PCDAQ Driver

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PCDAQ Driver features

The PCDAQ Driver is the key software component for all data acquisition products. It consists of the following components:

The driver

Real-time capable kernel driver provides synchronous control of the hardware.
Interrupt-driven directly by the card.
Interface to non-real-time operating system with aid of hardware and software FIFOs.
Users do not need work on this level.

The SDK for creating specific applications

Programming interface / API. Same functions for all supported operating systems and cards.
Modular device concept.
Interfaces to supported programming language or application.

The applications for quick measurements

Data logger, writes binary format for maximum speed and converts file to simple text format designed for maximum import compatibility into mainstream office software.
PCDAQ Scope, a GUI based scope / data logger / chart recorder application with 500 built-in mathematic and signal-processing functions.

The documentation

Example programs for each supported programming language and application.
PDF manual (requires Adobe Reader)
HTML manual for instant use

Using PCDAQ Driver the data acquisition card is ready to measure in no time. See the programming languages and applications in short-form:

Microsoft® Visual C++®
Microsoft® Visual Basic®
Microsoft® .NET® Visual C#
Borland Delphi
Agilent VEE
National Instruments LabVIEW
TransEra HTBasic

(1) Please note that the last version supporting Windows NT® is V1.3, released in 2005.

Cards

Currently these cards are supported by PCDAQ:

PCDAQ MF16080 data acquisition USB systems:
MF16081: 12 bit, 16 channel 100kHz ADC + 12 bit, 8 channel DAC + 10 bit DIO
MF16082: 12 bit, 16 channel 100kHz ADC + 12 bit, 8 channel DAC + 10 bit DIO
MF16084: 12 bit, 16 channel 100kHz ADC + 12 bit, 8 channel DAC + 10 bit DIO

MF16081-T: 12 bit, 16 channel 100kHz ADC + 12 bit, 8 channel DAC + 10 bit DIO
MF16082-T: 12 bit, 16 channel 100kHz ADC + 12 bit, 8 channel DAC + 10 bit DIO
MF16084-T: 12 bit, 16 channel 100kHz ADC + 12 bit, 8 channel DAC + 10 bit DIO

Operating systems: Microsoft® Windows® 2000, Windows® XP, Windows® Vista™

ELAN AD125 series data acquisition PCMCIA cards:
ELAN AD121: A/D: 12 bit, 8 channel, 100kHz + DIO 8 bit
ELAN AD125: A/D: 12 bit, 8 channel, 500kHz + DIO 8 bit
ELAN AD126: A/D: 12 bit, 8 channel, 650kHz + DIO 8 bit
ELAN AD131: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 100kHz + DIO 8 bit
ELAN AD132: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 250kHz + DIO 8 bit
ELAN AD135: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 500kHz + DIO 8 bit
ELAN AD136: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 650kHz + DIO 8 bit

ELAN MF221: A/D: 12 bit, 8 channel, 100kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 4 bit
ELAN MF225: A/D: 12 bit, 8 channel, 500kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 4 bit
ELAN MF226: A/D: 12 bit, 8 channel, 650kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 4 bit
ELAN MF231: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 100kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 8 bit
ELAN MF232: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 250kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 4 bit
ELAN MF235: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 500kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 4 bit
ELAN MF236: A/D: 12 bit, 16 channel, 650kHz + D/A 12 bit, 2 channel, low speed + DIO 4 bit

Operating systems: Microsoft® Windows® 98/Me, Windows NT®, Windows® 2000, Windows® XP

Using the card

The software API consists of only one function that provides access to settings and captured data. The card can be fully controlled with an easy-to-use API.

Card Setup

Many applications only need one initial setup. In this case application development is greatly simplified with aid of the Card Setup program:

It sets an initial startup configuration. The card is initialized with these settings at driver start time. This eliminates writing code for card setup.
There are only 3 other calls needed:

Initialize driver
Start data capture
Read data

Data logger

The settings of Card Setup and the captured data can be verified using the Data Logger that is also part of the software. It only requires configuration using Card Setup.

The data logger uses these settings and writes formatted ASCII numbers (directly as voltages), seperated by CRLF, to disk. This format can be imported by almost any application.

Supported languages and applications

These well-known programming languages are supported:

Agilent VEE / HP VEE / DT VEE

is a graphical programming language developed by Hewlett-Packard (now Agilent). Its use is very straight-forward and intuitive. It provides outstanding oscilloscope displays. Instrument integration is very easy because of the Instrument manager for GPIB / RS232 and VXI instruments and driver integration is simple with aid of Call function objects.
The runtime feature allows you to build redistributible applications that run without the development environment.

You can check it out: Evaluation versions can be found at http://www.get.agilent.com/gpinstruments/products/vee/download.shtml and ftp://ftp.agilent.com/pub/mpusup/pc/binfiles/vee (older versions HP VEE 3.12, 4.0 and 5.0). These versions work up to 50 objects and can save only to one file name. Worth trying!

The API requires at least Agilent VEE version 5.

National Instruments LabVIEW®

Well known "classic" graphical programming language. As far as we know it has been the very first graphical language in the Test and Measurement area. Rich functionality and lots of features are included in full package. In our opinion using LabVIEW is not as smooth as HP VEE, i.e. you have to use the toolbox all the way with probes, text, line and wiring tools. On a high resolution screen the objects become very small. Compare it to HP VEE...
Nevertheless it has been the most successful graphical language in Test and Measurement. And it is available for Linux too!
An evaluation version is available at: http://digital.ni.com/demo.nsf/websearch/14F9CE475127ADE786256AC60070926C?OpenDocument&node=1381_US

PCDAQ supports all LabVIEW versions from version 6 up to most recent.

Microsoft Visual Basic®

PCDAQ supports version 6.0.

Microsoft Visual C++®

PCDAQ supports version 6.0 as well as Visual Studio 2003 and 2005 versions.

Microsoft .NET C#

PCDAQ supports .NET using a C# API. The existing project can be directly used with the latest Visual Studio 2005.

TransEra HTBasic

HTBasic is the successor of the HP9000 Rocky Mountain Basic. It is designed for absolute compatibility to the original language for running HP 9000 Basic programs without changes. The HP 9000 computers had a GPIB interface so they were well suited to control expensive test equipment. In the last years TransEra developed many extensions to the original language including external function calls. Of course a number of GPIB interface is supported as well. PCDAQ supports data acquisition with all versions from HTBasic 9.0 on as well.
An evaluation version (runs 30 minutes and does not save files) is available at http://www.htbasic.com/support/dwnload2.html#demos

Other languages and applications

The PCDAQ driver can be attached to virtually any language, because it relies on a simple interface mechanism and uses simple generic and array data types only. If you have an application or language in mind that you think PCDAQ should support too, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Application Software

PCDAQ Celsius

is an application that is included as source code in PCDAQ software.

It works with any supported card and uses a PT1000 sensor for temperature measurements with a resolution of better than 0.05K in the range of -40 to +200 °C.
The dynamic resolution of the card is increased by signal processing. Then sensor linearization is performed so that readings are directly in degrees Celsius.

If used as starting point for own applications or for comparison with other applications, PCDAQ Celsius shows all relevant voltages and the PT1000 resistance as well. The sensor is powered by the card, only 2 external precision resistors and a capacitor are required.

The required Agilent VEE runtime comes with PCDAQ Scope , the Agilent VEE evaluation version is available for free web download as well.

PCDAQ Scope

is a full-featured DSO / data logger / analyzer application. The signal source is either the analog input from the card or from a captured data file.

Up to 8 signals can be captured simultaneously at high speed - either to disk, to display or both.

After capturing to file the data can be examined in the data analyzer. Overviews of the complete data set can be performed with aid of data smoothing methods. They include averaging, peak detection and data reduction.
Data post-processing is performed using the huge set of math operators included in Agilent VEE - more than 500 functions - including signal processing.

In addition the signals can be analyzed online (in real-time) inside the DSO.
Up to 4 analyzer displays can be created with aid of formulas, plus the main window that shows the real data.

For example:

Create an FFT of input A4 by entering this formula: mag(fft(hanning(A4)))
The formula calculates the fourier transform of input A5 using a hanning window. From the complex result only the magnitude (in contrast to phase) is used and shown in a seperate display.
Create an FFT of input A5 by entering this formula: mag(fft(hanning(A5)))
Create a moving average by entering this formula: movingAvg(A4, 20)
The function calculates the mean value of +/-10 points around the current data point.
Zoom an existing channel in a seperate display: A5
This function copies all data points 1:1 into the seperate display.

See below for the result!

PCDAQ Scope Analyzer

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