DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS (DAS):

A data acquisition system is a device or an integrated system used to collect information about the state or condition of
various parameters of any industrial process. For example, collectingday-to-day temperature of a particular location
can be termed data acquisition.
With the advancement of digitalelectronics, various electronic devices have been developed to perform this kind
ofrecording or logging job.
Nowadays, most data acquisition systems are integrated with computer, sensors, signalconditioning devices, etc. and
the function of these data acquisition systems varies from simple recording of process parameter to control of
industrial system/process. These kinds ofsystems basically have a hardware and a software part. The hardware part
consists of asensor, signal conditioning, analog-to-digital converter, memory, processor, switches,digital-to-analog
converter, etc. and the software part consists of operating system, editor,graph display program and data processing
software, etc. In short data acquisition is the process of collecting signal and inputting that into a computer.
“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”.
BASIC COMPONENTS OF DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS:
The basic elements of a data acquisition system, as shown in the figure below, are as follows: Sensors and transducers,
Field wiring, Signal conditioning, Data acquisition hardware, PC (operating system), Data acquisition software.

DESCRIPTION OF FEW COMPONENTS:

Sensors and Transducers:
Transducer/Sensor converts input energy from one form to another form. According to the type, output sensors are
classified in two types: digital sensors and analog sensors. The sensors which can produce a digital output signal, that
is a digital representation of the input signal, having discrete values of magnitude measured at discrete times, are
called digital sensors. Examples of digital sensors include switches and position encoders.Analog sensorsproduce an
output signal that is directly proportional to the input signal and is continuous in both magnitude and in time.
Mostphysical variables such as temperature, pressure and acceleration are continuous in nature and are readily
measured with an analog sensor.
Signal Conditioner:
Most sensors and transducers generate signals that must be conditioned before a measurement or DAQ device can
reliably and accurately acquire the signal. This front-end processing is referred to as signal conditioning. A signal
conditioner may create excitation for certain transducers such as strain gauges and resistance temperature detectors,
which require external excitation voltages or currents. The main tasks performed by signal conditioning are Filtering,
Amplification, Linearization, Isolation and Excitation.
Multiplexer-
Multiplexing is the process of combining multiple signals into one signal, over a shared medium. If analog signals are
multiplexed, it is Analog Multiplexing and if digital signals are multiplexed, that process is Digital Multiplexing.
A multiplexing device or a multiplexer is to enable signals to be transmitted more efficiently over a given
communication channel, thereby decreasing transmission costs.
Recorder:
After collecting information about the state of some process, the next consideration is howto present it in a form where
it can be readily used and analyzed. Nowadays, a wide variety of recorders are used in industry, laboratory and
variousfields.
Other than electrically actuated recorders, in manyapplications, such as the recording of pressure, mechanically actuated
devices are used.
However, with the increasing requirement for display as well as recording at a remotecentral point, where the
information is also required to be passed for data processing, thereis a greater tendency nowadays to use electrical
methods employing suitable transducers.
Many techniques now exist for recording measured data in a form that permitssubsequent analysis, particularly for
looking at the historical behaviour of parameters in fault diagnosis procedures. The earliest recording instruments used
werevarious forms of mechanical chart recorders. Whilst many of these remain in use, mostmodern forms of chart
recorder exist in hybrid forms in which microprocessors areincorporated to improve performance. Some of these are
digital recorders, magnetic tape recorders, digital(storage) oscilloscopes and hard-copy devices such as dot-matrix,
inkjet and laser printers,X-Yrecorders, ultraviolet recorders and thermal array recorders.
Converter:
Analog sensorsproduce an output signal that is directly proportional to the input signal,and is continuous in both
magnitude and in time. Most physical variables such astemperature, pressure and acceleration are continuous in nature
and are readily measuredwith an analog sensor.
But in today’s world, all processing devices are digital in nature. Hence to interface analog input and output devices,
analog to digital (A/D) and digital to analog (D/A) converters are used respectively.
Two common types of ADC are dual-slope type and successive approximation type ADC and two types of DAC are R-
2R ladder type and weighted resistor type.
A process of converting an analog signal into a digital signal comprises measuring theamplitude of the analog signal at
consistent time intervals and producing a set of signalsrepresenting the measured digital value. The information in the
digital signals and theknown time interval enables one to convert the digital signal back to the analog signal.Analog to
digital conversion of a continuous input signal normally occurs in two steps:samplingand quantization. The sampler
takes a time-varying analog input signal andconverts it to a fixed voltage, current, electrical charge, or other output
level. Thequantizer takes the constant sampled values and compares it to the closest level from adiscrete range of
values called quantization levels.
Analog outputs commonly are used to operate final control elements in industrialenvironments like valves and motors.
An analog output subsystem mainly consist of aDigital-to-Analog (D/A) converter, which is functionally opposite to an
A/D converter.

TYPES OF DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS:

Single Channel Data Acquisition System:
Figure shows the single channel data acquisition system. It consists of a signal conditionerfollowed by an analog to
digital converter. The output is digital code, which is further suppliedto a storage or printout device, or to a digital
computer for analysis.
The popular Digital Panel Meter (DPM) is a well known example of this. However, there are two major drawbacks in
using it as a DAS-
1. It is slow and the BCD has to be changed into binary coding if the output is to be processed by digital equipment.
2. While it is free running, the data from the A/D converter is transferred to the interface register at a rate determined by
the DPM itself, rather than commands beginning from the external interface.
Analog to Digital Converters (A/D):
Analog to digital converters used for DAS applications are usually designed to receive external commands to convert
and hold. For dc and low frequency signals, a dual slope type converter is often used. The advantage is that it has a
linear averaging capability and has a null response for frequencies harmonically related to the integrating period. The
most popular type of converter for data system applications is the successive approximation type, since it is
capable of high resolution and high speed at moderate cost. Higher speeds are obtained by preceding the A/D converter
by a sample hold (S/H) circuit.
Pre–amplification and Filtering:
Many low resolution (8/10 bit) A/D converters are constructed with a single ended input and have a normalised analog
input range of the order of 5-10 V, bipolar or unipolar. For signal levels which are low compared to input requirements,
amplification may be used in order to bring up the level of the input to match converter input requirements, so that
optimum use can be made in terms of accuracy and
resolution. The amplifier used has a single ended
input or a differential input, as shown in the figure
below.
If the signal levels are below a tenth of an mV, or
when resolution of 14 bits or 16 bits is needed, the
use of differential amplifiers can become a
necessity. If the input signals are to be physically
isolated from the system, the conductive paths are
broken by using a transformer coupled or an
optocoupled isolation amplifier. These techniques
are advantageous in handling signals from high
voltage sources and transmission towers. In
biomedical applications such isolation becomes
essential. Pre-amplifiers can be coupled with active filters before processing of data, in order to minimise the effect of
noise carriers and interfering high frequency components.
Multichannel Data Acquisition System:
The Multi Channel Data Acquisition System can be time
shared by two or more input sources.
The figure shows the multichannel data acquisition system.
There are several single dataacquisition systems preceded
by a multiplexer. The individual analog signals are applied
directlyto the multiplexer. These signals are further
converted to digital signals by using analog to
digitalconverter. The multiplexer is made to seek the next
channel to be converted while the previousdata stored in
the sample and hold circuit is converted into digital form.
When the conversion is complete, the status line from the
converter causes the sample and hold circuit to return tothe sample made and acquires the signal of the next channel.
After completion of acquisition, the sample and hold is switched the hold mode, a conversionbegins again and the
multiplexer selects the next channel. This method is relatively slower than systems where the sample and hold outputs
or even ADC outputs are multiplexed, but it has theadvantage of low cost due to sharing of a majority or subsystems.
A single-channel data acquisition system is suitable when the number of input is one but multi-channel data acquisition
is used when the number of inputs is more than one.
ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSMISSION:
Data transmission (telemetry) is the process of sending digital or analog data over a communication medium to one or
more computing, network, communication or electronic devices. It enables the transfer and communication of devices in
a point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and multipoint-to-multipoint environment. The data are represented as an
electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage or current (requires conductive wire); radio wave, microwave, or
infrared (IR) signal (wireless technology). This transfer of data takes place via some form of transmission media (for
example, coaxial cable, fiber optics etc.).
Data transmission is primarily of two types- serial and parallel.
Parallel Transmission:
Within a computing or communication device, the distances between different subunits are too short. Thus, it is normal
practice to transfer data between subunits using a separate wire to
carry each bit of data. There are multiple wires connecting each
sub-unit and data is exchanged using a parallel transfer mode.
This mode of operation results in minimal delays in transferring
each word. In parallel transmission, all the bits of data are
transmitted simultaneously on separate communication lines. In
order to transmit n number of bits, n numbers of wires or lines
are used. Thus each bit has its own line.All n bits of one group are transmitted with each clock pulse from one device to
another i.e. multiple bits are sent with each clock pulse. Parallel transmission is used for short distance communication.
As shown in the figure eight separate wires are used to transmit 8 bit data from sender to receiver.
The timing for parallel transmission is generally provided by a constant clocking signal sent over a separate wire within
the parallel cable and thus parallel transmission is considered synchronous.
Advantages of Parallel Transmission:
(i) Since multiple bits are sent at once, parallel data transmission is faster than serial transmission.
(ii) Parallel data transmission requires fewer complex electronic components than serial transmission.
Disadvantage of Parallel Transmission:
(i) Parallel data transmission is limited by the distance covered by the wires or channels used to transmit data due to cost
effect. This distance is typically shorter than serial transmission.
Serial Transmission:
When transferring data between two physically separate devices, especially if the separation is more than a few
kilometers, for reasons of cost, it is more economical to use a single pair of lines. Data is transmitted as a single bit at a
time using a fixed time interval for each bit. This mode of transmission is known as bit-serial transmission.
In serial transmission, the various bits of data are transmitted serially one after the other.
It requires only one communication line rather than n number of lines to transmit data from sender to receiver. Thus all
the bits of data are transmitted on single line in serial fashion.
In serial transmission, only single bit is sent with each clock pulse.
As shown in the figure, suppose an 8-bit data
11001010 is to be sent from source to destination.
Then least significant bit (LSB) i.e. 0 will be
transmittedfirst followed by other bits. The most
significant bit (MSB) i.e. 1 will be transmitted in
the end via single communication line.
The internal circuitry of computer transmits data in
parallel fashion. So in order to change this parallel data into serial data, conversion devices are used. These conversion
devices convert the parallel data into serial data at the sender side so that it can be transmitted over single line. On
receiver side, serial data received is again converted to parallel form so that the interval circuitry of computer can accept
it.
Advantages of Serial Transmission:
(i)Serial transmission can cover longer distances than parallel data transmission because it requires fewer wires or
channels to transmit data.
(ii) Serial transmission requires fewer wires or channels and simpler hardware, making it a lower-cost option than
parallel data transmission.
Disadvantage of Serial Transmission:
(i)As data is sent one bit at a time, serial transmission is slower than parallel transmission for transferring large amounts
of data.
(ii) In serial transmission, errors can occur during transmission, and there may be limited ability to detect or correct
these errors.
Types of Serial Transmission:
There are two types of serial transmission- synchronous and asynchronous. Both of these transmissions use 'Bit
synchronization', which is a function that is required to determine when the beginning and end of the data transmission
occurs.Bit synchronization helps the receiving computer to know when data begin and end during a transmission.
Therefore bit synchronization provides timing control.
Asynchronous Transmission:
Asynchronous transmission sends only one character at a time where a character is either a letter of the alphabet or
number or control character i.e. it sends one byte of data at a time.
Bit synchronization between two devices is made possible using start bit and stop bit. Start bit indicates the beginning of
data i.e. alerts the receiver to the arrival of new group of
bits. A start bit, usually 0, is added at the beginning of each
byte. Stop bit indicates the end of data i.e. to let the receiver
know that byte is finished, one or more additional bits are
appended to the end of the byte. These bits, usually 1s, are
called stop bits.
Addition of start and stop increases the number of data bits. Hence more bandwidth is consumed in asynchronous
transmission. There is idle time between the transmissions of different data bytes. This idle time is also known as Gap or
idle time, which can be of varying intervals. This mechanism is called Asynchronous, because at byte level sender and
receiver need not to be synchronized. But within each byte, receiver must be synchronized with the incoming bit stream.
Application of Asynchronous Transmission:
1. Asynchronous transmission is well suited for keyboard type-terminals and paper tape devices. The advantage of this
method is that it does not require any local storage at the terminal or the computer as transmission takes place character
by character.
2. Asynchronous transmission is best suited to Internet traffic in which information is transmitted in short bursts. This
type of transmission is used by modems.
Synchronous Transmission:
Synchronous transmission does not use start and stop bits. In this method bit stream is combined into longer frames that
may contain multiple bytes. There is no gap between the various bytes in the data stream.
In the absence of start & stop bits, bit synchronization is established between sender & receiver by 'timing' the
transmission of each bit. Since the various bytes are placed on the link without any gap, it is the responsibility of
receiver to separate the bit stream into bytes so as to reconstruct the original information. In order to receive the data
error free, the receiver and sender operates at the same clock frequency.
Synchronous transmission is used for high speed communication between computers.
Comparison between Synchronous and Asynchronous transmission:
1. Synchronous transmission method is faster as compared to asynchronous one as there are no extra bits (start bit &
stop bit) and also there is no gap between the individual data bytes.
2.As the sender and receiver have to operate at the same clock frequency, this requires proper synchronization which
makes the system complicated.
DIGITAL DISPLAY DEVICES:
LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED):
One of the cheapest and convenient ways to display information electronically is by usingLight-Emitting Diodes or
LEDs. It is basically a p-njunction photodiode, when excited atforward-bias condition emits light. It can be easily
interfaced with a simple electronic circuitand is durable and reliable. These LEDs are often arranged in different formats
to displayinformation. Among these, the seven segments configuration and dot matrix display arevery common and
widely used. The seven-segment configuration of an LED arranged inthe form of the digit 8 can be restrictive in that it
does not adequately allow the display ofsome alphanumeric characters. By contrast, the versatility of a dot-matrix
arrangementallows an LED unit to display more complicated shapes.
The Seven Segment Display:
IndividualLEDs can display the binary states, i.e. ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’. But when some numbersor characters are to be
displayed then some arrangement of the LEDs are required. A way is to arrange theminimum possible number of LEDs
in such a way that it can represent a number requiringonly 7 LEDs. A common technique is to use a shaped piece of
translucent plastic to operate as a specialized optical fibre, to
distribute the light from the LED evenly over a fixed bar
shape. The seven bars are laid out as a squared-off figure “8”.
The result isknown as a seven-segment LED.Seven-segment
displays have a wide range of applications like in
clocks,watches, digital instruments, digital balances etc.
There are basically two types of seven-segment displays—
common cathode andcommon anode. The common-anode type is shown in the above figure where ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘d’,‘e’,
‘f’ and ‘g’ represent individual LEDs. Inorder to display numbers often decimal point has to be displayed. For that,
another LEDhas been added, which is represented by ‘dp’ (decimal point).It can display hexadecimal numbers A-F.
A typical seven-segment display unit is shown in the figure (a). Figure (b)shows thepin diagram of a common anode
type seven-segment display. That means that the positiveleg
of each LED is connected to a common point which is the
Pin 3 in this case. Each LED has a negative leg that is
connected to one of the pins of the device. To make it work,
we need to connect the pin 3 to 5 volts. Then to make each
segment light up, we need to connect theground pin for that
LED to ground. A resistor is required to limit the current.
Rather thanusing a resistor from each LED to ground, we can
just use one resistor from Vcc to thepin 3 to limit the current.
Dot Matrix Display:
LEDs are arranged in matrix form—common configurations are 5×7, 5×8 and 8×8. Based on the electrode connections,
two kinds of LED matrices arepossible. First one is common anode, where
all the LEDs in a row having the anode are connectedtogether. The other
one is common cathode, having all LEDs in a row with the
commoncathodes being shorted. It is easier to understand the construction
and interfacecapabilities of an LED matrix using an illustration. Figure (a)
depicts a matrixconstruction of the common-anode type. A single matrix is
formed by thirty-five LEDsarranged in five columns and seven rows (5×7).
The anodes of the five LEDs formingone row are connected together.
Similarly, the cathodes of the seven LEDs of a column areconnected
together. In this arrangement of LEDs, the cathodes are switched to turn
theLEDs of a row on or off.
The matrix (unit) illustrated in Figure (b) can be used to display a singlealphanumeric character. Several such units can
be placed next to each other to form alarger panel to display a string of characters.
The figure below shows how the characters ‘A’ and ‘B’ are displayed in a 5×7 dot matrix display.
Time division multiplexing of rows is required to display acharacter on the matrix unit.Each row
of the LED is driven for a brief period before switching to the next row. As thehuman eye retains
a visual impression of an object for a short duration after the object isremoved. Retention time
depends on the brightness of the image. Due to this visualphenomenon termed persistence of
vision, the human eye considers that the LEDs areglowing continuously and can visualize the
characters.Rapid switching between rows produces the illusion that all the rows are ON at thesame
time. If the on-time of an LED is significantly less than the on-time of all other LEDs, it will glow
with lighter color as compared to other glowing LEDs.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD):
The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is an essential part
of every mobile phone, every laptopand every
personal organizer. Liquid crystalis an organic
compound that polarizes anylight that passes through
it [The process which causes light waves to vibrate in
a single plane is called polarization of light]. A liquid
crystal also responds to an applied electric field
bychanging the alignment of its molecules and in so
changing the direction of thelight polarization that it
introduces. Liquid crystals can be trapped between two parallelsheets of glass, with a matching pattern of transparent
electrode on each sheet. Figure shows different layers of a typical LCD display. When a voltage is applied to
theelectrodes, the optical character of the crystal changes due to internal change in orientation of molecules and the
electrode pattern appears inthe crystal. A huge range of LCDs has been developed, including those based on
sevensegmentdigits or dot matrix formats, as well as a variety of graphical forms. Manygeneral-purpose displays are
available commercially.LEDs can glow in dark but an LCD cannot display anything in the dark.
The liquid crystal fluid is the active medium that is used to create an image. It consistsof a very large number of
elongated crystals suspended in a fluid. This reservoir issandwiched between two thin sheets of glass. Each piece of
glass has a transparentconductive pattern bonded to it. The crystals are aligned in a spiral pattern until an electricfield is
impressed on the conductors.
A sheet of polarizing material is bonded to the outside surfaces of
both the front andrear glass covers. As incident light of random
polarization enters the top polarizer, it isstopped except for that
which is polarized in the proper direction. With no electric
fieldapplied, the light is twisted or its polarization is changed by the
spiral pattern of thecrystals. The bottom polarizer is aligned
opposite of the top one but the “twisted” light isnow aligned with
the bottom polarizer and passes through. The display is now
transparentand appears light.
A simple black-or-white LCD display works by either allowing
daylight to be reflectedback out at the viewer or preventing it from
doing so—in which case the viewer sees ablack area. The liquid
crystal is the part of the system that either prevents light
frompassing through it or not.
The crystal is placed between two polarizing filters that are at right
angles to each otherand together block light. When there is no
electric current applied to the crystal, it twistslight by 90°, which
allows the light to pass through the second polarizer and be reflectedback. But when the voltage is applied, the crystal
molecules align themselves, and lightcannot pass through the polarizer: the segment turns black, this phenomena is
shown inthe above figure.
TN (Twisted Nematic) LCDs almost completely dominate today’s calculator market due to their extremelylow power
requirements, thin size and low cost.
1 1
3 and 4 Digit Display Units-
2 2
There are two types of digits in digital display: Full digit and Half Digit.
A full digit is something which can take any value from 0 to 9. Thus it can have a total of 10 different states. On the
other hand, a half digit is something which can either have a value of 0 or 1. This digit is basically the most significant
digit and hence has limited use for displaying any
number or reading.
1
A 3 DigitDisplay device can display 3 full digits
2
and 1 half digit (as the MSB). Hence the range of
values that can be displayed by above type of
display is between 0-1999.
1
Similarly, a 4 DigitDisplay device can display 4 full digits and 1 half digit (as the MSB). Hence the range of values
2
that can be displayed by above type of display is between 0-19999.