subject: Describing A Data Logger And Its Uses [print this page] A data logger is a device for electronically recording data for a certain time period or in a specific location using either built in instruments or sensors, or instruments and sensors that are externally attached to the device. The electronics are generally based on a digital processing chip. The devices are normally small, portable, battery powered and controlled by a microprocessor. They employ memory chips for storing data and sensors for collecting the data.
Personal computers are employed to view the data and thereafter to analyze it by using software tailored for the application. Keyboards and LCD screens may be attached to some of the devices in order to view the collected data in situ.
Data logging devices come in many forms such as basic counters for one application to the collection of multiple measurements in an environment that is constantly changing. Some devices can be programmed but many are used in a location where they are static and require very little in the way of setting them up or programming them. These logging devices have taken the place of chart recorders in more and more applications.
A definite benefit to using a data logging device is the fact that it may be set up for data collection for 24 hours or more unattended. They are regularly initialized and left for long periods of time to collect the relevant data. The environment to be monitored can be represented accurately using the relevant data such as humidity and temperature. The sensor measuring humidity collects data on the amount of moisture in the air and its temperature. Relative humidity expressed as a percentage takes the ratio of moisture present in the air against the largest moisture level the air will hold at a particular temperature.
Users of measuring devices must be certain that any results obtained from their instruments fit the specifications and accuracy required. Calibration laboratories are situated in most developed countries specialising in the certification of measuring instruments. To produce quality products, the instruments used in their manufacture should be accurate and conform to internationally recognised standards.
The pressure sensor used to record the pressure of liquids or gases generates an electrical signal in the transducer. A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form into another. For example the pressure on the transducer is converted to an electrical signal that can be measured. There are various methods for generating the energy forms such as diaphragms, pistons, Bourdon tubes or bellows which are activated by the application of force or pressure over an area. The conversions are performed using a variety of sensing technologies such as capacitive, electromagnetic, piezoelectric, potentiometric and optical.
Many applications make use of data logging equipment. They may be used for counting cars on the road, recording weather statistics, the monitoring of shock and vibration data, soil moisture content, scientific measurement, vehicle tests and several more. The use of wireless transmissions to send collected data to specified collection locations is now becoming commonplace.
Today's devices are a little more sophisticated than their predecessors and they may now be used in automobiles for problem detection, event recording, aircraft flight data, automobile crash data to name but a few. humidity sensor equipment is now commonplace in many industries.
