Pico Technical Support and Discussion Forum

I am working on a project that calls for monitoring 2 analog signals.

1. Signal from Accoustic Emission (AE) Sensor - (milliVolts)
2. Pressure transmitter - (4-20mA)

These analog signals are coming from a manufacturing process. I need to monitor these signals for every manufacturing cycle which lasts for about 8-10 seconds.

Cycle start is indicated by the rise in pressure signal and Cycle stop is indicated by drop in pressure signal to 4 mA.

During this cycle, I have to measure if the DB levels, picked up by AE sensor is within set limits. If the signal crosses beyond the set point, I have to generate an alarm indicating Faulty process.

Since, AE sensor calls for high data capturing rate (It works 450 - 80 kHZ) I propose to use PicoScope 2205.

Would like to know if I am thinking in right direction.

Regards,

Shyam Prasad

Dear All,

This is the same requirement we have. We need at least 5 systems.

Please reply me if this works.

Thank you,

Regards,

Shiddu

Hi and thank you for your post.

Lets answer your question bit by bit:

In terms of mV that depends on how much detail you want out of your voltage, what kind of resolution are you looking for? The 4-20mA should be find, however you will have to use a shunt resistor, this also depends on the kind of resolution you are looking.

Bearing in mind that the 220x is 8 bits over the +/- range, in each of the voltage ranges available, so you would need to choose the appropriate voltage range for your signal.

Generating an alarm at that sample rate (450-80kHz) is not possible using PicoLog recorder, which is our data logging software. However if you use PicoScope6 for a period of 10 seconds you can get the device to sample at 200kS/s.

If you want to integrate the alarms into your test you would then need need to write your own software. Also if you wish to get higher sample rates you will need to write your own software.

When you say 450-80kHz is this the rate at which you wish to sample or is this the frequency of the signal?

Kind regards