are testing something like a missile or a jet engine in a one-shot destructive test. A failed test is not even the worst-case scenario. Imagine what is at stake if a bad sensor gives you a false positive, leading to your device failing out in the field – all of which could have been avoided by getting the right sensors.
Signal integrity matters. Whether you’re designing a new jet engine or building a medical-grade freezer, you need bulletproof testing to ensure that your products are up to spec. The only way to do that is through proper data acquisition systems with uncompromised signal integrity.
Thermocouples are without a doubt the most popular type of temperature sensor, and the VTI Instruments EX1000A Precision Voltage Measurement Instrument Series provides 48 voltage channels and supports Type J, K, T, E, S, R, B, and N thermocouples. To help you avoid some common pitfalls when making thermocouple measurements and get the most out of your instrument, we offer the following tips:
