Simcenter Testing Solutions Simcenter Testlab Data Acquisition Tips

Each row of the “Channel Setup” worksheet corresponds to a single measurement sensor. The list of available channels is based on the SCADAS hardware present at software startup.

Common information that is needed for a transducer includes:

The sensor itself can contain calibration information. TEDS (Transducer Electronic Data Sheet) sensors contain the calibration factor and other information on an embedded electronic chip in the sensor.  More information about TEDS in the knowledge article: Simcenter Testlab: Using Transducer Electronic Data Sheets (TEDS)

1.2 Sections

A Simcenter Testlab project can be divided into sections using the software interface (upper left) shown in Figure 2.

Each section of a project contains a different channel setup.  The setup in each section is independent of the other sections.  When a new section is created, the channel setup is taken from the current section setup.

More information on projects and sections in the knowledge article: Getting Started with Simcenter Testlab

1.3 Archived Settings

Whenever data is acquired, the current channel setup is stored in the resulting run.  The channel setup used for any run can be accessed by right clicking on the “Archived Settings” and choosing “View Channel Setup” as shown in Figure 3.
 

Even if the channel setup is changed in the section between runs, the “Archived Settings” contains the active setup during the actual acquisition.

2. Setup Tips
Modules: Signature, Spectral, Impact, Environmental

There are several shortcuts and other tips that make entering transducer information easier:

2.1 Copy/Paste Channel

Shortcuts like Copy (Control-C) and Paste (Control-V) can be used to copy information from one row to the other in the Channel Setup as shown in Figure 4.
 

Copy/paste could be used to change the “Measured Quantity” of several channels at the same time.

Entire rows, not just single cells, can also be copied as shown in Figure 5.
 

This is done by clicking on the row number (all the way to the left) which highlights the entire row.  After highlighting the row, right click and choose “Copy”.  Then highlight a destination row/channel, and choose “Paste”.

Information in the channel setup can be copy and pasted to and from Excel as well.

2.2 Pull Up/Down Arrow

Another way to copy information between cells in the Channel Setup worksheet is to use the white arrow in the corner of an individual cell.

By hovering in the lower right corner of a cell, a white up and down arrow appears as shown in Figure 6.
 

This arrow can then be pulled up or down.  As additional cells are passed over, the PointId will increment (if the name ends with a number) as shown in Figure 7.
 

This can be useful channels names have sequential numbers as part of the name.

More information on using the arrow in the knowledge article: Cool Channel Setup tricks for Triaxial Accelerometers

2.3 Duplicate Point Names and Mistake Prevention

There are several safeguards built into the Channel Setup interface.  For example, if the same name (or PointId) is entered on two separate channels, a caution is thrown.  This prevents the creation of two different measurement channels with the same name in a recording. Having two channels with the same name makes the measurements indistinguishable from each other.

When duplicate point names occur, not only is a red flag and message displayed in the upper left corner, the “Measure” workbook is made insensitive as shown in Figure 8.
 

Many other possible mistakes are prevented in the Channel Setup worksheet.  Some examples include:

More information see the knowledge articles:

2.4 Move Setup Between Projects

The entire channel setup of another project can be copied over to the current project.  At the top of the Channel Setup workbook, click on “Load Channel Setup…” as shown in Figure 9.
 

In the “Load Channel Setup” dialog, it is possible to select a channel setup contained in another project and copy it to the current project.

2.5 Show On versus Show On/Off

There is an easy way to hide channels that are not active.  Clicking the “Show On” in the upper right will make only channels that are checked ON visible as shown in Figure 10.
 

When there is a large list of channels with only a few active channels, the “Show On” feature makes it easier to interact with the Channel Setup.  

The “Show On/Off” option (next to “Show On”) makes all channels visible again.

3. CAN bus
Modules: Signature 


Direct YouTube link: https://youtu.be/01mN-nFBQSM


Test objects might contain a digital bus.  A digital bus contains live status information from embedded sensors in the test article.  It is useful to compare this digital data with analog transducer information that is acquired simultaneously.

One such digital bus is the Controller Area Network bus (CAN bus).  CAN bus was developed in the 1980s to pass information between different sub-systems as shown in Figure 11.
 

CAN Bus uses a 9-pin connector (shown above) with a serial communication protocol to broadcast continuous updates on the status of these subsystems. This should be connected to the CAN Bus input (if equipped) on the Simcenter SCADAS hardware.

In Simcenter Testlab, in the upper right corner of the Channel Setup, there is a “CAN Settings” menu entry as shown in Figure 12.
 

After attaching the appropriate CAN bus cable from the product connector to the SCADAS, a DBC (*.dbc) file is selected in the interface.  All the required settings to read the information from the CAN bus are contained in the user interface.

More CAN bus usage is described in the following knowledge articles:
•    CAN Bus Measurements
•    Record Raw CAN Bus Data and Decode Offline!
•    No more tach! Use OBDII to get Engine and Vehicle Speed...

4. Virtual Channels
Modules: Signature 

In Simcenter Testlab Signature, the “Virtual Channel” feature allows math calculations to be carried out while an acquisition is in progress.

“Virtual Channels” are activated in the upper right of the channel setup as shown in Figure 13.
 

Any data channel can be used with virtual channel equations.  The designation “CH1” equates to Input1, “CH2” equates to Input2, etc.  

Calculation examples include:

Channels can also be referred to by their full “PointId” rather than the channel number (CH1, CH2, etc).

The virtual channel feature of Simcenter Testlab Signature has similar syntax as the Time Signal Calculator.  More information here: Time Signal Calculator Tips!

5. Coupling Settings
Modules: Signature, Impact Testing, Spectral Testing, All Environmental


Direct YouTube link: https://youtu.be/wou5K_ri3TY


In the channel setup, there is an important field called “Input Mode” as shown in Figure 14.
 

The AC and DC that appear at the end of the field are short for “AC Coupling” and “DC Coupling”.  

AC coupling and DC coupling affect if the resulting measurement will include dynamic frequencies, offsets, or both:

For more information on coupling, see the knowledge article: AC versus DC Coupling - What's the difference? 

6. Tracking and Triggering
Modules: Signature

In Simcenter Testlab Signature, the “Tracking Setup” workbook contains options for starting and stopping the data acquisition, and options for how the spectral processing is performed.

These options are shown in Figure 15 below:
 

These options are explained in the next sections.

6.1 Tracking Spectral Data

The tracking settings determine how the spectral data is processed in parallel with the time data acquired. There are two options: “Stationary” and “Tracked” shown in Figure 16.
 

The two modes give different results: 

More information in the knowledge articles: 

6.2 Triggers on Time Data


Direct YouTube link: https://youtu.be/V2MtAG0sNpM


It is possible to create triggers to start and stop the measurement. Triggers affect the time data that is measured. An example is shown in Figure 17:
 

The trigger settings allow scenarios such as:

More details on triggers in these knowledge articles: