Data aquisition is crucial to a wide range of industries and applications including: military, for use in the testing of critical defense components and combat vehicles; marine, in order to test and measure environmental aspects such as the salinity or the temperature of the water; and industrial, for the control and measurement of various hazardous chemicals required in certain processing applications.
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SignatecLockport, IL 800-567-4243 Since 1988, Signatec, Inc. has designed and manufactured PC-based solutions for very high-speed applications in four key areas, which includes data aquisition, parallel digital signal processing, signal waveform generation and playback and real-time signal waveform recording. Contact Signatec today to find out more information about our company and services.
Red Lion Controls, Inc.York, PA 717-767-6511 As the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation, Red Lion has been delivering innovative data aquisition solutions to customers for forty years. Our award-winning technology enables companies worldwide to gain real-time data visibility that drives productivity. The company has offices across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
DCC CorporationPennsauken, NJ 800-991-5207 Specializing in the design and manufacture of thermocouples, assemblies, sensors and controllers, DCC Corporation also produces data aquisition related instruments and accessories since they assist in the work of thermocouples. With an eye for excellence in design, our products and systems are very dependable. Contact us today to see how we can meet your control product needs!
MetricTestHayward, CA 800-432-3424 A commitment to product selection, competitive prices and dedicated customer service distinguishes MetricTest from the competition in the electronic test equipment industry. With products like data aquisition, spectrum analyzers and other power supplies, MetricTest is determined to provide a well-rounded and excellent product solution for every customer that walks through their doors.
SOLTEC® CorporationSan Fernando, CA 800-423-2344 With a wide variety of products available, including but not limited to data aquisition instruments and systems, thermal imaging, strain gages and automotive test robots, SOLTEC® Corporation is a company numerous industries depend on for the best test and measurement products available. Contact us today to discover how we can find solutions to your industrial application needs.
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Data aquisition (DAQ) is the sampling of actual physical conditions such as property or phenomena, which can include things such as light intensity, fluid flow, gas pressure, temperature and force. While data acquisition is typically performed for one type of physical condition at a time, some types of data acquisition can take samples of various physical conditions at the same time. Once the data from the physical conditions is collected, the data acquisition process involves converting that data into digital numeric values. This conversion must be performed to attain a unified form that can then be manipulated by a computer. Types of computers that are most commonly used in data aquisition processes are personal computers (PC), PC-based industrial computers, desktop computers and Apple Macintosh computers. Data aquisition can be performed through either data aquisition devices such as temperature or data recorders, or it can be performed as part of an entire data aquisition system.
There are many different types of data aquisition devices and systems, but the basic process of data aquisition remains the same; the main difference is the information and how it is converted into digital form. In order for the conversion to occur, data acquisition devices must have three essential components: sensors, signal conditioners and analog-to-digital converters. These three devices essentially all serve the major purpose of converting the physical data to digital data: the sensors convert the physical data into an electrical signal such as a voltage or a current, then the signal conditioner alters the electrical signal into a form that is able to more easily be converted into digital data, and lastly the analog-to-digital converter is able to take the final step and convert the data fully into digital numerical values. Signal conditioners are not always a necessary component since, at times, the sensor is able to convert the physical data into a form that can easily be converted to digital data on its own. In addition to these three components, data acquisition devices are controlled by means of software programs that have been developed through the use of diverse general-purpose programming languages including Fortran, C, Java, BASIC and Pascal. Additional types of programming that are used for data acquisition systems include graphics software such as ladder logic and Visual Basic.