Simcenter Testing Solutions Simcenter SCADAS RS: Assorted Tips and Tricks

1. Custom Displays

The Simcenter Testlab Recorder App has built-in strip chart and statistic displays that are active during acquisition.  These built-in displays show all channels in a predesigned display.  These displays are found in the “Monitor” section of the Recorder App.

However, custom displays can be created as well.  This is done in the last tab of “Monitor” as shown in Figure 4:
 

Gauge displays, XY displays, numerical displays are available in the custom display area.

2. Zero Before Acquisition

Direct YouTube link: https://youtu.be/M9UtYL5ZIW8


When taking strain measurements, it is a common practice to “zero out” strain channels before starting a measurement.

It is possible to setup the SCADAS RS to automatically zero channels at the start of any acquisition. To set this up, click on "Recording Setup" from the main menu of the Simcenter SCADAS RS Recorder App as shown in Figure 1.
 
In the “Recording Setup” section, “Auto zeroing” can be turned ON as shown in Figure 2.
  3. Digital IO

On the main unit (REC unit) of the SCADAS RS, there is Digital Input and Output ports a shown in Figure 5.

The digital output can be used to send out a voltage signal when levels are exceeded on a channel, at the end of an acquisition, etc.

In the “Recording Setup”, there is a tab called “Digital IO” where the outputs on the four different digital input output port pins can be defined as shown in Figure 6.
 

The Digital IO setup can evaluate many different conditions as shown in Figure 7.
 

The Digital IO feature can be used to trigger the shutdown of a test stand if vibration becomes too high, etc.

4. Templates

Templates are setup files that contain all the information needed to run a test.  This includes channel information, trigger settings, and acquisition settings.

After setting up a test measurement, all the settings can be stored in a template. Templates are managed in the “Topology” and “Templates” icons of the main menu of the Simcenter Testlab Recorder App (Figure 8 below).
 

Figure 8: Both the “Topology” and “Template” icons are used to manage measurement templates.
 

To create a template of the current active measurement settings, click on the “Topology” icon.

In Topology area, click on “Save As” on the left side of the screen as shown in Figure 9.
 

After clicking “Save As”, fill in the template name and press the “Save” button. Press the back arrow (upper left) to go to the main menu.

To activate a saved template, from the main menu, click on the “Templates” icon.  A list of all available templates should appear on the screen (Figure 10):
 

At the bottom of the template, press the “Load Template” icon to activate the settings.

5. SCADAS RS Configuration Builder

Want to setup a test template for the SCADAS RS, but don’t have the hardware?  

Create a frontend configuration file (*.nfec) that can be used to set up a test without being connected to actual hardware using Simcenter Testlab Neo.

In the Windows search area, look for “scadas rs”.  Start the “SCADAS RS Configuration Builder” as shown in Figure 11:
 

In the SCADAS RS Configuration Builder, acquisition modules can be dragged from the library on the right to the measurement chains on the left as shown in Figure 12.
 

A UPS and REC unit are already active by default.

Press the “Save” button (top row) after finalizing the hardware selection.  The SCADAS RS hardware configuration will be stored in a *.nfec file. Exit the program after saving the file.

When starting Simcenter Testlab Neo acquisition, if selecting work offline mode, the *.nfec file can be selected as shown in Figure 13.
 

Hope these SCADAS RS tech tips are useful!

Questions?  Email nicholas.divincenzo@siemens.com.

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