I'll preface this by saying this is only tangentially related to rockets so
apologies in advance if this is somewhat off topic.
I’m starting to design the sensor acquisition (pressure transducers, flow
measurement, thermocouples) and control hardware (servo and solenoid valve
actuators) for our 500lbf LOX/Kero test stand. I’m trying to decide how I want
to handle data acquisition as well as control and I was curious about other
approaches people take.
In the past I’ve done this via a simple Arduino microcontroller w/ support
boards for power, servo control, and signal conditioning but I have a bit more
budget this time and I’d like to do something more sophisticated. My goals are
primarily higher frequency signal acquisition, 12 to 16 bit ADC conversion and
some-level of isolation to protect electronics.
From research so far it sounds like there are 2 main approaches to data
acquisition / control (1) purchase a professional DAQ such as NI/Labview or (2)
mainly build your own using a microcontroller. The prior being very expensive
and the latter requiring more time/experience in EE/SW.
I’m starting to lean towards the TI Launched development boards
(http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/tools-software/launchpads/launchpads.page). From
what I’ve been reading they seem a lot more sophisticated/professional then an
Arduino and it seems like TI is serious about supporting them. I also am
getting the feeling that the professional DAQ systems are a tad overpriced for
what you actually get and there is more platform lock-in.
Apologies again if this is slightly off-topic but I hope there a few EE/SW
folks on this list who find these topics interesting.
All the Best,Graham
