Kulite DAQ. Data Acquisition Software User s Manual. Version 3.2.0

Transcription

1 Kulite DAQ Data Acquisition Software User s Manual Version 3.2.0

2 Table of Contents Kulite DAQ Overview... 3 Main Window Menu bar Interface selection Found devices Sorting DAQ bar Devices Status bar... 8 Menus File menu Calibration Leak test Settings... 9 Settings General options Data acquisition options Hardware Options Pressure controllers Calibration Accuracy/Calibration Adjust offset Clear coefficients Calibration options Leak Test Leak check Trapped pressure leak check Leak check options User s Manual Kulite DAQ

3 Kulite DAQ Overview Kulite DAQ is a data-acquisition application designed to be used with Kulite s digital transducers and scanners. Kulite DAQ can acquire data from many RS485 and/or Ethernet devices simultaneously. Acquired data can be saved to disk and can also be plotted in real-time. In addition to acquiring data, Kulite DAQ can assist in performing user calibration and leak-testing on Kulite s devices. The application can be set up to directly communicate with a pressure controller, pressure meter, or barometer. Alternatively, pressure may be controlled manually by the user. For the calibration operation, the application will read the necessary values from the devices, perform all necessary calculations, and write new values back to the devices based on calibration data. Tests reports can be saved and printed, as well. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

4 Main Window The Kulite DAQ main window is divided into several parts as labeled in the figure below. 1. Menu bar The Menus enable changing data-acquisition and hardware settings as well as calibrating scanners and transducers. These options are described in the subsequent sections of this document. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

5 2. Interface selection Kulite DAQ supports communicating with Kulite s Ethernet and RS485 devices. The pull-down will list all IP and serial interfaces found on the host PC. To find devices, select an interface from the pull-down. While the program is searching the selected interface for devices, the search button (to the right of the pull-down) will spin to indicate that searching is in progress. The search button may be pressed at any time to search for additional devices. Note that many devices may be on the same IP interface, but only a single device per serial interface is supported. 3. Found devices The program displays basic information on each device that is has found: serial number, part number, user string (if present), and communication parameters (IP address for an Ethernet device or baud rate for an RS485 device). The user string is a customer-supplied string saved in the device EEPROM which may be used for as a tracking number or for similar purposes. Additionally, scanners show the number of sensors. The user should then select the device(s) from which data are to be acquired by either selecting the device and then clicking on the rightarrow button on below the list or double-clicking the device. Data may be acquired from multiple devices simultaneously, even if those devices are found on different interfaces. To access more than one interface, find devices on the first interface and then select all desired devices on that interface. Then find devices on the next interface. Devices selected on the first interface will remain. In this way devices on multiple devices may be used at the same time, including combining RS485 and Ethernet devices. 4. Sorting For convenience, the devices will be sorted as there are found. The devices may be sorted by 1) IP address (for Ethernet devices only), 2) serial number, or 3) user tracking string. Each device may be given a user tracking string, which is saved in the device EEPROM. This is a string, up to 31 characters in length, which can be used by the user for any purpose. See the device user manual for further information. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

6 5. DAQ bar The DAQ bar allows the user to acquire data from the devices. 6. Devices A. Acquisition time: The amount of time for which data are to be acquired in hours:minutes:seconds. B. Stream indefinitely: If this is selected, data will be acquired until the user manually stops the acquisition, rather than for a specified length of time. Note: streaming indefinitely is only allowed on Ethernet devices. If any serial devices are currently selected for acquisition, this option is disabled. C. Units: The units of pressure and temperature in which the data will be acquired D. Go/Stop: If not currently acquiring data clicking this button will begin the acquisition. When streaming is currently active, clicking this button will end the acquisition. E. Update: When a device is first selected, the pressure on all channels is measured and displayed. Clicking on this button will remeasure the pressures and update the display. If the user wishes that the display be updated continuously, that is accomplished with the arrow on the right side of the button. The pressures readings will refresh approximately one time per second until stopped manually by the user. Devices to be measured are shown in multiple tabs on the right-hand side of the window. A. Scanners: Each scanner is shown in its own tab. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

7 The serial number of the scanner is shown as well as the serial numbers of all the modules attached to the scanner. The full-scale pressure of each module is shown immediately below its serial number. Below that is the pressure for each channel on that module. Beside each channel is a checkbox. If you are not interested in a particular channel, unchecking this checkbox will exclude it from the acquisition. Below the channel data, the user can set the sampling rate of the pressure data to be used in the acquisition, as well as the time between temperature samples. If acquiring data from multiple scanners, they may each be set to different sampling rates if so desired. Finally below the sampling rates, any arbitrary command may be sent to the scanner by typing it in and clicking Send. The response from the scanner, if any, will be shown below. Please see the KMPS Users Manual for detailed descriptions of scanner commands. B. Transducers: User s Manual Kulite DAQ

8 All transducers are shown in a single tab. 7. Status bar The serial and part numbers of each transducer are shown along with the transducer s current pressure and full-scale pressure. The sampling rate and digital filter frequency for each transducer may be set individually. If acquiring data from multiple transducers, they may each be set to different sampling rates if so desired. In addition, any arbitrary command may be sent to the transducer by typing it in a clicking Send. The response from the transducer, if any, will be shown below. Please see the transducer user s manual for detailed descriptions of scanner commands. The status bar shows the current status of any in-progress action. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

9 Menus 1. File menu Allows the user to exit the program or to show the program s About dialog. 2. Calibration With this menu the user may conduct an accuracy test and/or calibration of one or more devices. The calibration adjusts the zero-offset and gain of the devices. The user may also conduct a simpler offset-only adjustment. Clearing all calibration data from a device, returning it to its factory calibration, is also performed through this menu. See the Calibration section of this document for more information on these topics. 3. Leak test Kulite scanners can be tested for possible leak in their internal pressure lines. Two such leaktests are available. All scanners support a standard leak-test, where each channel is tested individually, one after another. In addition, the KMPS-6A line of scanners supports a trappedpressure leak-check, where pressure is trapped within the scanner s internal cavity and all the channels may be measured at the time. See the Leak test section of this document for more information on these topics. Leak testing of Kulite transducers is not supported at this time. 4. Settings With this menu, the user instructs the program on what to do with the data it acquires from the devices. The data may be plotted in real time and/or saved to files. Setting up pressure controllers and/or barometers for use in calibration and leak-testing can is also accomplished with this menu. This menu also allows the user to set settings or options pertaining to the particular device hardware. For example, monitoring or controlling a scanner s purge mechanism is performed here. See the Settings section of this document for more information on these topics. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

10 Settings 1. General options General user options are accessed via the Settings menu. A. Use underscores instead of spaces: Kulite DAQ generates files to store data acquisition results and calibration and leak-test reports. The file names are generated automatically and are based on the serial number of the device as well as the date and time that the test or acquisition was performed. By default these file names include spaces. This option may be used to replace all spaces with underscores. B. Use device user string instead of device serial number: By default, the automatically generated filenames are based on the devices Kulite serial number. If the user prefers to use their own tracking string, this option may be used. See the device user manual for more information on user tracking strings. C. Settings files All user options, including general settings, acquisition settings, and calibration and leak-test settings are stored in an XML file. By default, this XML file is saved in the user Documents folder, but the name and location can be changed if desired, by clicking User s Manual Kulite DAQ

11 Save As. An already existing XML file can also be loaded by clicking Open. This is useful when copying settings from one computer to another. 2. Data acquisition options When performing an acquisition, data may be saved to files and/or plotted in real-time. Dataacquisition user options are accessed via the Settings menu. A. Save acquired data: If this option is selected, data will be saved to disk. Every data sample is time stamped by the device. This time stamp is saved in the output file along with the measured value. Kulite Ethernet devices support Precision Time Protocol (PTP, also known as IEEE 1588) for highly accurate synchronization with a master clock. If a PTP master clock is found on the network, the time stamps will reflect the PTP time. If there is not PTP clock and for all serial devices, the timestamp reflects the amount of time elapsed since the device was first powered on. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

12 B. File Format: Data may be saved as a series of Comma Separated Value files (.csv) or Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) workbooks. Comma Separated Value files may be opened in any spreadsheet program. If data are being acquired from multiple devices, each device will create a separate.csv file, with all files being placed into a single directory. If this option is selected, a dialog box will ask the user into which folder to place the files. Data from one or more devices are saved into a single Microsoft Excel workbook file (.xlsx), with each device having its own worksheet in the workbook. This file format can be opened with Excel 2007 or later. Several other programs also have the ability to read the.xlsx file format. If this option is selected, a dialog box will ask the user the name and location of the Excel file. Note that access to.csv files is considerably faster than access to.xlsx files. If acquiring data at a very high sampling rate or from many devices simultaneously, the.csv format is preferred. C. Include system time: Each sample s timestamp is saved along with the measured result in the output file. If desired, a system timestamp may also be included. This is the time the host computer s internal clock and reflects the time the sample data with received by the computer, which is slightly delayed from the time the data was sampled. D. Include running time: If desired, a running time can also be included in the output file. This is the sampletime of the data, except referenced to the start of that particular acquisition run. That is, the first sample of the acquisition is set to zero, and every subsequent sample time is referenced to that first sample. E. Add comment symbol to header rows: The first row of all data files is the column headers. This may cause issues when trying to automatically import the data files into data analysis software. This option inserts a string of characters at the beginning of the first line, if desired, so that the data analysis software treats the first line as a comment and ignores. This correct characters to use is dependent on the software being used. For example, for MATLAB, the popular numerical analysis package, use an exclamation point, %. F. Default output directory: User s Manual Kulite DAQ

13 This is the directory in which the data output files will be placed by default. The user has the option to change the destination directory at the start of each acquisition if desired. G. Plot acquired data Kulite DAQ can plot acquired data in real time. Real-time plotting may turned on or off by checking or unchecking this option. The data from all the sensors on a single scanner are plotted onto the same graph, but different scanners are plotted onto separate graphs. Data from all transducers are plotted onto the same graph. An example of a plot is shown below. The list of sensors being plotted is shown in the legend to the right of the plot. Individual sensors can be shown or hidden by checking or unchecking them. The plot may be zoomed-in with the left mouse button or panned with the right mouse button. Optionally the zooming/panning functions of the left and right buttons can be reversed by clicking the Swap button. The user may also zoom in or out with by scrolling the mouse wheel. Double-clicking the left mouse will reset the x and y axes so User s Manual Kulite DAQ

14 as to show all the data. Furthermore, the x or y axis can be zoomed individually by clicking and dragging that axis. If temperature data is also being acquired (see below), pressure and temperature data are plotted on separate graphs. H. Measure temperature as well as pressure If this option is checked, temperature as well as pressure data will be acquired and saved and/or plotted. If this option is not checked, only pressure data will be acquired. I. Limit number of samples in a single file: By default, all data from a single device in a single acquisition will be placed in a single file. If the acquisition time is long or if the data rate is high, these files can grow quite large. If limiting file size is desired, this option may be used to put a maximum number of samples into a single file. Whenever the number of samples is exceeded, a new file is created. J. Ethernet Port: Data acquisition from Ethernet devices is done via UDP packets. This parameter controls the UDP port to which the devices will send their data. This parameter is ignored for serial devices. 3. Hardware Options Certain device hardware has settings that are unique to that model. For example, some scanners include a purge mechanism and/or a heater. Controls for this hardware can be reached via the Settings menu. When selected from the menu, a window will open and provide access to the hardware options on the selected devices. Only the options available on your particular devices are shown. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

15 Currently supported hardware options are 1. Motorized purge - Open or close the purge mechanism and read its current position 2. Solenoid-assisted purge - Set the current solenoid mode: Measurement, Calibration, or Line Purge. 3. Purge Hall Effect Sensor - Detect the current position of the purge mechanism. 4. Heater Set the thermostat temperature, read the current temperature, and set the temperature reference channel. For more details about these hardware options, please see the appropriate device manual. 4. Pressure controllers Kulite DAQ can communicate directory with a number of pressure controllers and barometers for accuracy testing, calibration, and leak testing. Setting up communication to these instruments is done through the Settings menu. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

16 Kulite DAQ is able to interact with Mensor CPC 6000 and MS 9034/9038 pressure controllers as well as the Mensor CPG 2500 barometer. Setting up communications with these instruments is done with the window shown below. On controllers or meters which support more than one channel, the correct channel must be selected. The controller can also be given a name so it is easy to distinguish it from other controllers if more than one is set up. The controller s serial number, user tracking number, and calibration due date may also be entered. If entered, this information will appear on test reports. Communicating with the instrument can be via Ethernet or serial (RS232). After selecting the desired interface, the correct communications parameters must be entered. For RS232 communication, the COM port, baud rate, number of data bits, parity, number of stop bits and handshake protocol must be selected. For Ethernet, the instrument s IP address and local Port must be entered. The correct values for these parameters can usually be obtained from the instrument s control panel or user s manual. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

17 The Test button should then be clicked to ensure successful communication with the instrument. If successful, the instrument s ID and pressure range are displayed. Otherwise an error message is displayed. As many instruments can be saved as is desired, and all settings are saved between runs of Kulite DAQ. Before running a calibration, the user can then choose which instrument to use in for that operation. Finally, an instrument can be created with its Interface set to Manual. If a manual instrument is used for calibration, the program will prompt the user when to set the pressure to a particular value, which the user must then do manually through the instrument s control panel. This option should be chosen when using an instrument that is not supported by Kulite DAQ. Calibration Accuracy test and calibration are performed from the Calibration menu in the main window. 1. Accuracy/Calibration A full pressure accuracy test and calibration can be performed with the Accuracy/Calibration menu item. This operation will pressurize devices over their full pressure range. If desired, the the devices offsets and gains may then be adjusted based on this calibration data. The control pressure may be operated automatically by the application or manually by the user. First, a window will show all devices that may be calibrated. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

18 The devices are split by their pressure-ranges with each pressure range in its own tab. Multiple devices may be calibrated simultaneously, provided they are the same pressure range and are all connected to the same pressure controller. The program will perform a multi-point pressure calibration, with the number of points being user selectable. Default values for the pressure points are automatically filled-in based on the devices full-scale pressure and whether they are absolute, gauge, or differential. These values may be changed if desired. Before continuing, the user should make sure the sensors to be calibrated are checked. They may be selected per scanner, per module, or individually by sensor. Also, the correct pressure source should be selected from the pull-down. If the controller has not yet been set up in Kulite DAQ, the user should click Set up and continue as described in the Pressure controllers section. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

19 Clicking Go will start the test. If Kulite DAQ is controlling a pressure controller automatically, the operation will then proceed through all the pressures until finished. If the user is controlling the calibration pressures manually, the software will prompt the user when to set the pressures. The software will show the results after all pressures have been completed. If the user only wants to perform accuracy test, they should click Done at this point. A test report can then be generated. On the other hand, if a recalibration is desired, the user should click on one of the Calibrate buttons. The user may choose to recalibrate all devices, or only recalibrate specific devices. The software will then calculate new gain and offset values for each sensor based on the measured data. Then, the test pressures are repeated to verify the recalibration. After completion, the user may select to accept the recalibration coefficients or reject them with the Revert button, which will return all gain and offsets to their As Found values. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

20 A calibration report can then be created which may be saved or printed from the Set up calibration window. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

21 Clicking the Test Report button will generate reports for all accuracy test and calibrations that have been performed. In this way if a scanner is composed of multiple pressure ranges, each pressure range may be tested and calibrated in succession, and then a test report may be generated for the entire scanner. Clicking the Close button in this window will close the results window and remove and results in memory. If there are any tests which have been performed but for which test reports have not yet been generated, the software will warn the user and give the user the option to create reports. After a recalibration is completed, the user is given the option to save the date of calibration into the device s EEPROM. The due-date for the next calibration can also be saved. By default this is one year after the date of calibration, but that can be changed by the user. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

22 2. Adjust offset If the user does not have the means to pressurize the device against a calibrated pressure source, conducting a full-pressure calibration is not feasible. In this case, adjusting only the offset may be done instead. When offset adjustment is selected from the menu, a window will be displayed, showing all available devices as shown below. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

23 Devices which are to be adjusted should be checked in this window. Unchecked devices will be skipped. For scanners, individual modules and/or sensors may be checked or unchecked. There are two types of adjustment available. A. Offset Adjustment: Intended primarily for absolute units, the unpressurized output of the device is compared against an accurately calibrated barometer and adjusted accordingly. When the user clicks the Go button, the offset adjustment procedure is started. A window allows the user to enter the current barometric pressure. The user may opt to enter the current barometric pressure manually. When doing so, one must also be sure that the unit of pressure is correct. Alternatively, the current pressure may be read automatically from a compatible barometer by selecting it from the pull-down and the clicking Read. If the barometer has not yet set up in Kulite DAQ, the user should click Set up and continue as described in the Pressure controllers section. After the barometric pressure has been entered or read, clicking OK begins the adjustment. The offset of each sensor is set so that its output matches the current barometer reading. Therefore, this operation should only be performed with the devices at ambient pressure. The results are then shown in a window. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

24 The user should click OK to accept the new offset values or Revert to undo the changes and reset the offset values to their As Found values. If the results are accepted, a calibration report will be created which may be saved or printed. B. Auto-Zero: Available only on differential or gauge devices, the offset is adjusted so that the device s output is zero. Therefore, this operation should only be performed with the devices at ambient pressure. The operation is similar to Offset Adjustment, except the offset value is set so that the sensor output is zero. As such, this operation is only appropriate for differential or gauge devices. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

25 3. Clear coefficients The user may display and optionally clear the results of a previous calibration via the Calibration menu. A window will display the current values for offset and gain. The user can then select which sensors to clear. Clicking the Reset to Default button sets the gain and offset of all checked channels to their factory default values. A report can be created by clicking the Create Report button, either before or after the coefficients are reset to the default values. The Revert can undo reset the coefficients do their default values. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

26 4. Calibration options There are a number of calibration options that can be accessed via the Calibration menu. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

27 A. Warn if calibration is overdue Every Kulite device can store a calibration date and a calibration due date in its EEPROM. If selected, this option will flag the user whenever they are trying to acquire data with a device whose calibration has expired. For example, in the following screenshot, modules A and B are overdue for a calibration, and modules C and D are not. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

28 B. Display errors When performing an accuracy test or a calibration with this option selected, the measured pressure values will be displayed alongside the percentage error from the desired value. If this option is not selected, only the measure values will be displayed. C. Flag out of range values The user may opt to set a maximum allowed error. If the error on any channel exceeds this value, it will be flagged. This value is expressed as a percentage error from the intended value. Furthermore, when recalibrating if the new offset and/or gain value have changed by too large an amount, this may be flagged as well. D. Default number of calibration points The default number of pressure points can be set when performing an accuracy test or calibration. This number can be changed by the user for a particular test. E. Use negative pressures for gauge/differential devices User s Manual Kulite DAQ

29 When testing gauge or differential devices with the option selected, the test will include negative pressures as well as positive pressures. If not selected, only positive pressure will be used. F. KMPS calibration reports grouped by When generating test reports, the user has the option as to the grouping of the reports. All reports are Microsoft Excel Workbooks (.xlsx format). The results of individual scanner modules can be each be placed in their own workbooks. Alternatively, all the modules on a single scanner may be grouped together into a single workbook. Each module can have its own worksheet in that workbook or there can be a single worksheet for the entire scanner. G. File name prefix Each type of test is given a filename prefix. This is a string used to label the test report workbook and/or worksheet. This string is also used in the heading of the test report itself. H. Directory The user can select the default directory for each type of test. In this way, different types of tests may be kept separate if so desired. On the other hand, test may also all be placed into the same directory if that is desired. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

30 Leak Test 1. Leak check Standard leak-check testing is performed via the Leak test menu Scanner channels are then grouped by their full-scale pressure, with each-full-scale pressure getting its own tab. Additional tabs are added for the scanners calibration, purge and reference lines, whose leak rates may also be tested if desired. Before continuing, the user should make sure the sensors to be tested are checked. They may be selected per scanner, per module, or individually by sensor. Also, the correct pressure source should be selected from the pull-down. If the controller has not yet been set up in Kulite DAQ, the user should click Set up and continue as described in the Pressure controllers section. The pressure at which to perform the leak test and the length of time (in seconds) to measure the leak should be specified as well. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

31 Clicking Go will start the test. The software will then prompt the user to connect the pressure source to the first selected channel. When ready, the user should click OK. At this point the software will apply the correct pressure, disengage the pressure source, and then measure the maintained pressure for the specified length of time. This is then repeated for each channel sequentially. When all channels are complete, the leak rates for all measured channels are displayed. Measuring the leak rate of the calibration, purge, and reference lines is carried on in the same manner, from the appropriate tabs. When testing one of these lines, it is important that the scanner be put into the correct mode and that its purge block is in the correct position. On some models, Kulite DAQ can do this automatically. If the software detects that the scanner is in the wrong mode, it will prompt the user to switch to the correct mode. On other scanner models, this must be done manually be the user before starting the test. See the scanner User Manual for more information on the purge block position. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

32 2. Trapped pressure leak check Standard leak-testing must be performed on each channel individually, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Trapped pressure leak-check testing, on the other hand, can test all the channels on a scanner simultaneously. This leak-test method is currently only supported on the KMPS-6A line of scanners. Before performing this leak test, all the channel ports on the scanner must be capped, ideally with at least one foot of extra tubing length. The idea is to trap a pressure within pressure lines in the scanner and then this pressure can be directed to the individual channels from within. In this way, all channels can be tested at the same time. In order to trap the pressure, the scanner s purge block and solenoids must be activated in the correct order. Much of this is done automatically by the software, but user interaction might be needed to apply enough pressure the slide the purge block back and forth. When the purge block needs to be slid, the software will prompt the user with a pressure to apply, as needed. Once the pressure is trapped with the scanner, the software will take a pressure reading on each channel. Then it will wait a specified length of time, which is set by the user before starting. When the timer has counted down, the pressure is measured once again on each channel. The beginning and ending readings are compared and a leak rate is calculated. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

33 The user may then generate a leak-rate test report by clicking the button. 3. Leak check options There are a number of leak-check options that can be accessed via the Leak check menu. User s Manual Kulite DAQ

34 A. Flag out of range values The user may opt to set a maximum allowable leak rate. This value is expressed as a percentage of the applied pressure per second. If any tested channel or line exceeds User s Manual Kulite DAQ

35 this user-specified maximum, it is flagged as failing in the on-screen results display as well as the test report. The maximum allowable leak rate can be set individually for each type of leak-test. B. Leak measuring time This is the deafult length of time to wait while the pressure leak rate is being measured. The time can be changed for an individual test if so desired. C. KMPS leak reports grouped by When generating test reports, the user has the option as to the grouping of the reports. All reports are Microsoft Excel Workbooks (.xlsx format). The results of individual scanner modules can be each be placed in their own workbooks. Alternatively, all the modules on a single scanner may be grouped together into a single workbook. Each module can have its own worksheet in that workbook or there can be a single worksheet for the entire scanner. D. Save line leak-tests in separate files When measuring the leak rate of the calibration, reference, and purge lines the test results for each line will be placed into its own workbook if this option is selected. Otherwise all the lines will grouped together as separate worksheets in a scanner-wide workbook E. Prefix Each type of leak check is given a filename prefix. This is a string used to label the test report workbook and/or worksheet. This string is also used in the heading of the test report itself. F. Directory The user can select the default directory for each type of leak-test. In this way, different types of leak tests may be kept separate if so desired. On the other hand, the leak test may also all be placed into the same directory if that is desired. User s Manual Kulite DAQ