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Spectrum card based solutions - case studies and technical resources
| Summarised below are examples of where the products we supply have been used. This is just a small sample but we hope this provides you with a useful insight into the ways we can help. To date our solutions cover a wide area of applications including aeronautics, automotive testing, data bus and circuit testing, meteorology, military defence, medical imaging, particle physics research, radar design, satellite tracking, telecommunications, ultrasonic structural testing,....the list goes on! |
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Measuring the performance of CPU based avionic and automotive systems is critical
to their development and evolution. PC-based verification tools rely on measurement
data collected from such embedded targets. The Rapita Systems RTBx digital data
logger provides an efficient way to collect and time-stamp real-time data
from a wide variety of embedded targets, over many weeks if necessary.
Spectrum M2i.7000 series of digital I/O cards were chosen as a desirable component,
due to the versatility of having models with 8/16 bit and 32bit I/O ports
as well as a very high data acquisition speed (up to 125MHz). Read more... |
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Fusion energy has long been a research area where the holy grail is to produce
safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy for generating electricity. It has
proved an elusive goal, however one company First Light Fusion may have the
answer. Pioneering a very different approach using inertial confinement,
created by launching a projectile to hypervelocities, the energy threshold
that needs to be reached for fusion gain should prove lower. Monitoring the results
and control associated auxiliary systems is an essential part of this. DataQuest
Solutions were given the task to supply a suitable system. Read more... |
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The VivoSightŪ OCT scanner uses the technique of swept-source Optical Coherence
Tomography (SS-OCT) for cross-sectional imaging of skin. This is a significant
new tool to assist in diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers and other skin
conditions. This application simultaneously uses four interferometer channels
to increase depth of focus and improve contrast. A Spectrum 4 channel
20 Mega sample/sec PCI-Express digitiser card was used in its design. Read more... |
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Quantum information Science (QIS) explores and advances the way we will perform
the future operations of computing and communications. By exploiting the principles
of quantum mechanics scientists are studying the behavior of qubits, quantum bits
of information, as they are subjected to different physical conditions. The
University of Innsbruck, Austria has chosen Spectrum's latest generation of
Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG) to generate a wide variety of control and
stimulus signals for their research. Their requirement was for an AWG whose
output could be easily programmed and could be simply incorporated into a PC.
Read more... |
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In particle physics research precise and very reliable instrumentation is required.
DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) research centre in Germany have been
using Spectrum Instrumentation digitisers for over 15 years. This article discusses
their important roll in the power measurement of RF pulses produced in the
Linac-2 particle accelerator. This includes the monitoring the strengths and
timing stability of so-called 'Kickers' that are used to transfer particle
beams from one accelerator to another. Capturing these pulses was a
challenge which required the application of the digitiser's versatile trigger system.
Read more... |
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In many areas of the world, animals straying onto highways can result in serious
accidents. This has resulted in the need to develop an intellignet multi-sensor
detection system able to recognise potential incursions on to the road and provide
an advanced warning to vehical drivers. To aid with development, signals need to be captured
from a micro-doppler radar. The computer based multi-channel M2p PCIe digitiser
card has been chosen as the ideal solution.
Read more... |
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| Further application examples |
| M2i.4961-exp (4 channel: 60 MS/sec) digitiser card used for fast pulse laser development, with the cards BASEXIO option used as digital status monitor to indicate the two types of pulse arriving at the M2i cards A/D inputs. Applications for such lasers include high harmonic generation spectroscopy, photo-electron spectroscopy with XUV probe pulses, studies of autoionisation dynamics and ultra-fast demagnetisation. |
| A Hall-effect sensor is commonly
used in the automotive industry to measure accurately the speed of an engine camshaft,
such as those commonly found within the cylinder head of a car. A rotating toothed
wheel on the camshaft is monitored by such a sensor, which provides a digital output
(0 to 5V). A system based on the Spectrum 8 channel 16 bit 10MS/s M2i.4912-exp card
was used to provide an accurate and reliable way to automate the test of Hall-effect
sensors. Its high speed A/D inputs monitoring the quality of signal transitions
to estimate angle error and jitter at the boundaries of tooth and gap. As well as
recording the signal shape, precise camshaft positional information was
required too, determined by capturing signals from a sinusoidal encoder. Both the
encoder's analogue sine-cosine waveform (1V peak to peak) and a 32 bit digital word
derived from that waveform were simultaneously recorded. This gave angular position
within a rotation and the number of rotations from the start of the test. For this
purpose the M2i.4912-exp was combined with the synchronous digital option M2i.49xx-dig.
This option takes two of the M2i.4912-exp cards eight analogue channels and using
a simple software setting in the card driver, changes these to a pair of synchronous
16 bit wide digital ports.
This solution provided precise windows of sensor data just when required, to automate the test process in a fast and reliable way. |
| Medical research into the development of impedance spectroscopy as an analytical tool in monitoring of the freeze drying processes. The M3i.4121 (2 channel: 250 MS/sec) digitiser measures peak amplitude and characteristic peak frequency. |
| Quantum dot device development for optical applications. Using M4i.4421-x8 (4 channel: 250 MS/sec) digitiser to monitor laser pulsed light source. FPGA block averaging of captured data (option M4i.xxxx-spavg) to reduces reliance on the CPU processing. This also helps to enable the highest capture repetition rates possible. |
| Development a new generation of photoacoustic excitation sources based on the use of laser diodes and ultrasound. Multiple research applications for the M4i.4420-x8 (4 channel: 250 MS/sec) digitiser card. For example the laser interrogates photoacoustic signal generated in a sample, e.g. a tissue sample. A photo diode used to provide a resultant signal that can be monitored by a M4i card. Applications include measurement of burn depths, wound healing, pressure sores, plastic surgery procedures (grafts, flaps etc.) and characterising skin pathologies for planning a surgical procedure |
Many interesting applications from around the world can be found here on the Spectrum Instrumentation GmbH website!
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DataQuest Solutions is always interested to find out more about the applications
Spectrum products are
used for and would like to offer you a special opportunity to help promote your
company or educational institute.
Free of charge we will submit your application story to technical magazines with
a readership across Europe, such as EDN
and EETimes.
It will also feature without cost in our newsletters, this application page and the manufacturer's Web site.
We understand of course you may have limited time to prepare something; however all we require are a few notes to be emailed over to us at info@dqsolutions.co.uk . From the examples above you will see that it need not be a long story, although an image or two always helps! Here are some general guidelines on what to include.
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© DataQuest Solutions 15.10.14
Last revised 28.07.20
E&OE