ARS | Publication request: Development of a PC-based data acquisition and control system

Submitted to: International Agricultural Engineering Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 13, 2007
Publication Date: August 31, 2007
Citation: Lan, Y., Lin, X., Kocher, M.F., Hoffmann, W.C. 2007. Development of a PC-based data acquisition and control system. International Agricultural Engineering Journal. 9:1-11.

Interpretive Summary: Data acquisition and control systems represent a very popular computer technology used to acquire agricultural and environmental data from multiple sensors. A simple data acquisition and control system was developed using newly developed integrated circuit chips and a universal serial port. By attaching various sensors to this system, temperature, humidity, pressure, magnetic field intensity, flow rate, position, etc., can be measured and recorded. This inexpensive data acquisition and control system can be used to measure and control many control systems used in agricultural sciences.

Technical Abstract: An inexpensive data acquisition and control system was developed, which can easily be used with different computers for many agricultural and biological applications. The high-speed data acquisition and control device uses only an RS-232 serial port to interface with a PC. The device has two analog inputs and two analog output channels each with 12-bit resolution. Both voltage output (0-5V) and current output (4-20mA) can be employed with control algorithms for precision control applications. An adjustable voltage reference from 5V to 12V was also provided to meet the excitation voltage requirements of many sensors. The software support developed for this device is a visual window interface.