Data Acquisition Station Research Articles

A distributed data-acquisition system for gamma spectral analysis

The neutron-activation analysis staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Omega West Reactor has designed and constructed a distributed data-acquisition system for handling a large volume of gamma-ray spectra. Currently the system consists of five independent data-acquisition stations connected to a number of workstations via an Ethernet network. Each data-acquisition station supports up to eight detectors operating simultaneously and is capable of initiating automatic sample manipulation including, but not limited to, sample loading, irradiation, spectrum recording and spectrum storage. Control of the data-acquisition station can be accomplished locally with a computer terminal directly connected to the data-acquisition station or via a workstation connected to the network.

A New VME-Based, Multi-Processor Data Acquisition Station for the LBL Bevalac

A new VME-based multi-processor data acquisition station has been developed for use at several LBL Bevalac facilities. This system acquires and manipulates data from multiple CAMAC crates and transmits them via Ethernet to a central VAX facility for taping. Overall architecture is discussed and major hardware and software components are described.

IBM/RT Based CAMAC Data Acquisition Station

An IBM/RT based data acquisition station is under development at the Princeton University Cyclotron Laboratory in cooperation with an IBM academic donation program. Our multiparameter data acquisition software ACQUIRE is being implemented on the RT. A Turbo Pascal data-taking code which executes on the AT co-processor was first transferred to the RT system and is being used in experiments. A number of other useful programs, including our kinematics codes, have also been transferred to the RT.

An All Digital Automated Wind Measurement System

In addition to supplying basic meteorological information, vectored wind velocity measurements are essential to the analysis of small caliber ballistic trajectories, optical wave propagation in the lower atmosphere, and wind shears and vorticies. Conventional electromechanical methods, using velocity-to-direct current converters, are often unsatisfactory when integrated into a multisensor array over long path lengths. An all digital system capable of operating as an array over long path lengths has been developed. The system is totally automated. Using complementary metal oxidized semiconductors (CMOS) signal processing remote data acquisition stations, operated under microprocessor control, reliable and accurate asynchronous data transfer has been obtained.

A Mini-Computer Data Acquisition Station

A PDP-8/I mini-computer has been used as a satellite data-acquisition station in conjunction with a larger, central IBM-1800 computer. An analog data interface to the PDP-8/I permits bipolar analog data to 10-bit accuracy to be collected at the rate of one analog sample every 1.5 ?s.

Space Sciences Data Processing

Spacecraft carrying large numbers of scientific instruments are presently transmitting data at the rate of approximately 100 million data points per day. The outputs of the sensors are partially processed on the spacecraft and transmitted to the ground. These data must then be converted from raw digital form into a conceptually meaningful form which the experimenters can analyze and from which they can draw valid conclusions about the phenomena being measured. At present the ground processing is done in several steps. The first includes conversion of the raw data acquisition station tapes into computer tapes and includes signal clean-up, establishment of synchronization, and time decoding. In the newest processing lines this first step also includes a moderate amount of editing and quality control. The rest of the steps involve large scale computers and include further editing, establishment of accurate timing, computation of the spacecraft attitude, and sorting, to provide data tapes for the individual experimenters. The experimenters have the responsibility for the further reduction to more meaningful form. These operations include further sorting, storage, compilation, computation, and display. There is at present a great need for additional development of analysis and display programs, techniques, and equipment to assist in this work.

A Digital Telemetry System for Physiological Variables

A radio telemetry system is described which satisfies the data acquisition requirements for research in the field of military environmental medicine. The adoption of digital encoding, transmitting, and recording techniques, and the development of a methodology which features serial interrogation by a portable data recording station, have resulted in the construction of a 100-subchannel facility capable of precise measurement and recording of a variety of physiological measurands during field maneuvers. The basic equipment configuration includes a data recording station which generates the time base for interrogation and produces a punched paper tape suitable for direct computer entry and five associated data acquisition stations carried by test subjects performing military tasks in environmental extremes. All units are selfcontained, battery-powered, solid-state packages compatible with standard army load carrying systems.

"Computer Operational Systems Engineering for an Orbiting Satellite and Its Command and Telemetry Data Acquisition Station"

The important aspects of operational systems engineering for a typical earth-orbiting satellite are highlighted. Focus is on the use of a general purpose digital computer at a command and telemetry data acquisition station. The operational concept utilizes the computer equipment both on-line, in near real time, and off-line to assess satellite performance for operational purposes. The operational commands transmitted to the satellite are derived and printed out by the computer and its peripheral equipment from a diagnostic processing of the satellites recorded telemetry data. While the spacecraft is still within range of communication, commands are transmitted from the ground station either for immediate execution or for execution at a specified future time. An adequately detailed description of the spacecraft-computer interface is attempted to permit sufficient understanding for early incorporation of complete subsystem operational requirements during the initial design phase of any similar program.