Showing papers on "Data acquisition published in 2011"

ObsPy – What can it do for data centers and observatories?

Abstract: Data acquisition by seismic centers relies on real-time systems, like SeisComP3, Antelope and Earthworm. However, these are complex systems that are designed for fast and precisely defined standard real-time analyses. Therefore, it is not a simple task to access or modify internal routines, and to integrate them into custom-processing workflows or to perform in-depth data analyses. Often a library is necessary that provides convenient access to data and allows easy control over all of the operations that are to be performed on the data. ObsPy is such a library, which is designed to access and process seismological waveform data and metadata. We use short and simple examples here to demonstrate how effective it is to use Python for seismological data analysis. Then, we illustrate the general capabilities of ObsPy, and highlight some of its specific aspects that are relevant for seismological data centers and observatories, through presentation of real-world examples. Finally, we demonstrate how the ObsPy library can be used to develop custom graphical user interface applications.

Pixelman: a multi-platform data acquisition and processing software package for Medipix2, Timepix and Medipix3 detectors

Abstract: The semiconductor pixel detectors Medipix2, Timepix and Medipix3 (256x256 square pixels, 55x55 μm each) are superior imaging devices in terms of spatial resolution, linearity and dynamic range. This makes them suitable for various applications such as radiography, neutronography, micro-tomography and X-ray dynamic defectoscopy. In order to control and manage such complex measurements a multi-platform software package for acquisition and data processing with a Java graphical user interface has been developed. The functionality of the original version of Pixelman package has been upgraded and extended to include the new medipix devices. The software package can be run on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. The architecture is very flexible and the functionality can be extended by plugins in C++, Java or combinations of both. The software package may be used as a distributed acquisition system using computers with different operating systems over a local network or the Internet.

Circuit breaker with integral meter and wireless communications

Abstract: A remote data collection for a circuit breaker panel is disclosed. Circuit panel current and/or time data is collected from one or more intelligent circuit breakers having built in data acquisition. The data are communicated to a host computer. Simultaneously the line voltage is measured and specific load power and energy usage of each breaker is calculated in real-time at the host computer. The specific load power and energy usage of each breaker is transmitted to a remote computer, which may be a homeowner's personal computer, for analysis and control.

Characterization and Testing of a Tool for Photovoltaic Panel Modeling

Abstract: This paper presents the evaluation of the performance, in terms of uncertainty, of a tool designed to estimate the main parameters of a model of a photovoltaic panel (PVP) under real and/or simulated working conditions. The presented tool permits the characterization of the panel, and it is useful to predict its behavior in whatever working condition; in this way, it is possible to compare the actual and expected performance to prevent any decrease in the output power, so permitting the replacement of the monitored module before it goes out of order or its efficiency falls under a given threshold. The well-known two-diode model is used to estimate the parameters of the electrical equivalent circuit of the PVP and to simulate the I -V and P-V characteristic curves in any given environmental condition of irradiance and/or temperature. The model and the estimation algorithm are implemented with MATLAB functions, whereas data acquisition and result presentation are managed by a LabVIEW graphics user interface. The presented tool has been validated against an experimentally characterized PVP. The environmental parameters of the model such as irradiance and temperature have been set (with their respective uncertainties) during simulations or directly measured during the outdoor tests, whereas the others parameters have been evaluated using a best-fit algorithm on the measured data. The estimation is based on the minimization of a new objective function and on a modified expression of the model resistances, which differ from those mentioned in the available literature. After a review of the state of the art, this paper provides the description of the estimation technique and its validation by means of simulations and experiments. Some results are also provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed test method.

Crop Classification Using Short-Revisit Multitemporal SAR Data

Abstract: Classification of crops and other land cover types is an important application of both optical/infrared and SAR satellite data. It is already an import application of present satellite systems, as it will be for planned missions, such as the Sentinels. An airborne SAR data set with a short revisit time acquired by the German ESAR system during the ESA-campaign, AgriSAR 2006, has been used to assess the performance of different polarization modes for crop classification. Both C-and L-band SAR data were acquired over the Demmin agricultural test site in North Eastern Germany on a weekly basis during the growing season. Single-and dual-polarization, and fully polarimetric data have been used in the analysis (fully polarimetric data were only available at L-band). The main results of the analysis are, that multitemporal acquisitions are very important for single-and dual-polarization modes, and that cross-polarized backscatter produces the best results, with errors down to 3%-6% at the two frequencies. There is a trade-off between the polarimetric information and the multitemporal information, where the best overall results are obtained using the multitemporal information. If only a few acquisitions are available, the polarimetric mode may perform better than the single-and dual polarization modes.

Interferometric processing of TanDEM-X data

Abstract: Since July 2010, TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X jointly acquire interferometric data. Starting their common commissioning phase with a so called pursuit monostatic configuration with 3 seconds time lag between the two passes, they were later put in a close formation in October 2010, acting since then as the first freely configurable bistatic SAR interferometer in space. All operational acquisitions were processed from instrument raw data to DEMs from day one of the data taking on by one single processing system: the Integrated TanDEM-X Processor (ITP) (see [1],[2]). Data take analysis, common parameter calculation, synchronization, bistatic focusing, filtering, co-registration, phase unwrapping and geocoding are all performed in one sequence inside this processor. This approach allows a high precision processing by passing all applied corrections and determined parameters from one step to the next. Specifically the geometric & phase accuracy and stability of the instruments, the processor and the auxiliary data (i.e. the millimetric precision of the baseline products) provide an unprecedented level of relative and absolute geometric accuracy in the bistatic operation. While many challenges of bistatic processing of the TanDEM-X data are encountered, the benefits of this single pass acquisition mode can be used to derive additional information from the data itself for further processing and calibration. In this paper, we will outline the bistatic interferometric processing steps of the ITP and focus on the aspects of geometric accuracy in DEM generation.

Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control: Testing Drivers' Choices of Following Distances

Abstract: A Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) system has been developed by adding a wireless vehicle-vehicle communication system and new control logic to an existing commercially available adaptive cruise control (ACC) system. The CACC is intended to enhance the vehicle-following capabilities of ACC so that drivers will be comfortable using it at shorter vehicle-following gaps than ACC. This can offer a significant opportunity to increase traffic flow density and efficiency without compromising safety or expanding roadway infrastructure. This report describes the design and implementation of the CACC system on two Infiniti FX-45 test vehicles, as well as the data acquisition system that has been installed to measure how drivers use the system, so that the impacts of such a system on highway traffic flow capacity and stability can be estimated. The results of quantitative performance testing of the CACC on a test track are presented, followed by the experimental protocol for on-road testing with human subjects. Finally, the results from the field testing by 16 naive drivers are presented to show the user acceptance and quantitative measurements of how these drivers used the ACC and CACC systems, and how these systems affected their choice of car following gap.

A high-performance digital system for electrical capacitance tomography

Abstract: This paper describes a recently developed digital-based data acquisition system for electrical capacitance tomography (ECT). The system consists of high-capacity field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and fast data conversion circuits together with a specific signal processing method. In this system, digital phase-sensitive demodulation is implemented. A specific data acquisition scheme is employed to deal with residual charges in each measurement, resulting in a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at high excitation frequency. A high-speed USB interface is employed between the FPGA and a host PC. Software in Visual C++ has been developed to accomplish operational functions. Various tests were performed to evaluate the system, e.g. frame rate, SNR, noise level, linearity, and static and dynamic imaging. The SNR is 60.3 dB at 1542 frames s−1 for a 12-electrode sensor. The mean absolute error between the measured capacitance and the linear fit value is 1.6 fF. The standard deviation of the measurements is in the order of 0.1 fF. The dynamic imaging test demonstrates the advantages of high temporal resolution of the system. The experimental results indicate that the digital signal processing devices can be used to construct a high-performance ECT system.

A portable electronic nose system for the identification of cannabis-based drugs

Abstract: We report on a research aimed at evaluating the capacity of a simple, low-cost, portable electronic nose system based on commercially available metal oxide gas sensors to classify different types of drugs. Five drugs, namely cannabis buds, cannabis plants, hashish, snuff tobacco and tobacco leaves were employed. A dedicated real-time data acquisition system based on dynamic headspace sampling, a microcontroller and a laptop computer have been designed and constructed for this application. To demonstrate its discrimination capability, unsupervised and supervised classification models have been built and validated. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of volatile profiles revealed five distinct groups corresponding to the five different drugs analyzed. This was further confirmed by a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test. Support Vectors Machines (SVMs) were applied to build a classifier and reached a 98.5% success rate in the recognition of the different drugs analyzed. This work demonstrates for the first time that the electronic nose technology could be successfully applied to the identification of illegal drugs.

Systems and methods for processing mapping and modeling data

Abstract: A method for post-processing georeferenced mapping data includes providing positioning data indicating a position of a data acquisition system in a defined space at specific moments in time, providing ranging data indicating relative position of objects in the defined space with respect to the data acquisition system at the specific moments in time, performing a smoothing process on the positioning data to determine smoothed best estimate of trajectory (SBET) data for trajectory of the data acquisition system, performing a scan matching process on the SBET data and the ranging data to identify objects and/or object features in the defined space, performing a process to revise the SBET data so that the SBET data aligns with the identified objects and/or object features and storing the revised SBET data with the range data.

Fast MR parameter mapping using k-t principal component analysis

Abstract: Quantification of magnetic resonance parameters plays an increasingly important role in clinical applications, such as the detection and classification of neurodegenerative diseases. The major obstacle that remains for its widespread use in clinical routine is the long scanning times. Therefore, strategies that allow for significant decreases in scan time are highly desired. Recently, the k-t principal component analysis method was introduced for dynamic cardiac imaging to accelerate data acquisition. This is done by undersampling k-t space and constraining the reconstruction of the aliased data based on the k-t Broad-use Linear Acquisition Speed-up Technique (BLAST) concept and predetermined temporal basis functions. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the k-t principal component analysis concept can be adapted to parameter quantification, specifically allowing for significant acceleration of an inversion recovery fast imaging with steady state precession (TrueFISP) acquisition. We found that three basis functions and a single training data line in central k-space were sufficient to achieve up to an 8-fold acceleration of the quantification measurement. This allows for an estimation of relaxation times T(1) and T(2) and spin density in one slice with sub-millimeter in-plane resolution, in only 6 s. Our findings demonstrate that the k-t principal component analysis method is a potential candidate to bring the acquisition time for magnetic resonance parameter mapping to a clinically acceptable level.

Health monitoring system for structures of great building and bridge

Abstract: The invention discloses a health monitoring system for structures of a great building and a bridge, which comprises sensor terminals, a data acquisition and transmission system, a data processing and control system, a structural health data management system and a structural health condition evaluation system, wherein the data acquisition and transmission system is a distributed measurement system; a plurality of data acquisition sub-stations read data from the corresponding sensor terminals and transmit the data to a field monitoring work station; the data acquisition and transmission system is connected with the data processing and control system through a network; the data processing and control system is connected to the structural health data management system; and the structural health data management system is connected and interacted with the structural health condition evaluation system The health monitoring system provides an on-line, dynamic and real-time monitoring mode, improves an automated level of structural health monitoring and the reliability, security and generality of the system, provides technical basis for implementation of health monitoring by using a life cycle of the building as a guidance, and provides an advanced and efficient technical measure for structure monitoring of civil engineering

Image acquisition unit, acquisition method, and associated control unit

Abstract: Video arrayed data acquired via at least one video camera, can be co-registered with lidar arrayed data acquired from a lidar receiver data into a combined arrayed data. The co-registration and data acquisition can be done within a common housing having an combined arrayed data output which can be connected to a control module. The control module can have a video signal acquirer, a video processor for processing the acquired video signal, a threat analyzer capable of detecting a threat from the processed video signal or from another source, and a memory storage device.

Mobile Mapping: An Emerging Technology for Spatial Data Acquisition

Abstract: Mobile mapping has been the subject of significant research and develooment bv several research teams over the oust decade. A &bile &upping system consists mainly oia moving platform, navigation sensors, and mapping sensors. The mobile platform may be a land vehicle, a vessel, or an aircraft. Generally, navigation sensors, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, vehicle wheel sensors, and inertial navigation systems (INS), provide both the track of the vehicle and position and orientation information of the mapping sensors. Objects to be surveyed are sensed d&ectly by mapping sensors, for instance, charge coupled devices (CCD) cameras, laser rangers, and radar sensors. Because the orientation parameters of the mapping sensors are estimated directly by the navigation sensors, complicated computations such as photogrammetric triangulation are greatly simplified or avoided. Spatial information of the objects is extracted directly from the georeferenced mapping sensor data by integrating navigation sensor data. Mobile mapping technology has evolved to a stage which allows mapping and GIS industries to apply it in order to obtain high flexibility in data acquisition, more information with less time and effort, and high productivity. In addition, a successful extension of this technology to helicopter-borne and airborne systems will provide a powerful tool for large-scale and medium-scale spatial data acquisition and database updating. This paper provides a systematic introduction to the use of mobile mapping technology for spatial data acquisition. Issues related to the basic principle, data processing, automation, achievable accuracies, and a break down of errors are given. Application considerations and application examples of the technology in highway and utility mapping are described. Finally, the perspective of the mobile mapping technology is discussed.

New Perspectives on Turbulent Combustion: Multi-Parameter High-Speed Planar Laser Diagnostics

Abstract: Over the past three decades laser combustion diagnostics have guided an improved understanding of turbulent combustion processes. Until recently, this was based on statistically independent sampling using sampling rates much slower than typical integral time-scales of turbulent flames. Recent developments in laser and camera technology enabled an increase in sampling rates by more than three orders of magnitudes. Using these new instruments for particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) at high sampling rates (high-speed diagnostics) allowed the resolution of integral time-scales of turbulent flames. This statistically dependent sampling is increasingly used to temporally track transients in turbulent combustion, such as flame extinction, ignition, flashback and cycle-to-cycle variations in IC engines. The simultaneous application of flow and scalar field measurements makes insights into these transients possible that were not when using statistically independent sampling with low data acquisition rates. Conditioning on distinct flame features with high-speed diagnostics enables the inclusion of time as an additional dimension. This paper reviews the emerging field of multi-parameter, high-speed, planar laser diagnostics in combustion applications. The benefit of high data acquisition rates in turbulent combustion applications is discussed in detail as well as requirements and constraints imposed by the time-scales of the investigated phenomenon are addressed. Recent developments in laser and detector hardware are highlighted, as these are the limiting factors of the sampling rate. Finally, multi-parameter high-speed measurements in combustion are summarized, with a few examples discussed in more detail.

CES-513 Stages for Developing Control Systems using EMG and EEG Signals: A survey

Abstract: Bio-signals such as EMG (Electromyography), EEG (Electroencephalography), EOG (Electrooculogram), ECG (Electrocardiogram) have been deployed recently to develop control systems for improving the quality of life of disabled and elderly people. This technical report aims to review the current deployment of these state of the art control systems and explain some challenge issues. In particular, the stages for developing EMG and EEG based control systems are categorized, namely data acquisition, data segmentation, feature extraction, classification, and controller. Some related Bio-control applications are outlined. Finally a brief conclusion is summarized. 1

System and Method for Enhancing Call Center Performance

Abstract: A system and method for visualizing performance metrics are disclosed. The system includes a data acquisition component which collects information related to a set of agents operating in a work environment, a performance metric computation component which computes, for one of the agents, values for a performance metric at each of a plurality of times within a selected time period, and a representation generator which generates a representation for display to the agent, the representation providing the agent with information on the agent's current value for the performance metric. A processor implements the data acquisition component, the performance metric computation component, and the representation generator.

Recovery of seismic wavefields based on compressive sensing by an l1‐norm constrained trust region method and the piecewise random subsampling

Abstract: SUMMARY Due to the influence of variations in landform, geophysical data acquisition is usually subsampled. Reconstruction of the seismic wavefield from subsampled data is an ill-posed inverse problem. Compressive sensing (CS) can be used to recover the original geophysical data from the subsampled data. In this paper, we consider the wavefield reconstruction problem as a CS and propose a piecewise random subsampling scheme based on the wavelet transform. The proposed sampling scheme overcomes the disadvantages of uncontrolled random sampling. In computation, an l1-norm constrained trust region method is developed to solve the CS problem. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed sampling technique and the trust region approach are robust in solving the ill-posed CS problem and can greatly improve the quality of wavefield recovery.

A new time-of-flight SIMS instrument for 3D imaging and analysis

Abstract: We have built a mass spectrometer which utilizes a new method of time-of-flight analysis to provide rapid data acquisition with simultaneous high spatial resolution and high mass resolution. The mass analysis is performed by sampling the secondary beam into a two-stage time-of-flight system. This removes the requirement for a pulsed primary beam as a ToF reference. No tradeoff exists between spatial and mass resolution, and acquisition speed is not limited by the primary beam duty cycle. The analyzer comprises the combination of a shaped field buncher and a nonlinear reflectron. This configuration allows the inclusion of a collision cell and an intermediate time-of-flight selection gate. So, the analyzer can operate in ms-ms mode as well as in normal time-of-flight mode. The instrument is equipped with 40 kV C60 and liquid metal cluster primary beams, which can run in d.c. mode, or, when charge neutralization is required, in slow pulsed mode. Data acquisition is continuous, eliminating loss of data during depth profiling etch cycles. The instrument has an automated sample entry system with heating to 670 K and cooling to 105 K, and includes a novel method of freeze-fracture for tissue samples or other organic samples in aqueous suspension.

Automated sample-scanning methods for radiation damage mitigation and diffraction-based centering of macromolecular crystals

Abstract: Automated scanning capabilities have been added to the data acquisition software, JBluIce-EPICS, at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Cancer Institute Collaborative Access Team (GM/CA CAT) at the Advanced Photon Source. A `raster' feature enables sample centering via diffraction scanning over two-dimensional grids of simple rectangular or complex polygonal shape. The feature is used to locate crystals that are optically invisible owing to their small size or are visually obfuscated owing to properties of the sample mount. The raster feature is also used to identify the best-diffracting regions of large inhomogeneous crystals. Low-dose diffraction images taken at grid positions are automatically processed in real time to provide a quick quality ranking of potential data-collection sites. A `vector collect' feature mitigates the effects of radiation damage by scanning the sample along a user-defined three-dimensional vector during data collection to maximize the use of the crystal volume and the quality of the collected data. These features are integrated into the JBluIce-EPICS data acquisition software developed at GM/CA CAT where they are used in combination with a robust mini-beam of rapidly changeable diameter from 5 µm to 20 µm. The powerful software–hardware combination is being applied to challenging problems in structural biology.

Physiological data acquisition utilizing vibrational identification

Abstract: The present invention utilizes an accelerometer (included within a wireless physiology monitoring device or as part of a separate device such as, but not limited to a smartphone, e.g., iPhone, or other mobile device) to link a patient with a separate medical data acquisition device such as a weight scale or a blood pressure monitor in order to collect and transmit a range of medical data associated with the user. The medical data acquisition device includes a vibration source for emitting a vibration at a predetermined or random frequency. When the acquisition device is activated, a vibration is transmitted from the through the patient and is detected by the accelerometer. The accelerometer then measures the particular frequency of vibration and transmits this information to a centralized monitoring unit (CMU). Based on the measured frequency, the CMU is able to know that the same patient wearing/holding the device is also the same patient using the data acquisition device. The vibration source may revolve through a number of predetermined frequencies (as determined on its own or instructed via the CMU) or simply generate a random frequency.

Uniform data acquisition and monitoring system of low-medium voltage power distribution network

Abstract: The invention provides a uniform data acquisition and monitoring system of a low-medium voltage power distribution network, which comprises an intelligent acquisition terminal, a data communication and transmission system, a real-time data processing module, a data interface service module, a user power consumption information management and monitoring module and an intelligent power distribution station area management and monitoring module, wherein the intelligent acquisition terminal acquires user power consumption information and information on power distribution station area operation, state and the like, transmits the information to a real-time/historical database in the real-time data processing module through the data communication and transmission network for uniform management, uses the real-time/historical data to provide real-time comprehensive data support for the user power consumption information management and monitoring module, the intelligent power distribution station area management and monitoring module and other related application system through the data interface service module according to needs, and by the real-time acquisition and analysis of the operation information and the state parameters of power users and the power distribution station areas, brings the intelligent power distribution station areas into the self-control and economic operation range of the low-medium voltage power distribution network to realize the real-time load analysis and real-time electrovalence management of the terminal users and interactive application functions such demander response.

The hyperspectral irradiometer, a new instrument for long-term and unattended field spectroscopy measurements.

Abstract: Reliable time series of vegetation optical properties are needed to improve the modeling of the terrestrial carbon budget with remote sensing data. This paper describes the development of an automatic spectral system able to collect continuous long-term in-field spectral measurements of spectral down-welling and surface reflected irradiance. The paper addresses the development of the system, named hyperspectral irradiometer (HSI), describes its optical design, the acquisition, and processing operations. Measurements gathered on a vegetated surface by the HSI are shown, discussed and compared with experimental outcomes with independent instruments.

Road traffic information recording server and GPS (Global Positioning System) user terminal

Abstract: The invention provides a road traffic information recording server and a GPS user terminal. In the invention, a traffic information acquisition system based on user information establishes files of each user by collecting the information of common routes of users, driving preference and the like, provides individualized traffic information service to the users and collects the information of the position and the speed of vehicles of the users in the course of traveling to generate the jam information of a road, wherein the user information is used for enhancing the precision of data acquisition so that the generated jam information of the road is more accurate than the traditional floating car system in the course.