PC Interfacing and Data Acquisition (eBook)

Cover 1
Contents 6
Preface 10
A note on software examples 11
Part 1: Introduction to Data Acquisition on the PC 14
Chapter 1. The PC as a platform for data acquisition 16
1.1 Types of PC 17
1.2 The processor 18
1.3 Memory 24
1.4 Input/output ports 28
1.5 Buses and adaptor card slots 30
Chapter 2. Software considerations 39
2.1 An overview of DA& C software
2.2 Data acquisition and control in real time 43
2.3 Implementing real-time systems on the PC 58
2.4 Robustness, reliability and safety 74
Part 2: Sampling Fundamentals 82
Chapter 3. Sensors and interfacing 84
3.1 Introduction 84
3.2 Digital I/O 89
3.3 Sensors for analogue signals 94
3.4 Handling analogue signals 108
3.5 Digitization and signal conversion 116
3.6 Analogue measurements 137
3.7 Timers and pacing 141
Chapter 4. Sampling, noise and filtering 144
4.1 Sampling and aliasing 144
4.2 Noise and filtering 154
Part 3: I/O Techniques and Buses 174
Chapter 5. The interrupt system 176
5.1 Interrupt vectors 177
5.2 Hardware interrupts 182
5.3 Software interrupts and processor exceptions 198
5.4 Interrupt priorities 202
5.5 Writing interrupt handlers 203
5.6 Re-entrancy and accessing shared resources 212
5.7 Interrupt response times 213
Chapter 6. Data transfer 218
6.1 Data-acquisition interface devices 218
6.2 Data transfer techniques and protocols 224
6.3 Buffers and buffered I/O 257
Chapter 7. Parallel buses 264
7.1 Introduction 265
7.2 Data acquisition using a parallel bus 266
7.3 The PC’s parallel port 267
7.4 The IEEE-488 (GPIB) bus 283
Chapter 8. Serial communications 297
8.1 Some common terms 297
8.2 Introduction to asynchronous communication 299
8.3 Data acquisition via a serial link 304
8.4 Serial interface standards 309
8.5 Asynchronous serial I/O on the PC 321
Part 4: Interpreting and Using Acquired Data 356
Chapter 9. Scaling and linearization 358
9.1 Scaling of linear response curves 359
9.2 Linearization 369
9.3 Polynomial linearization 370
9.4 Interpolation between points in a look-up table 386
9.5 Interpolation vs. power-series polynomials 394
9.6 Interactive calibration programs 394
9.7 Practical issues 396
Chapter 10. Basic control techniques 400
10.1 Terminology 400
10.2 An overview of control systems 401
10.3 Programmable logic controllers 403
10.4 Safety and reliability of control systems 404
10.5 Discontinuous control systems 405
10.6 Continuous control systems 409
Part 5: Examples 422
Chapter 11. Example projects 424
11.1 Dimensional gauging of railway carriage wheels 424
11.2 In-situ sensor calibration on a tube-straightening machine 426
11.3 Dimensional gauging of turbine blades 429
11.4 Torsional rigidity testing of car bodies 433
11.5 Winch testing system 436
11.6 Brake actuator test system 439
11.7 Monitoring of bush-insertion load 442
11.8 Laboratory furnace temperature control 445
11.9 Thermoluminescence spectrometry 447
Part 6: Appendices 452
Appendix A. Adaptor installation reference 454
Appendix B. Character codes 460
References 466
Index 470