Data Acquisition Shield
- Kayli Silvers
Team Name: Lone Spark Labs
Sponsor Name: Eric Bogatin
The goal for this project was to design a Data Acquisition Shield designed for an Arduino Uno that’s an all encompassing solution for high precision data collection and analysis. The main features of the board are its Strip Chart Recorder, that is dubbed high-performance for it’s use of Power Line Cycle (PLC) averaging to dramatically reduce noise in data collection. The second main feature would be the high precision, high speed oscilloscope that also uses an averaging algorithm for a more accurate signal display. We have also built in a capacitance meter, that offers (like the strip chart recorder and scope) plug-and-play capability to reliably measure any capacitance value from 0.001µF to 100µF. The shield incorporates techniques for significant reduction in RMS noise through the PLC averaging and also through a calibration of the ADC using the 3.3V rail on the Arduino as a reference voltage for data collection. Finally, it’s seamless and smooth compatibility with Excel Data Streamer is the cherry on top of the design to make it a complete, powerful diagnostics tool that can be used with a multitude of different sensors and actuators.