Square wave
analyzer for iDaq
User guide
July 2013
Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq – User Guide
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TOOLS for SMART MINDS
Worldwide technical support and product information:
www.toolsforsmartminds.com
TOOLS for SMART MINDS Corporate headquarter
Via Padania, 16 Castel Mella 25030 Brescia (Italy)
Copyright © 2013 TOOLS for SMART MINDS. All rights reserved.
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Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq – User Guide
S UMMARY
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Requirements ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Minimum hardware requirements ................................................................................................................................. 5
Minimum software requirements .................................................................................................................................. 5
Installation .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Features of Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq ....................................................................................................................... 6
User interface ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Running Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq ............................................................................................................................ 9
Select device and channel............................................................................................................................................. 10
Edit communication parameters .................................................................................................................................. 11
Export images and data ................................................................................................................................................ 11
Measurement data ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
Show Raw signal ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
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TOOLS for SMART MINDS
I NTRODUCTION
Square Wave Analyzer is an add-on for iDaq and it is the best solution for everyone who
needs a quick and easy tool to display and perform measurements on square wave signals.
Thanks to iDaq features, Square Wave Analyzer permits to connect with remote and/or local
devices. Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq has a simple and easy interface and permits to get
measurement data about a square wave signal in a few simple steps.
This document illustrates features of Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq and explains how to
use this add-on.
R EQUIREMENTS
In this section requirements for using Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq are listed.
M INIMUM
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
Ensure that your computer fulfills the following hardware requirements:

Dual core CPU or higher.

2 GB RAM (4 GB is strongly recommended).

Display resolution 1024x768 or higher.

200 MB free space on disk required by Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq.

Mouse or other pointing device.
M INIMUM
SOFTWARE REQU IREMENTS
Ensure that your computer fulfills the following software requirements:

OS: Windows XP/SP3 or higher.

.NET Framework 2.0 or higher.

iDaq. You can download a free copy of iDaq at
http://toolsforsmartminds.com/products/programmable_data_logger.php
I NSTALLATION
Download Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq from
http://toolsforsmartminds.com/products/programmable_data_logger.php
and follow the installation steps.
Once installation is completed, you can run Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq through the
desktop shortcut. All files are installed into <program files>\TOOLS for SMART MINDS\
Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq folder.
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Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq – User Guide
F EATURES OF S QUARE W AVE A NALYZER FOR I D AQ
Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq is an easy and quick tool that acquires, displays and
performs measurement of square wave signals. This add-on has been designed for square
wave signals used to drive motors. In facts, this add-on permits to acquire both the square
wave signal and the related current signal. Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq permits to access
both to basic and advanced features through a simple user interface.
Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq has the following features:
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Displays single period of the acquired square wave signal.
Displays single period of a current signal related to the input square wave.
Recognizes if the acquired signal is a square wave or another type of signal
Recognizes if the square wave signal is a single, dual or a not standard square
wave.
Displays measurement data about square wave signal: frequency, duty cycle,
amplitude, offset.
Displays measurement data about current signal related to the square wave:
single-period RMS value and amplitude.
Shows raw signals.
Show measurement data graphs: duty cycle, frequency and amplitude VS time.
Permits to export single period data to CSV files.
Permits to save single period plots as image.
Provides a simple and intuitive interface.
Exploiting iDaq features, Square Wave Analyzer permits to connect and select
channels of different devices.
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TOOLS for SMART MINDS

U SER INTERFACE
Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq has a simple and intuitive interface that permits users to
access both to several basic and advanced functions in ease. The following image shows the
main window of Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq.
F IGURE 1 – S QUARE W AVE A NALYZER FOR I D AQ , USER INTERFACE
The objects available in the main window are:
1.
Command panel. It contains the main commands the user can utilise to access to
the main features of Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq. The command panel is
composed of the following buttons:
a. Select square wave signal. It permits to select device and channel for the
square wave signal.
b. Select current signal It permits to select device and channel for the
current signal. This add-on has been designed to acquire and process
signals used to drive motors. For this reason, this add-on permits to
acquire the current signal related to square wave used to drive your
motor. Use a shunt resistor to acquire your current signal and configure
iDaq to correctly convert your voltage signal in a current signal.
c. Edit credentials. It permits to change the credential to communicate with
iDaq.
d. Save images to file. It saves plot images to file.
e. Export to CSV file. It exports Square Wave Analyzer data to a CSV file.
f. Hold. It pauses the communication with iDaq and holds signal, magnitude,
and phase plot.
g. Show measurement plot. It displays measurement data about square
wave signal: frequency, duty cycle, amplitude, offset.
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Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq – User Guide
h. Show raw signals. It displays raw signals.
i. Full screen. It enables/disables full screen visualization.
j. Exit. It closes your application.
2. Single period plot of the square wave signal. It displays a single period of the
acquired square signal. If the acquired signal is not a square wave, an error
message is shown on this graph.
3. Single period plot of the current wave signal. It displays a single period of the
acquired current signal.
4. Measurement panel of square wave signal. It displays measurement data about
acquired signal. This panel is composed of:
a. Wave type. It indicated the square wave signal type: dual, single, or not
standard wave.
b. Frequency.
c. Duty cycle.
d. Pulse duration.
e. Amplitude.
f. Offset.
5. Measurement panel of current signal. It displays measurement data about current
signal. This panel is composed of:
a. RMS value. It show RMS value calculated on a single period.
b. Amplitude
6. Trace color of the square wave signal.
7. Trace color of the current signal.
8. Acquisition status. When this indicator blinks, the program is acquiring data from
iDaq.
9. Connection status. If it is green, it indicated that connection with iDaq is
established.
10. Current session name.
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TOOLS for SMART MINDS
R UNNING S QUARE W AVE A NALYZER FOR I D AQ
When Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq starts, the following window appears:
F IGURE 2 – PROJECT NAME WINDOW
This window requires user to insert a project name for the current project. Moreover, this
window show a list of existing project. You can select an existing project or create a new
one. With Browse button, you can browse folder of projects.
If a new project name is inserted, a folder with the name of the project will be created in
c:\iDaq\Addon data\SquareWaveAnalyzer\. In this folder Setup.ini and Credential.SCCT will
be saved. Credential.SCCT includes communication parameters to connect with iDaq (server
address, port, and password).
Setup.ini includes the following configuration parameters:

Selected devices. It represents the last selected sources.

Selected channels. It represents the last selected channels.

Trace colors. It represents trace color for square wave and current signal.
When Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq starts and an existing project name is inserted,
Credential.SCCT and Setup.ini are loaded; in this way, the communication parameters,
together with display options and hardware information are loaded.
When Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq starts and a new project name is inserted, default
parameters are loaded.
By default, Credential.SCCT has the following parameters:

Address: localhost

Port: 9000

Password: iDaq
Once you insert a name project, the application connects to iDaq and receives data from
the selected sources. If the input signal is a square wave, Square Wave Analyzer extracts a
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Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq – User Guide
single period of the signals and shows them in the square wave and current plots.
Measurement data are immediately available and shown.
S ELECT
DEVICE AND CHA NNEL
To select a new device and/or a different channel for square wave and current signal, click
on Select square wave (a) and Select current signal (b) icons, respectively. The following
window appears:
F IGURE 3 – WINDOW FOR DEVICE AND CHANNEL SELECTION
This window shows all the available devices connected to iDaq. Square Wave Analyzer for
iDaq allows selecting two different channels of the same source. Moreover, Square Wave
Analyzer for iDaq permits to select different sources for the square wave and current signal,
respectively. The application does not permit to select the same channel and source for
input and output signals; in this case, an error message will appear.
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TOOLS for SMART MINDS
E DIT
COMMUNICATION PA RAMETERS
To edit communication parameters, click on Edit Credential icon (c). The following window
appears:
F IGURE 4 - W INDOW FOR EDITING
COMMUNICATION PARAMETERS
Every time communication parameters are edited, they are stored in Credential.SCCT file.
When communication parameters change, Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq must be
restarted. Moreover, you can edit Credential.SCCT file to modify communication
parameters and load them at the next restart.
E XPORT
IMAGES AND DAT A
To save plots, click on Export as image icon (d). Two bmp files will be saved in the project
folder C:\iDaq\Square Wave Analyzer\<ProjectName>.
To export Square Wave Analyzer data to CSV file, click on Export to CSV file (e) icon. The
CSV file will be saved in the project folder.
M EASUREMENT
DAT A
When Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq acquires a square wave signal, it performs different
measurement on the input signals:

Square wave
o Wave type. It indicates if the acquired signal is a single, dual, or a not
standard square wave. If the input signal is not a signal. If the input signal
is not a square wave, Wave type field show “Not a square wave” and a
warning message appears.
o Frequency.
o Duty cycle. Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq is able to measure duty cycle
from 1 to 99 %
o Pulse duration.
o Amplitude.
o Offset.

Current signal
o RMS value. It show RMS value calculated on a single period.
o Amplitude
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Square Wave Analyzer for iDaq – User Guide
Square wave analyzer for iDaq shows measurement data graphs of duty cycle, frequency
and amplitude VS time. To visualize these graphs, click on the related icon (g). The following
window appears:
F IGURE 5 – M EASUREMENT DATA PLOT : F REQUENCY , DUTY CYCLE , AND AMPLITUDE VS TIME
S HOW R AW
SIGNAL
To show raw signals, click on the show raw signal icon (h). The following window appears:
F IGURE 6 – R AW SIGNALS
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