What's New in Measurement and Control?

The latest news, tutorials and articles on data acquisition and control using personal computers.

31% of Engineering Managers do 40 days unpaid work a year - (Found June 19, 2008 )

31% of British engineering managers work the equivalent of 40 days a year in unpaid overtime, according to the Chartered Management Institute. The report indicates that efforts to reduce working hours in recent years have failed to have a positive impact.
http://www.managers.org.uk/

Divers make precision measurements - (Found June 19, 2008 )

A new report details a SCUBA diver-operated motorised device with microsensors, for underwater work to a depth of 25 m. The new device can accommodate pH, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide microsensors. The system can be pre-programmed to autonomous operation or interactively operated by divers. Internal batteries supply power for up to 24 hours of measurements, storing up to 64 million data samples.
http://www.news.scubatravel.co.uk/2008/02/divers-make-precision-measurements.html

Conditional Counting in Excel: COUNTIF Tips - (Found June 19, 2008 )

Find out how to count the number of negative readings in a set of data, or the the number of readings which are between 20 and 30 oC. How can you use the COUNTIF function in your macros or count over scattered cells
http://www.windmill.co.uk/monitor115.html#Excel

Industrial Control Shipments Strong in 2007 - (Found June 19, 2008 )

US industrial control shipments surged 8.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, but a darkening economic outlook may weigh on future demand - according to electrical equipment organisation NEMA.
http://www.nema.org/media/pr/20080213a.cfm

Long-range Wi-Fi threat to satellite communications - (Found June 19, 2008 )

WiMAX, a long-range version of Wi-Fi, has been billed as one of the best ways to bring broadband internet connections to rural areas. But the system may have a critical flaw. According to tests by a trade body representing the satellite industry, the radio frequencies WiMAX uses will interfere with satellite communications in some of the very locations where it could bring the most benefit.
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19726476.200-longrange-wifi-threat-to-satelli...

Connecting a Garmin GPS to a PC - (Found June 19, 2008 )

How to log data from a Garmin GPS, and other instruments, on your PC.
http://www.windmill.co.uk/garmin.html

Measuring The Wind To Optimize For Wind Energy - (Found June 19, 2008 )

New laser-based measurement technique performs wind field measurements in a more flexible and economical way. LIDAR systems detect wind speed and direction based on the time delay of the laser beam reflected by airborne aerosols.
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/32687

Robotic minds think alike - (Found June 19, 2008 )

Most schoolchildren struggle to learn geometry, but they are still able to catch a ball without first calculating its parabola. Why should robots be any different A team of European researchers have developed an artificial cognitive system that learns from experience and observation rather than relying on predefined rules and models.
http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/Feature...

Monitor 116 Now On-Line - (Found June 19, 2008 )

The latest issue of Monitor, the newsletter for data acquisition and control, is now freely available on-line. Discover how to log data from a Sylvac dial gauge to a PC using free Windmill DAQ software. Plus how to use Excel's array formulas to return several results at once or to perform calculations only on values matching your conditions.
http://www.windmill.co.uk/monitor116.html

Self-powered tyre sensors - (Found June 19, 2008 )

Morgan Electro Ceramic, has developed technology which can power car tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) using wheel movement instead of batteries. The device, a piezoelectric bimorph, enables TPMS manufacturers to design self-powered remote sensors that accurately measure tyre pressure, with none of the lifetime and disposal issues associated with batteries.
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/305330/Self-powered+tyre+sensors.htm