Test configuration
Input channels define what transducer and sensor data should be captured in a test run. Available input channels depend on the connected hardware and imported databases. The channel grid interface displays the channels defined for the current setup. Color-shaded column headers such as Input mode and Scaling mode can be clicked to display configuration option columns.
See Grid interface for information about showing and hiding columns.
The All channels view displays generic and scaling parameters for all defined channels including Computed channels.
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In the All channels view, change the order of channel rows manually by dragging and dropping selected channels.
Each channel type has its own tab view which displays the specific parameters for channels of that type.
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To hide or show grid tabs, click and select which views to show.
Many parameters are common across all channels and are displayed in the All channels tab:
There are two methods to add an input channel from the Input channels page.
Select the desired channels from discovered hardware on the network.
Select the check box next to a source branch to display its available channels. The channels are displayed in alphabetical order (by connector) and grouped by source. A channel already added to the test setup is not displayed.
To add a channel to the setup, select the check box next to the channel or group of channels and click OK.
Select the desired channel and click Edit to edit the channel parameters using the edit channel dialog.
Alternately, edit input channel parameters directly in the channel grid. Select the All channels tab to edit generic parameters and the channel type tab to edit channel specific parameters.
If a channel name is changed, all references to the channel from computed channels or DataModes™ change automatically.
To simplify input channel configuration, SomatXR MX modules support TEDS sensors. When an MX channel with a TEDS sensor is added to the test setup, the channel parameters are configured based on the TEDS information, which is indicated by the TEDS sync icon () in the TEDS column of the channels grid.
Channel parameters can be manually edited, which is indicated by the TEDS edited icon () in the TEDS column. To reset the channel parameters to TEDS sensor definition, select the channel and click
Sync TEDs.
To apply sensor configurations from imported HBM sensor databases, first expand the Sensors panel. The Sensors panel contains the imported sensor databases and their sensor definitions. For very large databases, it may take several seconds to display the database contents for the first time.
Drag and drop the sensor definition from the Sensors panel onto the desired channel.
When a sensor definition is successfully applied to a channel, this is indicated by the SDB sync icon ()
)
Sync SDB.
NOTE
Sensor database parameters can be applied to TEDS sensors. However, if the channel is re-synced to its TEDS parameters, the sensor database reference is removed.
To configure a channel for sensor scaling, first set the Scaling mode in the channel editor dialog or channel gridscreenshot)
Depending on the mode selected, different scaling parameters must be specified to define the scaling.
Sensor scaling mode | Scaling parameters |
---|---|
Defined slope intercept | Slope Intercept |
Defined zero span | Electrical zero Electrical span Physical span |
Defined two point | Electrical 1 Physical 1 Electrical 2 Physical 2 |
Experimental two point | See Use the experimental two point scaling option to define the two point parameters based on experimental measurements. |
Internal shunt resistor | See Use shunt scaling for applicable eDAQXR layers and MX modules. |
Strain gage | Strain gage factor Bridge factor |
To copy the properties from one channel to another, select the channel to be copied and click Copy.
Select the parameters to copy. The parameters depend on the selected channel type. In addition, parameters hidden in the grid view do not display in the copy dialog. Click OK to copy the selected parameters.
Select the target channel and click Paste to paste the copied parameters into the selected channel. Only parameters that exist in the target channel are pasted. For example, DIO parameters cannot be pasted into analog channels.
Select the desired channel or channels and click Remove. Removing channels referenced by computed channels or DataModes results in an error. Input channels cannot be recovered after removal.
Sometimes it is useful to change the hardware to which a group of channels connects. For example, after importing setup configuration file, using the same setup after swapping hardware or moving a transducer to another connector.
To change the device or connector, select a single channel or multiple channels and click Change device.
To change the device, enter or select a value in the New Device column. To change the channel connector, select a value in the New connector column. Click OK to save the changes.
CAUTION
Attempting to supply inappropriate values for the device name results in an error and prevents the test from running.
To view a digital display of the current channel values, select one or more channels and click Digital Meter.
Click Freeze to pause the reading
NOTE
Digital meters cannot be displayed while a test is running.
Zeroing a channel adds an offset, making the channel value as close as possible to the user defined zero target. The default zero target is 0.
Select one or more channels and click Zero.
NOTE
The Prerun zero mode must be set to Interactive only for a channel to be zeroed. By default, normally applicable channels such as bridges and encoders are set to this mode. Other channel types must be set manually if zeroing is required.
Click ZERO to measure the current channel data value, and adjust the cumulative zero offset which is stored in the Prerun zero offset channel parameter. Click RESET to clear any previous zero offsets. After zeroing is complete, be sure to save the test setup.
NOTE
It is recommended to select the Use system defined sensor scaling filters option in the System preferences to minimize the effects of noise on the accuracy of scaling measurements.