Modern science and engineering relies heavily on understanding computer hardware and software in order to make effective use of these tools in the laboratory and industrial environments. The authors of Modern Instrumentation: A Computer Approach have succeeded in producing a highly readable source that will serve both newcomers to the field as well as experienced professionals.
Including both fundamentals and applications, the book first describes the role of the computer in instrument systems and provides numerous practical examples. The second part of the book explores specific software packages and their capabilities for applications such as, instrument design and simulation, data acquisition, data processing, and the potential of artificial intelligence in instrument design.
Because of the full integration of theory with practical applications of leading software packages, this book is an extremely useful reference for those who use computer-based instrument technology for data acquisition and who are involved with hardware or software development for laboratory and process control.
FUNDAMENTALS OF DATA ACQUISITION AND INSTRUMENT CONTROL
INTRODUCTION
The role of computer-based instrumentation in measurement and process control
Examples of computer-based instrumentation
Architectures of computer-based instrument systems
References
INFORMATION AND ITS REPRESENTATION
Measuring information content in laboratory environments
What to consider when selecting alpha-numeric codes
Representation of abstract information
What limits information?
System capacity and sampling rate
Summary
References
Additional reading
HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE OF PC-BASED INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS
Functional components of an instrument platform
Multiple-processor systems
Architecture of instruments for automated environments
The complete "computer-on-a-chip" and portable instrumentation
Choosing a PC platform
References
SOFTWARE FOR INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS
Computer operating systems
The nature of programming
Applications programming languages and packages
References
DATA-PROCESSING CONSIDERATIONS
Computer-based instrument capacities
Organizing data (data structures)
Time or frequency basis of modeling
Software architectures for input/output
References
DATA ACQUISTION AND INSTRUMENT CONTROL RESOURCES
Transducers
Signal conditioning
Telemetry
Data conversion
Instrument control: digital I/O
References
APPLIED INSTRUMENTATION AUTOMATION
DESIGN AIDS-SPICE
Introduction
Elementary circuit examples
Operational amplifier subcircuits and applications
Device modeling
Fourier analysis
Use of the PROBE utility
References
DESIGN AIDS-MathCAD, MATLAB
Introduction
Elementary operations
Graphing with MathCAD
Equation solving
Fourier series and discrete fourier transforms
Signal detection in noise
Data analysis tyechniques
File transfer between MathCAD and a spreadsheet
An introduction to MATLAB
References
DESIGN AIDS-DSPlay
Introduction
DSPlay features
Spectral analysis of a simple signal
Adding and multiplying signals
Convolution and filtering
Signal detection in noise
References
SPREADSHEETS: LOTUS 1-2-3
Introduction
Lotus 1-2-3 features
Tabulating and graphing a formula
Data analysis techniques
Signal detection in noise
Use of macros
References
A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT TOOL: LabWindows
Introduction
Data analysis and data presentation examples
Data-acquisition examples
References
THE WINDOWS OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
Introduction
Windows application programs
Data transfer between windows applications
References
FULLY INTEGRATED APPLICATIONS
Introduction
Data acquisition using Lotus and Lotus measure
Measurement of optical fiber bandwidths using LabWindows
Biography
G Silverman, H Silver
"… a wide-angle snapshot of the instrumentation needs within the biomedical, scientific, and engineering communities … a good, broad background education for those scientists and engineers new to computer-based instrumentation."
-Scientific Computing World
