Automated Data Acquisition System Research Articles

Impact of the current fluctuation on the efficiency of Alkaline Water Electrolysis

The relationship between the electric current fluctuation and the efficiency of Alkaline Water Electrolysis (AWE) was analyzed and the results are presented in this paper. Square, triangle, sine and sawtooth current waveforms with various frequency and amplitude settings were applied to a lab scale electrolyser with current densities up to 5000 A/m2. A novel, fully automatic measurement and data acquisition system was designed in order to generate thousands of experiments in a short period of time. The results show that non-steady DC current applied to the cell cause efficiency loss compared to the steady DC condition at same current density. Furthermore, the efficiency loss can be influenced by 3 parameters of the fluctuating electric current: ripple factor, frequency and mean current density. The detailed results give new insight for the investigation of water electrolysis efficiency.

The Effect of Fuel Dose Division on The Emission of Toxic Components in The Car Diesel Engine Exhaust Gas

Abstract The article discusses the effect of fuel dose division in the Diesel engine on smoke opacity and composition of the emitted exhaust gas. The research activities reported in the article include experimental examination of a small Diesel engine with Common Rail type supply system. The tests were performed on the engine test bed equipped with an automatic data acquisition system which recorded all basic operating and control parameters of the engine, and smoke opacity and composition of the exhaust gas. The parameters measured during the engine tests also included the indicated pressure and the acoustic pressure. The tests were performed following the pre-established procedure in which 9 engine operation points were defined for three rotational speeds: 1500, 2500 and 3500 rpm, and three load levels: 25, 40 and 75 Nm. At each point, the measurements were performed for 7 different forms of fuel dose injection, which were: the undivided dose, the dose divided into two or three parts, and three different injection advance angles for the undivided dose and that divided into two parts. The discussion of the obtained results includes graphical presentation of contests of hydrocarbons, carbon oxide, and nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas, and its smoke opacity. The presented analyses referred to two selected cases, out of nine examined engine operation points. In these cases the fuel dose was divided into three parts and injected at the factory set control parameters. The examination has revealed a significant effect of fuel dose division on the engine efficiency, and on the smoke opacity and composition of the exhaust gas, in particular the content of nitrogen oxides. Within the range of low loads and rotational speeds, dividing the fuel dose into three parts clearly improves the overall engine efficiency and significantly decreases the concentration of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas. Moreover, it slightly decreases the contents of hydrocarbons and carbon oxide. In the experiment the contents of nitrogen oxides markedly increased with the increasing injection advance angle for the undivided dose and that divided into two parts. This, in turn, led to the decrease of the contents of hydrocarbons and carbon oxide. Fuel dose division into two and three parts leads to the increase of smoke opacity of the exhaust gas, compared to the undivided dose.

Apparatus for monitoring the resistivity of the hydration of cement cured at high temperature

ABSTRACTA resistivity apparatus was developed to investigate the early hydration processes of cementitious materials cured at elevated temperatures. The apparatus consists of a temperature control system, resistivity measurement system, and automatic data acquisition system. The temperature control of the resistivity apparatus was ±0.5°C. Three parallel measurements varied by approximately 5%, which shows that the apparatus was reliable and reproducible. By monitoring the electrical resistivity of fresh cement, the hydration process was characterized. The developed device may provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of cement hydration at high curing temperatures. In addition, increased curing temperature accelerates the setting process and strength development of the cement. However, high temperature has negative effects on compressive strength of the material.

Influence of fructose on the diffusion of potassium hydrogen phosphate in aqueous solutions at 25 °C

Diffusion coefficients have been measured at 25°C for potassium hydrogen phosphate (K2HPO4, 0.101molkg−1) in aqueous solutions containing various concentrations of fructose from (0.001 to 0.101)molkg−1, using a conductimetric cell (the Lobo cell) coupled to an automatic data acquisition system. Significant effects of fructose were observed on the diffusion of K2HPO4 in these mixtures, which are attributed to the interaction between HPO42− anion (or other protonated forms) and fructose. Support for this comes from 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, which are compatible with binding between the anomeric forms of d-fructose and the HPO42− anion.

A Low-Cost Image Analysis System to Upgrade the Rudin Beer Foam Head Retention Meter

Beer foam is one of the first characteristics consumers visually perceive. Even if their opinions vary, generally, beer foam should be stable and long lasting. In this work, the conventional foam head retention method developed by Rudin (1957) was improved by resorting to three different automatic data acquisition systems. The first one made use of a mouse time tracking software offered at no cost. The second one was an Accurate Image Analysis system using a high-definition camera and a script written in MATLAB. Finally, the third one was an automatic low-cost image analysis (LCIA) system incorporating a Raspberry Pi single-board computer and a camera module (Raspberry Pi Foundation, UK). The latter was able not only to acquire the whole foam decay curve but also to fit the time course of the beer–foam interface position and extract the characteristic beer foam half-life (t½). All the data acquisition systems yielded t½ values practically coincident at the probability level of 0.05, this confirming their substantial equivalence. Once the lager beer had been laced with increasing doses of a foam agent (i.e., tetrahydro-iso-α-acid) to enhance its foam persistence, the resulting foam half-life, as estimated using the above Rudin-based methods, was highly correlated (r2 = 0.99) to the foam collapse time, as derived from the NIBEM Foam Stability Tester. Finally, thanks to the LCIA acquisition system developed here, the Rudin test might represent a fast, flexible, and cheaper alternative to the generally recommended but expensive NIBEM tester, as well as other commercial automated Rudin apparatuses.

Relative Permeability of Foamy Oil for Different Types of Dissolved Gases

Summary Foamy-oil flow is encountered not only during the primary stage of the cold-heavy-oil-production (CHOP) process through evolving methane originally in the oil but also in the post-CHOP enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) applications in which different gases are injected and dissolved in heavy oil. Despite remarkable efforts on the physics of foamy oil flow, the mechanics of its flow through porous media is not properly understood yet. This is mainly because of lack of detailed experimental studies at the core scale to clarify the physics of the process and to support numerical-modeling studies. One also should test foamy-oil flow for different types of EOR gases dissolved and evolved at different conditions under pressure depletion. The objective of the present work is to perform detailed laboratory experiments on foamy-oil flow through porous media. Pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) studies were conducted to determine the actual pressure ranges in the coreflooding experiments in the beginning. After dissolving different gases in dead oil at 400 psi for methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and 112 psi for propane, the oil was injected into a sandpack to saturate it. The solution-gas-drive test was started by opening the outlet valve of the coreholder after reaching equilibrium. To mimic typical post-CHOP EOR conditions with methane, propane, or CO2 injection, the pressure was kept high (400 psi for CO2 and CH4 and 112 psi for propane). The produced oil by solution-gas drive and the gas evolved were monitored by collecting them in a graduated cylinder and a gas cylinder, respectively, while the pressure was recorded by an automatic data-acquisition system. The experimental data provided information about the effect of initial pressure of the depletion test in the amount of oil and gas measured as well as the visual observations of bubble characteristics of the foamy oil. Results showed that, among the three gases, CO2 is a good candidate for foamy oil. Maximum oil recovery [more than 50% of original oil in place (OIP) (OOIP)] was obtained in case of CO2.

Evaluation of pre-jamming indication parameter during blind backfilling technique

Hydraulic blind backfilling is used to reduce subsidence problems above old underground water-logged coal mines. This paper describes experimental research on a fully transparent model of a straight underground mine gallery. An automatic data acquisition system was installed in the model to continuously record the sand and water flowrates along with the inlet pressure of the slurry near the model's inlet. Pressure signature graphs and pressure loss curves with bed advancement under different flow conditions are examined. Pressure signature analyses for various flowrates and sand slurry concentrations are conducted to evaluate a pre-jamming indication parameter, which could be used to indicate the arrival of the final stage of filling.

Analysis of Critical Factors for Automatic Measurement of OEE

The increasing digitalization of industry provides means to automatically acquire and analyze manufacturing data. As a consequence, companies are investing in Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) where the measurement of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) often is a central part and important reason for the investment. The purpose of this study is to identify critical factors and potential pitfalls when operating automatic measurement of OEE. It is accomplished by analyzing raw data used for OEE calculation acquired from a large data set; 23 different companies and 884 machines. The average OEE was calculated to 65%. Almost half of the recorded OEE losses could not be classified since the loss categories were either lacking or had poor descriptions. In addition, 90% of the stop time that was classified could be directly related to supporting activities performed by operators and not the automatic process itself. The findings and recommendations of this study can be incorporated to fully utilize the potential of automatic data acquisition systems and to derive accurate OEE measures that can be used to improve manufacturing performance.

Design and Implementation of an Automatic Face-image Data Acquisition System using IP Based Multi Camera

Design and Implementation of an Automatic Face-image Data Acquisition System using IP Based Multi Camera

An automated method to assay locomotor activity in third instar Drosophila melanogaster larvae

IntroductionThe purpose of these studies was to describe a novel application of an automated data acquisition/data reduction system, DanioVision™ by Noldus. DanioVision™ has the ability to detect changes in locomotor activity in third instar Drosophila melanogaster larvae. The noncompetitive GABAA receptor antagonist picrotoxin (PTX), was used as a pharmacologic agent to decrease locomotor activity. MethodsTwo strains of Drosophila were used in these studies; wild-type flies and flies with a mutation in the Rdl gene (RdlMD-RR). RdlMD-RRDrosophila are naturally occurring mutants that express an aberrant form of the GABAA receptor, which has a lower affinity for PTX, but not GABA itself. Larvae, extracted from food in 20% sucrose, were randomly placed into vials containing vehicle or PTX (0.03–3mM). After incubation of 2–24h, individual larvae were put in each well of a 6-well culture plate previously coated with 2% agar, the plate was then placed in the DanioVision™ apparatus. The activity of individual larva was recorded for 5min, digitized and analyzed using Ethovision® XT software. ResultsIncubation of third instar wild-type larvae in 1mM PTX for 4 or 24h decreased activity; whereas, a 2h incubation in PTX was without effect. PTX caused a concentration-dependent decrease in activity as demonstrated by consistently reduced locomotor activity with 1.0 and 3.0mM: 0.3mM resulted in variable decreases in locomotor activity and 0.03mM yielded no effect. By contrast, PTX did not affect activity in RdlMD-RR larvae even at the highest concentration, 3.0mM. DiscussionUsing an automated data acquisition system, it was found that PTX decreases activity in third instar Drosophila larvae due to a selective blockade of the GABAA receptor. The method will reduce the likelihood of human error and bias, as well as increase the speed and ease of data collection and analysis.

Automated control and data acquisition system for lithium-ion accumulators test bench

In the article authors describe architecture of an automated data acquisition system for lithium ion accumulators lifetime test bench. The system is based on high performance data acquisition modules and allows acquisition of data in the process of simultaneous testing of 12 accumulators, including current, voltage and temperature of each accumulator. LabView based software is used to control testing, registration of data and loading of test program into system modules.

A drift detector system with anode and cathode readout in the GlueX experiment

A drift detector system designed to detect charged particle tracks in the GlueX experiment dedicated to study the nature of confinement is described. The key design features of the drift chambers associated with the requirement of a minimum material budget in the path of secondary particles are presented. The spatial resolution and the detection efficiency have been measured with cosmic rays using the automatic data acquisition system.

1107 照度差ステレオ法を用いた3次元物体の復元(OS2-3 デジタルエンジニアリング3,OS2 デジタルエンジニアリング)

This paper studies an automatic 3D shape reconstruction of objects using images taken by a camera from different views based on photometric stereo technique. The automated data acquisition system consists of a camera, lighting system that consists of 60 LED bulbs, and a turntable rotated by a computer-controlled stepping motor. We use photometric stereo techniques, which recover surface normals of an object on a per-pixel basis from a set of images captured from a fixed viewpoint under various lighting directions, and then recover the height field function from the normals. Finally we merge all the height field function to reconstruct the object. Examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Automatic Multiple Sensor Data Acquisition System in a Real-time Production Environment

This paper presents a multiple sensor automatic data acquisition system deployed on a CNC turning center in a real- time production environment at Schivo Precision, Waterford, Ireland. The machine has been fitted with a variety of sensors measuring acoustic emission, cutting force & vibration installed at the turret of the machine, coupled with an automatic image acquisition system monitoring the wear on the tools in real time after each operation. The combination of sensors and data acquisition is novel in that it brings together all the currently popular sensoring techniques in the field of tool condition monitoring and tests the validity of these techniques in a live production environment. The sensor data acquisition and optical tool wear measurements are controlled by a computer automatically with no intervention from the machine tool operator in normal production on a variety of component geometries, materials and cutting inserts. All the acquired data is available on-line for the research partners in the various countries. Independent operator feedback on the performance of the process in terms of both product dimensional stability and machined surface stability is used for evaluation of the acquired data applicability for tool condition monitoring.

New Inclinometer Device for Monitoring of Underground Displacements and Landslide Activity

The paper illustrates the theoretical basis of a new device called MUMS - Modular Underground Monitoring System - and one of its applications. MUMS has been designed for monitoring of underground displacements through a continuous and automated data acquisition system. MUMS instrumentation can be used to monitor the deformation of natural and artificial slopes as well as geotechnical structures. The device consists of a series of nodes located at known distances along a connecting rope and is installed within a vertical borehole. Each node measures its local rotation relative to the vertical axis by means of a 3D micro electro-mechanical acceleration sensor (MEMS). The direction cosines of each node are calculated in order to determine the 3D shape and deformation of the entire borehole. The paper illustrates an interesting application of MUMS in natural slopes and points out the benefits of the system.

Regression models tolerant to massively missing data: a case study in solar-radiation nowcasting

Abstract. Statistical models for environmental monitoring strongly rely on automatic data acquisition systems that use various physical sensors. Often, sensor readings are missing for extended periods of time, while model outputs need to be continuously available in real time. With a case study in solar-radiation nowcasting, we investigate how to deal with massively missing data (around 50% of the time some data are unavailable) in such situations. Our goal is to analyze characteristics of missing data and recommend a strategy for deploying regression models which would be robust to missing data in situations where data are massively missing. We are after one model that performs well at all times, with and without data gaps. Due to the need to provide instantaneous outputs with minimum energy consumption for computing in the data streaming setting, we dismiss computationally demanding data imputation methods and resort to a mean replacement, accompanied with a robust regression model. We use an established strategy for assessing different regression models and for determining how many missing sensor readings can be tolerated before model outputs become obsolete. We experimentally analyze the accuracies and robustness to missing data of seven linear regression models. We recommend using the regularized PCA regression with our established guideline in training regression models, which themselves are robust to missing data.

Comparison of the Kaiser effect in marble under tensile stresses between the Brazilian and bending tests

This article demonstrates that other than the preexisting compressive stress, it is possible to measure preexisting tensile stress in marble using the Kaiser effect method. To assess the reliability of the Kaiser effect method in measuring tensile stress, cyclic loading-unloading cycles with increasing peak stress were applied to marble samples to conduct Brazilian and bending tests. The readings of the stress, strain and acoustic signal were recorded by an automatic data acquisition system, and the result confirmed that the Kaiser effect was observed. In all tests, the Felicity ratios were between 0.92 and 1.2, but the bursting of acoustic emission was more pronounced in the bending test. The less distinct Kaiser effect in the Brazilian test could be caused by the complex stress distribution/crack propagation.

Effectiveness of pavement-solar energy system – An experimental study

A small-scale pilot project was built for the pavement-solar energy utilization in this paper. An automatic data acquisition system was designed to measure the effectiveness of the pavement solar energy system based on the operation data of 24h a day in both summer and winter. Through 69days (1656h) of operation in summer, 2821kWh of heat energy were stored in soil underground. In the transitional season, 4598kWh of heat energy were taken out from soil during 104days (2496h) of operation in winter. The analysis showed that in summer, solar heat collection of asphalt pavement could effectively reduce 7°C of its temperature. Under conditions of natural radiation, the average heat absorptivity of pavement was 37% and the average thermal storage effectiveness of the system was 17%. The electrical energy consumed by the system is only 11% of stored heat. During the winter, the asphalt pavement absorbs heat from underground soil which effectively increases its temperature, cutting 32% days of surface temperature below the freezing point. This not only save the energy for ice/snow removal but also mitigate associated safety risks.

Automatic Data Acquisition and Analysis System of Electron Beam Distribution Based on LabVIEW Code

Automatic data acquisition and analysis system is set up aiming at measuring and analyzing the electron beams distribution from electron gun and traveling wave tube. It can obtain electron beam parameters, such as three-dimension current density distribution, beam center, beam waist and total current etc. and it can be applied to space technology ranging from centimeter wave to millimeter wave. LabVIEW program is used to acquire data from the hardware equipment and deduce results from post-processing system. As a result, this study is significant to improve the design of electron gun and traveling wave tube in space application.

Optimizing regression models for data streams with missing values

Automated data acquisition systems, such as wireless sensor networks, surveillance systems, or any system that records data in operating logs, are becoming increasingly common, and provide opportunities for making decision on data in real or nearly real time. In these systems, data is generated continuously resulting in a stream of data, and predictive models need to be built and updated online with the incoming data. In addition, the predictive models need to be able to output predictions continuously, and without delays. Automated data acquisition systems are prone to occasional failures. As a result, missing values may often occur. Nevertheless, predictions need to be made continuously. Hence, predictive models need to have mechanisms for dealing with missing data in such a way that the loss in accuracy due to occasionally missing values would be minimal. In this paper, we theoretically analyze effects of missing values to the accuracy of linear predictive models. We derive the optimal least squares solution that minimizes the expected mean squared error given an expected rate of missing values. Based on this theoretically optimal solution we propose a recursive algorithm for producing and updating linear regression online, without accessing historical data. Our experimental evaluation on eight benchmark datasets and a case study in environmental monitoring with streaming data validate the theoretical results and confirm the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.