The following information is for the EMANT300, EMANT380

Application Notes

These Application Notes are intended for those who are familiar with Data Acquisition and the programming languages like LabVIEW and the .NET C#, Visual Basic and C++. Examples programs and explanatory notes are provided to help kick start the project in the particular application. The information is basic as the user can obtain more detailed and specific information elsewhere.

If you are not familiar with Data Acquisition and the programming languages like LabVIEW and the .NET C#, Visual Basic and C++, we suggest you start with our instructional guides to learn the basics of programming data acquisition. It will take you less than a day to complete the exercises.

To convert an application note written for the EMANT300 USB DAQ so it can be used with the EMANT380 Bluetooth DAQ, do the following

  1. If it is a software only application note, just specify the COM port used. The language drivers used are the same
  2. For a hardware application note, remember to:
  • supply power to the EMANT380 Bluetooth DAQ (not more than 3.6V)
  • ensure that the inputs are not driven higher than VCC and outputs cannot drive higher than VCC (typical VCC for the EMANT380 Bluetooth DAQ is 3.3V vs 5V for the EMANT300 USB DAQ)

Compare EMANT300 USB DAQ and EMANT380 Bluetooth DAQ

Measure Biopotential / ECG
An electrocardiogram (ECG) voltage in the heart in the form of a graph. It is the prime tool in cardiac electrophysiology, and its function is in the screening and diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Using the Bluetooth Starter Kit and the Hand-held Biopotential Electrodes Assembly, you can measure your ECG from scratch within a short time.

Measure Power of a Solar Panel
I have a 6 to 10W solar panel and would like to monitor its output voltage and current. The Voc is 22V and its short circuit current is 0.6A.

Stepper Motor Control
Control a stepper motor using the EMANT300 and the ULN2003 darlington array.

Measure Depth using Hydrostatic Pressure
One way to measure depth using hydrostatic pressure is to use the EMANT300 USB DAQ with the Pressure Application Adaptor and some aquarium airline tubing. This is because the gauge pressure due to water alone at a given depth is given by P = ρgh.

DC Fan Speed Control
Using Pulse-width modulation (PWM), the fan's power supply is turned on and off at a fixed frequency. By changing the duty-cycle, we control the speed of the fan. The EMANT300 uses the ULN2003 darlington array to drive the DC Fan.

Hand Dynamometer
A hand dynamometer is used to measure grip strength. This application note illustrates the use of the strain gauge in the construction of a hand dynamometer.

Switching 3A 250Vac Loads
Learn how to use relays to switch 3A 250Vac loads

Matlab & EMANT300
Matlab is an interactive program for numerical computation and data visualization; it is used extensively by control engineers for analysis and design. This app note for experienced Matlab users shows how to interface Matlab to the EMANT300

Measure Distance
Measure Distance using the Ultrasonic Sensor with the EMANT300 USB DAQ

Center of Pressure
Measure the center of pressure by converting a low cost personal weighing scale

Counter
Counters basically count the number of pulses at its input. The EMANT300 DAQ module has one 16 bit counter input. Please note that since the counter shares the same clock as the PWM function, you can only use either the PWM function or Counter function.

10V Analog Output Voltage
This application note explains how to obtain a 0 to 10V analog output voltage using the EMANT300.

Using multiple EMANT300 DAQ modules
How to use 2 or more EMANT300 modules in your program

Increasing the Range of the Analog Input Voltage
Learn how you can increase the analog input range above the 2.5V specified for the EMANT300

Optical Heart Rate Monitor
In this application note, we create a heart rate monitor by using one IR LED & phototransistor pair and observing the waveform at the phototransistor output.

Measure Pressure using silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor
In this application note, we will make use of the low cost MPX2200 (US$17 from Digikey) series of Pressure Sensors from Freescale Semiconductors. An alternative supplier of Pressure Sensors is Honeywell Inc.

Process Temperature Control Using PID and LabVIEW
Learn Interfacing Electronics to the USB Data Acquisition Module. Control Lamp output using PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) Using PID VI

Strain Gauge (Gage) Data Acquisition
When an object is stretched due to an external force and the length of the object increases from L to L+ΔL, the ratio ΔL/L is called strain. ε = ΔL/L As the ratio of deformation is often very small, it is often represented in a units of 10-6 or μstrain

Measure Light Intensity using Photodiode
The Photodiode used is the BPW34. This is a high speed and high sensitive silicon PIN photodiode in a miniature flat plastic package. A photodiode is designed to be responsive to optical input. Due to its waterclear epoxy the device is sensitive to visible and infrared radiation. The large active area combined with a flat case gives a high sensitivity at a wide viewing angle.

Using Temperature Sensing Diodes
The EMANT300 has a pair of temperature sensing diodes D1 and D2, as shown in Figure 1. The differential inputs of the ADC converter are selectable via input multiplexers. The ADC inputs can be set to connect to the temperature diode outputs. The differential voltage of the diode pair provides a temperature reading.

Measure Temperature using Thermocouple
Thermocouples produce an output voltage which depends on the temperature difference between the junctions of two dissimilar metal wires. It is important to appreciate that thermocouples measure the temperature difference between two points, not absolute temperature.

Measure Temperature using Thermistor
Thermistors are widely used because of their sensitivity, small size, ruggedness and low cost. Thermistors have an electrical resistance that varies non-linearly with temperature. The R-T characteristics of most thermistors can be described by the Steinhart-Hart equation

Measure Temperature using Multiple Thermistors
How to measure the resistances of up to 6 Thermistors using one current source

Measure Light Intensity using Light Dependent Resistor ( LDR )
An Light Dependent Resistor ( LDR ) resistance varies according to the amount of light that falls on it. The relationship between the resistance RL and light intensity Lux for the LDR used is RL = 500 / Lux Kohm

C# Strain Logger and write to Spreadsheet file
This application note explains how to use a strain logger programmed with C#. It reads up to 3 bridges and writes the result to a text file that can be read by a spreadsheet program. C# source code is provided to allow you to customise it for your specific application.